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  #31  
Old 08-09-2022, 09:09 AM
ganderblaster ganderblaster is offline
 
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Originally Posted by Nova View Post
I was curious if how well signed they are would be mentioned at all. In Sask and Manitoba, that is really the only beef I have with inspection stations. I've heard of people getting significant fines for driving past, and maybe in those situations it was done intentionally. But that lingers in a guy's mind a bit and it has made my encounters slightly frustrating.

My first time through an inspection station was in Swan River, MB. Probably not a lot of folks here are familiar with the area, but there's a small provincial park area on the north side of town. Has a bit of a tree line around it, not thick but it does limit visibility. So I'm heading southbound coming from a trip to Porcupine Mountain, just hitting town limits and I see a sign for the watercraft inspection station ahead. Right at the same spot where there's a sign indicating a speed limit change from 100 to 80. No indication of direction or distance, so I just reduced my speed as much as reasonably possible given there was traffic behind me. And then I see the station through the tree line, this might be 75 to 100m past the sign. Too late. I've got a truck camper in the back, towing a boat and I've got a pickup behind me and a semi behind them. I'm not risking an accident trying to make the turn. So I find the first reasonable spot to get turned around and head back while thoughts are running through my head that they are going to have somebody hot on my tails to write a ticket. I got to the station, acknowledged I went past. They said they noticed me and were hoping I would turn around. It was a cordial, productive conversation. I explained that where they set up is not a great area, given the lack of visibility, location of their signage and people just transitioning from highway speed. For some people, the fear of getting a ticket for driving past might override their decision making as to whether slamming on the brakes to make the turn is a safe decision and there is potential for an accident. They agreed and said they were planning on addressing it with their supervisor. My next time through Swan they were set up more inside town limits, in plain view of the highway. Much better location.

The next time I saw signage for a station was a few years later in Sask. I was driving through a fairly densely treed park. Same kind of situation. Come around a curve at highway speed, see the sign. No directional signage as to where it is located. There was a grid road about 100m past the sign, but there was nothing set up anywhere close to the highway that I could see. Basically same situation all over again, I'm trying to figure out where a station is that is not in plain view from the highway. I cut my speed, turn the hazard lights on. Eventually I've gone a couple km and start thinking I should just find a decent spot to turn around, which I'm not having a lot of luck with. I'm not about to make a three point turn off a twisty highway into the few small approaches I'd seen. Eventually I find myself probably 5km from the signs and say screw it. I end up at an intersection into Manitoba and figured I'd google the station locations. No cell service. Decided to have a look online later when I did have service and they did not have any info available. If they want people to comply they need to make a reasonable effort to indicate locations.

Then last year I did a trip up to the Flin Flon area. Co-worker was up a few weeks before me an said the inspection station wasn't set up at the usual spot at the turnoff to Clearwater. Googled prior to my trip and near as I could tell that location must have been done for the year. Nothing set up when I went by on my way up. Two weeks later and I'm on my way home, not giving the inspection station a second thought. As I pass that intersection for Clearwater I see the station set up. Lovely. So now I'm asking myself if I was in a daze and didn't see the signs or what. Again, I'm a bit anxious about having driven past while I continue driving while looking for a safe spot to turn around on a busy highway. Headed back to the station and ask if I missed the signs or what the deal was. Nope, all good, only for northbound traffic. I was curious later and decided to look online, now the schedule is showing for that location. But no mention that it is only for northbound traffic.

My only frustrating experience actually going through an inspection station was near Moosomin, SK. My boat had been decontaminated immediately after getting off the Red River at Selkirk park the day prior. Tag still on my winch, paper work in my console. Had just gone through this earlier in the morning driving past Headingly (15 minute wait, 2 vehicles in front of me). I pull up and I'm relieved there isn't a lineup in front of me, thinking this is going to be quick and easy. Wrong. The fella manning the station starts asking all kinds of questions and wants to look the boat over because "he doesn't like the way Manitoba does things". Ok, I'm not exactly in a rush so I roll with it. One question he asks is if they took the large round cover off in the splashwell and ran water in there. I said I didn't believe so, but I did think they pumped water in from the outside of the drain plug hole. He said that isn't adequate. So now he wants to decontaminate inside around the bilge pump. Tries taking that round cover off and it won't budge since that area gets damp and fills with dust. So now I'm fighting with it. I don't have a hammer with me, or anything with a decent blunt edge to tap with. Eventually opened up my large hook removing pliers and tried twisting the cover off. The pliers snapped and I slammed my knuckles into the cowling. I'm surprised that all I managed to do was let out a long sigh. I think the fella started realizing that this whole thing might have been a bit much and asked me about my boat storage methods and when I intend to fish next, etc. I had no plans of fishing for at least 3 weeks so he eventually said I could carry on. I did make a suggestion that if Saskatchewan's stance is that Manitoba's decontamination process isn't on par with their expectations that it might be worth having his higher ups open up some dialog with Manitoba and maybe come to some sort of working agreement. I told him we were fortunate it wasn't a heavy traffic day, if there were 10 vehicles lined up behind me in that 30 degree heat there likely would have been some cranky people to deal with. All told I spent about 40 minutes of idle time that day between the two inspection stations, broke a pair of pliers and bruised my knuckles. For a boat that had already been decontaminated. I don't have an issue with the stations, I agree with the reason for having them but the provinces should be working together to recognize each other's decontamination process. And having a bypass line for those who have been through a station previously probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Pull up to the bypass line with paperwork in hand and tag and tag in tact, thumbs up and carry on. No half hour wait in line for that 30 second interaction.
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  #32  
Old 08-12-2022, 09:17 PM
raised by wolves raised by wolves is offline
 
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I was in BC with my canoe up top and drove past a checkpoint. I truly believed the inspection stops were intended for power boats that may take in a ballast and not canoes or kayaks, especially not a canoe that had yet to be put into the water. I drove past and quickly had the RCMP in pursuit. The officer was actually really good about it as I thought he was pulling me over for speeding. Had to drive back and go through the inspection. My son was only 5 at the time so he was able to play Police Officer and assist with the inspection and loaded up on stickers. Managed to acquire some free resources for my Outdoor Ed classroom and it turned out that I had been in the same regiment as the RCMP officer's brother. So, all turned out well.
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