"Hell hath no fury like Kootenay Lake in a 60 mph wind."
So thought the passengers on the Kootenay Lake Ferry "Anscomb's" 12:40 p.m. run on Tuesday July 23, 1985, when ferocious north winds whipped the lake into waves estimated at 6 - 10 feet tall.
The voyage got off to a bad start as soon as the ferry pulled out of the Balfour landing. Wind prevented the normal turn eastward and drove the "Anscomb" back into the pilings, knocking an entire bundle of them into the water.
Passenger John Muise, of Riondel, told The Review that at that point he began wondering about the abisability of continuing the crossing.
Continue they did, however, and it turned out to be a trip that everyone on board will remember.
Mrs. Blandine Gillard of Crawford Bay was in her brother Hubert Letourneau's truck at the very front
of the boat. As the waves broke higher and higher across the bow, Mrs. Gillard remarked, "I think we'd be
better off upstairs." Moments later, a tremendous wave poured over the truck and smashed the windshield into
their laps. As they sat stunned, two more rollers came pounding into the cab, drenching them both from head to
foot. They abandoned the truck and headed upstairs, where water was flying past the observation deck windows to
the bridge deck above. "Everything that wasn't nailed down was rolling around upstairs" Mrs.Gillard says.
"It was scary."
John Muise seconded that opinion." I've been riding that boat for a long time and I was damned uneasy. I thought it was gonna go over a few times."
Mr. Letourneau's 1985 GMC truck sustained damage to the grill and radio as well as the windshield. The other car at the front of the boat, belonging to a man from Spokane, had its windshield seal popped out of place.
Mr. Letourneau was told by the "Anscomb" crew that the Highways Ministry was not responsible for damages resulting from "acts of God".
District Highways Manager G. Sutherland told The Review that damage to the pilings at Balfour amounted to an eastimated $ 5,0000. To sail or not to sail is at the discretion of the ferry's captain, he said.