New wreck coming to Tobermory?
- Thread starter Jared0425
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They have upped their game on the collections end. Yeah, in the past, we just used to leave the tailgate down on the truck to obscure the plate. Now they have front end cameras. One issue with the billing is that by the time you go to pay the bill (that eventually gets to you), the interest charges also kick in. Add to that the dynamic of currency exchange, and it is never a wash. My former boss had a bill that took over 6 months to rectify... I don't specifically remember how they have addressed non-registered users, as I just don't use any of the toll roads anymore, and I suffer...
@Marie13 , you should check with @Schwob as to his opinion on the north route. I know he used it. Where I live, I have no choice but to suffer it.
The "Cottage 400" is just getting worse and worse...
@Marie13 , you should check with @Schwob as to his opinion on the north route. I know he used it. Where I live, I have no choice but to suffer it.
The "Cottage 400" is just getting worse and worse...
@rhwestfall
I’ll ask him today - giving him a lift to the pool in the Scuba Sherpa.
Thanks!
Oh, and ever have any issue crossing to/from with all your expensive gear? Cris Kohl actually recommends in one of his books to register any gear that has a serial number with your local Customs office. I deal with CBP on a regular basis since I’m a licensed customs broker. I suspect the officers would look at me like
if I walked into the office and asked to do that! I’ll actually have a copy of my brokers license on me.
I’ll ask him today - giving him a lift to the pool in the Scuba Sherpa.
Thanks!
Oh, and ever have any issue crossing to/from with all your expensive gear? Cris Kohl actually recommends in one of his books to register any gear that has a serial number with your local Customs office. I deal with CBP on a regular basis since I’m a licensed customs broker. I suspect the officers would look at me like
if I walked into the office and asked to do that! I’ll actually have a copy of my brokers license on me.
Stoo
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Even though the 407 is owned by a Spanish company, enforcement of payments is done in cahoots with the Province. In other words, as an Ontarion, we can't renew the plates on a vehicle where there is an issue with payment. I THINK that there are reciprocal agreements in place with many states, just as there are with speeding tickets etc.
If you use the highway at "rush hour" it can be quite expensive. When I'm heading east to dive and hauling my boat, it's worth every penny though. Stop and go when you're pulling a 5000 pound boat is brutal.
What really kills visitors who don't know any better though is the "one and off" fee. Each time you leave or re-enter the 407, there is a "video surcharge" (basically paying to have your plate image interpreted). So if you pop on and off the highway to hit McD's or something a couple of times, you can easily add $20 to the cost. (So $1.45 USD). If you drive it even a couple of times a year, you should lease a transponder. I think they're $1 a month or something, but well worth it.
If you use the highway at "rush hour" it can be quite expensive. When I'm heading east to dive and hauling my boat, it's worth every penny though. Stop and go when you're pulling a 5000 pound boat is brutal.
What really kills visitors who don't know any better though is the "one and off" fee. Each time you leave or re-enter the 407, there is a "video surcharge" (basically paying to have your plate image interpreted). So if you pop on and off the highway to hit McD's or something a couple of times, you can easily add $20 to the cost. (So $1.45 USD). If you drive it even a couple of times a year, you should lease a transponder. I think they're $1 a month or something, but well worth it.
Stoo
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Might as well enjoy it.
OP
Saw this in my news feed this morning...
Plans for museum ship Norgoma still under wraps
2/9 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – The deadline has gone by and the city staff has not received any word from the St. Mary’s River Marine Centre board on what it plans to do with the M.S. Norgoma.
City council gave the volunteer board until Feb. 1 to come up with a plan to move the Norgoma from the Bondar Marina this spring. Tom Vair, the city’s deputy CAO of community development and enterprise services, said the Feb. 1 council-imposed deadline has past and the city has not received any word from the Norgoma’s board. “We will have to set up a meeting with them to discuss next steps,” Vair said.
St. Mary’s River Marine Centre president Louis Muio said the board is making “progress” and city officials will be provided details shortly. “I can’t tell you what we’re going to do until I tell the city first,” he said.
The board has been busy looking for a new location to dock the ship and continue using it as a marina and as a host for events and activities. The board sought – but was refused – approval to dock the ship on Conservation Authority property adjacent to the former hospitals. A license of occupation permit the authority has with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry does not permit the Norgoma to be stored on it.
The Norgoma’s board also explored options at Parks Canada and the Valley Camp in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and the Canadian Bushplane Museum Heritage Centre. Earlier reports also indicated Parks Canada couldn’t entertain the request.
“We have one other iron in the fire as well,” Muio said.
He admits that finding a location for the ship was much more difficult than originally anticipated. “We expected more positive responses, but we quickly learned that it was difficult for something that large,” he said. “But we haven’t given up.”
Limited funds mean the ship can’t be moved very far because of high costs, he said. The board is banking on the city’s information that the ship will float with higher water levels and dredging won’t be necessary. “If it hits bottom, it’s extremely expensive to dredge and that could be the end of it,” he said.
