Saturday, June 9, 2012

Port Stanley: sand 'n' surf 30 minutes away

A couple of swimmers enjoy the surf off Port Stanley, Ontario.
Port Stanley is a good beach. The sand, especially at the water's edge, is fine and easy on the feet.

Now that June has arrived, the water is warming but it has not yet reached the temperature that blooms of algae, etc., are a problem. Runoff from area farms mixing with warm lake water can put the shoreline waters of Lake Erie off limits to swimmers.

Because of the danger posed to anyone venturing onto the long, concrete pier, the pier at Port Stanley is now closed to strollers. In the past it was open. It was exciting to head out onto the pier when large waves were crashing over the concrete structure. I confess that I did it myself in order to get a good picture. Sadly, people died after being washed off the structure by the raging surf.

Not everyone misses the walk on the pier. Kids are quite happy with the fine sand, with the water, and with making sand castles --- or, in this case, sand slop in a purple bucket.

2 comments:

Adrienne Cruise said...

I did not know the pier was closed at Port Stanley! Sad...but I can see the danger. Similar conditions pertain when Lake Huron whips up at the pier near our trailer. It IS exciting! The 'wave-jumping' conditions look excellent in that top photo!

I love the vibrant colors in the pic of Fiona, and the concentration on her face :)

Julie Emond said...

Read with interest your blog. As a farmer I need to tell you that it is not exclusively the runoff of farms that creates problems on beaches. At times of moderate to heave rains that swell the creeks and rivers, cities spew and empty their decades old undercapacity sewage storage lagoons whenever so needed. They are conveniently located near waterways. Lagoons are emptied, when we have lots of waterflow, otherwise we'd notice the off colour and lack of clarity. Ask the city of london. Farmers only create a problem when there is a accidental mishap with a spreader and the Min of Environment jumps on that and conveniently continues to lay the blame on farmers. A spilled spreader at most is 10.000 gallons, compare that to a city lagoon. Cheers,Julie