Canadian Yachting May 2015 - (Page 26)
FEATURE
Ghost Lake, Alberta
Sailing in the Splendor of
Alberta's Rocky Mountains
By Tom and Kathleen Kjaersgaard
Ghost Lake offers boaters beautiful mountain views
and pastoral scenery. Photo Courtesy of Don Stengler
hen we (an Ontario couple) both raised sailing
on the Great Lakes and Lake Simcoe, decided
to pack up and move our lives and careers to
Cochrane, Alberta (minutes West of Calgary) in 2013, our
rationalization banter went a bit like this:
"OK, considering that it's Alberta...not a boating paradise...
let's just embrace the change. Sell the boat (our much loved
Olson 25) and then we'll just move-on and pursue other
hobbies. How about golfing more maybe? We've pretty much
ignored golf for the last 15 years right? So we agree - we'll
replace the boating with golfing and who knows what other
Alberta adventures on the weekends."
Seems reasonable right? Well...not quite. Apparently denial
runs deep in both of us.
In doing pre-move research, we'd heard of Ghost Lake; it's 25
minutes West of Calgary and only 15 minutes West of
Cochrane, our new hometown. However, as the "lake-snobs"
W
26
Canadi an Yachti ng
that we had evolved into over the years, we discounted Ghost
Lake as an option based on what we now know was some
pretty suspect information.
We heard that Ghost Lake isn't a natural lake; it's a dammed
section of the Bow River. We heard about the Ghost Lake
Hydroelectric Dam there, and how this helps safeguard Calgary
from flooding. The lake (like the Bow River itself) is glacier-melt
fed, and the water struggles to break about 12 degrees most
summers. Then combine all of that crazy mountain wind, on a
lake that's not much more than maybe 10 km in
length...hmmm, not really a sailor's dream, is it?
"No way, that's not for us. We'll take a few golf lessons, play
some great courses, and just get back in touch with a life lived
on land."
Since the day we arrived in this wondrous place, Alberta has
MAY 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting May 2015
Vantage Point: Fuelling your dreams
Waterfront: CPS Boating Tools on Video, Sneak Peeks at New models launching, Trent Severn Rideau Waterway update and much more...
Club Profile: Vancouver Rowing Club
Feature: Sharon Green: Sailing Photographer
Destination: Ghost Lake
Destintaion: Croatia
Destination: Georgian Bay Six-pack
Destination: New York Canals
Power Review: Beneteau GT 35
Crossing the Line: Explaining Sailing to Powerboaters
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