Muio says any dredging costs should be incurred by the city because they want the ship out of Roberta Bondar Marina. The Norgoma was raised at city council’s budget deliberations as councillors were pondering an $800,000 cost to replace the docking system at the marina. Council was told the new docks would not be rebuilt until the Norgoma was moved from its current location.
Mayor Christian Provenzano told city council the decision has already been made by the former council – that the ship would be moved this spring.
Muio said the Norgoma has attracted a strong following in recent years, partly because of its improved aesthetics and because of events and activities that have taken place on board and around the ship.
Norgoma was acquired by the city in 1975 and has been located at the Roberta Bondar Marina since 1994. The 185-foot-long vessel served as a means of transportation between Owen Sound, Ont., and Sault Ste. Marie, and a car ferry between Tobermory and South Maymouth. It’s considered one of the last surviving ships from that era.
In more recent years, the museum ship has struggled to survive on the city’s downtown waterfront. But, a new board of directors that has taken over operations has injected new life into the operation. Visitor numbers, activities and revenues have all increased but the efforts do not have the support of the majority of city council.
The Sault Star
Plans for museum ship Norgoma still under wraps
2/9 - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. – The deadline has gone by and the city staff has not received any word from the St. Mary’s River Marine Centre board on what it plans to do with the M.S. Norgoma.
City council gave the volunteer board until Feb. 1 to come up with a plan to move the Norgoma from the Bondar Marina this spring. Tom Vair, the city’s deputy CAO of community development and enterprise services, said the Feb. 1 council-imposed deadline has past and the city has not received any word from the Norgoma’s board. “We will have to set up a meeting with them to discuss next steps,” Vair said.
St. Mary’s River Marine Centre president Louis Muio said the board is making “progress” and city officials will be provided details shortly. “I can’t tell you what we’re going to do until I tell the city first,” he said.
The board has been busy looking for a new location to dock the ship and continue using it as a marina and as a host for events and activities. The board sought – but was refused – approval to dock the ship on Conservation Authority property adjacent to the former hospitals. A license of occupation permit the authority has with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry does not permit the Norgoma to be stored on it.
The Norgoma’s board also explored options at Parks Canada and the Valley Camp in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and the Canadian Bushplane Museum Heritage Centre. Earlier reports also indicated Parks Canada couldn’t entertain the request.
“We have one other iron in the fire as well,” Muio said.
He admits that finding a location for the ship was much more difficult than originally anticipated. “We expected more positive responses, but we quickly learned that it was difficult for something that large,” he said. “But we haven’t given up.”
Limited funds mean the ship can’t be moved very far because of high costs, he said. The board is banking on the city’s information that the ship will float with higher water levels and dredging won’t be necessary. “If it hits bottom, it’s extremely expensive to dredge and that could be the end of it,” he said.
Muio says any dredging costs should be incurred by the city because they want the ship out of Roberta Bondar Marina. The Norgoma was raised at city council’s budget deliberations as councillors were pondering an $800,000 cost to replace the docking system at the marina. Council was told the new docks would not be rebuilt until the Norgoma was moved from its current location.
Mayor Christian Provenzano told city council the decision has already been made by the former council – that the ship would be moved this spring.
Muio said the Norgoma has attracted a strong following in recent years, partly because of its improved aesthetics and because of events and activities that have taken place on board and around the ship.
Norgoma was acquired by the city in 1975 and has been located at the Roberta Bondar Marina since 1994. The 185-foot-long vessel served as a means of transportation between Owen Sound, Ont., and Sault Ste. Marie, and a car ferry between Tobermory and South Maymouth. It’s considered one of the last surviving ships from that era.
In more recent years, the museum ship has struggled to survive on the city’s downtown waterfront. But, a new board of directors that has taken over operations has injected new life into the operation. Visitor numbers, activities and revenues have all increased but the efforts do not have the support of the majority of city council.
The Sault Star
Stoo
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Interesting. And exactly what I expect will happen with the Norisle group. They haven't done anything in a decade, so I see no reason to expect that that will change.
OP
There's always room for more shipwrecks on the bottom.
One day all of these museum ships will decay beyond repair. It might take a century or 2 at most but even steel decays. Nothing lasts forever. Despite being in freshwater these wrecks do attract and spawn marine life. Unless funded by the government in some form, this seems to be the ultimate fate of musuem ships.
I remember diving the Wexford in 2006 and saw a school of perch that had to consist of 200 or so of them. Pulled into Goderich later and had fried perch dinner in commemoration of the dive...
One day all of these museum ships will decay beyond repair. It might take a century or 2 at most but even steel decays. Nothing lasts forever. Despite being in freshwater these wrecks do attract and spawn marine life. Unless funded by the government in some form, this seems to be the ultimate fate of musuem ships.
I remember diving the Wexford in 2006 and saw a school of perch that had to consist of 200 or so of them. Pulled into Goderich later and had fried perch dinner in commemoration of the dive...
Stoo
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Yup true enough. The Niagara seems to be the nursery wreck in Tobermory. I'm not sure why that is, but there is often schools of critters there.
