Annual float more dangerous than ever
Pandemic raises stakes for thousands expected at St. Clair River raft run
This Sunday, the only thing keeping a flotilla of minimally clothed Americans on their side of the border is a strong west wind.
It’s the same predicament every year in Sarnia, Ont., when thousands of U.S. citizens — and some Canadians — hop aboard rafts, inner tubes and the odd trampoline or picnic table rigged with barrels — and transform the St. Clair River into a party for a 12-kilometre float downstream. In earlier decades, officials tried to stop the “unsanctioned marine event” known as the Port Huron Float Down, but now there is a weary acceptance that on the third Sunday in August thousands of people will show up without fail, in storms, strong winds and, yes, even in a pandemic.
Aside from the safety concerns, drifting into Canada without a passport used to be the biggest hassle for participants.
Authorities have never endorsed this method of entering the country but, with high COVID-19 case counts in Michigan and a closed border, the RCMP is letting Americans know there are repercussions to floating across the river, including potential arrests under the Quarantine Act, arrests under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, fines, imprisonment — and they’ve made it clear that you can forget about police holding onto your raft or beer cooler for safekeeping. First responders are worried about the risk of COVID-19 spread with so many people expected to participate. The stakes have never been higher, but some officials expect the crowds could be the same, if not larger, because of pandemic boredom.
Kathleen Getty, deputy superintendent for search and rescue with the Canadian Coast Guard, says she hopes people understand the danger for everyone, including first responders: “There is so much potential for the infection and creating other problems later on.”
The St. Clair River is a striking turquoise blue, regularly plied by freighter traffic, smaller boats and Sea-Doos. The idea of spending an afternoon atop a floating unicorn in this normally busy channel may sound appealing, but the reality is different, Getty says. It is deep and cool and the currents are strong, especially under the Blue Water Bridge, where Lake Huron empties into the narrow river.
The12-km float can take hours and many people want to quit, but there aren’t convenient places to get out, she says. The water is usually about 17 to 19 C this time of year and because immersion in water below 21 C can lead to hypothermia, emergency responders routinely treat people for that, along with rescuing people when their vessels collapse. A 19-year-old Michigan mandrowned in 2014.
Although the Float Down began as a small event in the late 1970s, there has been a resurgence in popularity in the last decade. The Port Huron Times Herald writes that there was a two-decade hiatus after the U.S. Coast Guard blockaded the event in 1987 and cancelled it in 1988. (Neither effort was a complete success. The newspaper has archival photos of men in bathing suits dodging U.S. Coast Guard officials.)
A website for the Float Down — which specifies that it is not responsible for planning, promoting or sponsoring the event — writes that nobody has stepped in to be an official organizer since 2011 for legal reasons: “People will however choose to continue floating down at their leisure for as long as they are able.” Every year, on the third Sunday in August, they show up by the thousand.
“The waterway is free for people to use, there aren’t any laws as I understand about floating down the river,” Getty says. “Unfortunately, people don’t realize what a danger it really is.”
On a Facebook page for last year’s Float Down, where people swap stories of their adventures and the fun times they had, many weren’t sure what to make of a pandemic float. “PLEASE tell me it’s NOT being cancelled!!” one woman wrote. By early August, the news was rippling through the comments. The shipping channel was being shut down.
Both countries close the river to motorized vessels to avoid mixing freighter traffic with rafts: “Unfortunately, people will still come out even if the shipping channel stays open,” says U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Jeremiah Schiessel.
The Canadian side will be restricted between noon and 7 p.m. from the Bluewater Bridge to Lake St. Clair. Simon Rivet, a spokesperson with Transport Canada, said the federal agency does not endorse the Float Down but takes this step to ensure the “safety and security of operators using this waterway.”
The weather is always the arbiter between (relative) safety and chaos. Sarnia Police deputy chief Owen Lockhart has been checking the forecasts for a good week. Getty, who is the Canadian incident commander, says they always pray that the wind blows towards Michigan.
Each year, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley takes a walk along the river to get a sense of the wind. In 2016, he sensed trouble: “The wind was just coming our way,” he says. Sure enough, the strong wind and a downpour sent about 1,500 Americans into Lambton County, many without ID, money or cellphones, some with injuries and hypothermia.
“Many of them were scared because they probably couldn’t get to Canada on a regular day,” Bradley says of the 2016 U.S. contingent. Nobody was arrested, he recalls. They were taken back to the U.S. by Sarnia Transit buses, and the bill to the city was estimated at about $8,000 for all of the overtime and resources. (An American GoFundMe effort raised money to pay the city back, and Bradley says they donated those funds to charity.) The city of Sarnia and other agencies treat the day as a training exercise, he says, and every year, something always goes awry. With the pandemic, “there is a real fear about what could happen,” he says.
As of Friday, Michigan, with nearly 10 million people, has recorded nearly 100,000 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and around 6,500 deaths. Ontario, with a population of 14.7 million has close to 42,500 total cases to date and around 2,800 deaths. The RCMP, one of the many agencies that will be patrolling the Canadian side of the river on Sunday, warned U.S. citizens they are not allowed to enter Canada for “discretionary purposes.” Those who land will face Canadian laws, a COVID screening and customs examination. Photo identification will be required. Any person who refuses a COVID screening will be arrested under the Quarantine Act, and the RCMP also say that any U.S. citizen who unintentionally lands on our shores will be arrested under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and transported back to the U.S., where they will be released to authorities.
“Fines of up to $750,000 and/ or imprisonment of up to 6 months may result,” the Ontario division of the RCMP posted on its Facebook page. “To avoid all of these results, the RCMP suggests that people do not participate in the Float Down.”
There are more than 1,000 comments on the post. Some people said they will take a pass; one commenter called Canada the “Karen of countries” and others said they wouldn’t be deterred: “They always say this type of stuff,” one man wrote. “The coast guard is out there helping. It will be just fine.”
Sarnia’s mayor understands why you’d want to quickly return U.S. citizens to Michigan, but he points out that other travellers are subject to a 14-day quarantine. Why should someone on an inflatable flamingo be different? He imagines a 14day isolation period, paid for by the floaters in question, might keep more people on land in Port Huron.
For the last couple of years, the U.S. and Canadian coast guards have put out a joint statement advising people not to participate. They warn of the many risks, the need for life jackets and proper identification, and the danger of mixing alcohol with a dangerous marine environment. This year, they also warned participants about COVID-19 with large crowds, and advise wearing a face mask if physical distancing is not possible. They also suggest people file a “float plan” with friends, secure their items in a waterproof bag, stay close to shore, and use rafts that limit immersion and can be steered with oars or paddles.
No matter the wind direction, there will likely be people who cross unintentionally. It happens every year, says Sarnia’s deputy police chief Owen Lockhart. Last year, a small storm sent enough Americans to fill a bus. In the past, Sarnia Police officers helped people on shore before driving them to border officials in police cars, but now officers will be in protective gear and interlopers will have to stay at a distance until a large van can pick them up and bring them to a Canadian Border Services Agency facility for processing.
There will be several emergency responders on the water this Sunday, including the OPP and the Canadian Coast Guard, who usually have about seven vessels. In 2019, the Coast Guard’s costs for the Sarnia response were approximately $46,000. Kathleen Getty hopes there will be fewer people this year but, no matter the turnout, she will be there, hoping for a co-operative wind.
“Our job is to ensure safety on the water, and if people do choose to put themselves in a dangerous situation then it’s our role to be there to ensure that they’re rescued if necessary,” she says.