Big Blue, the sinking Yellowknife houseboat, all but entirely disappeared as a windy Thanksgiving weekend blew most of its remnants into Yellowknife Bay.
The houseboat has been in distress for years. Repair work in 2023 went wrong and, despite subsequent attempts to rejuvenate the houseboat, a plan to remove it from Yellowknife Bay was in place by this summer.
Houseboaters cleaned up the deck earlier in the summer and were waiting for freeze-up to remove larger pieces, like the houseboat’s frame.
At the beginning of October, Big Blue started to become partially submerged and looked like it might not make it until the lake froze.
With wind gusts from the south above 50 km/h for much of Sunday afternoon (a weather station on Yellowknife Bay maintained by CasCom registered gusts above 70 km/h), its descent into the lake became a lot quicker. By 6pm, only parts of its roof and platform pierced the water’s surface.
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High winds are expected to continue Sunday evening. Environment Canada forecasts winds to continue from the south at 40 km/h gusting to 60, eventually diminishing to 20 km/h gusting to 40.
How a winter clean-up plan for Big Blue will be executed if its remains are below the ice was not immediately clear.
