One day while working at my computer, I noticed that pictures of houseboats were going up in my “Yellowknife” stream on Twitter. I was curious about what was going on. Apparently a gentleman by the name of Stephan P. Sweeting was up in Yellowknife visiting his son Nick Sweeting. He had expressed the interest of touring around on the ice getting a closer look at the houseboats, so that is exactly what they did. At the same time they were uploading photos of each house. I, instantly, thought those would make for an interesting post, both for resident and those interested in Yellowknife.
I have always found the houseboats in Yellowknife Bay to be interesting and unique. They are a community like no other, because these houseboats are like no other. Some might think a houseboat should really be a moving, powered, boat looking type of vehicle and they maybe right, but those are nothing like Yellowknife houseboats.
The best way I can describe a Yellowknife houseboat is, a floating house. You could almost just pick these houses up and put them on land. That being said, they would still look unique. You see, each house looks different, each house was build different. The architecture and colour of them is what catches the eyes of passer byres. Beside the point of being unique looking, these houses are also self sustaining. You can’t get much more environmentally friendly than these houses, especially when you don’t have a choice. Solar for power, wood for heat and cooking as well as propane, compostable toilets, no driveways!
To those who live in these wonderful houses, what do you like about them? For those who don’t, could you ever?
The famous Snowking and his castle will be celebrating 15 years of Snowmotion this year and they are going to start it off with a bang. What started as some winter enjoyment for his highness’ children has become a local tradition. The fireworks, which will be the bang, will be taking place Sunday, February 28, at 8:30 down on the ice of Yellowknife Bay. Although the Royalty wants everyone to come and be comfortable, they ask that you leave pets at home and if possible car pool or walk. If you drive, they ask you park in the parking lot and stay out of the danger area. It will be amazing.
Don’t get the wrong idea thinking that the fireworks are going to be the best part of the festival, heck, it is just the beginning. The festival lasts all of March and there will be a lot happening all the time. It truly is a local treasure and everyone should have a chance to see and experience the Snowking Winter Festival.
You can head over to the new Snowking.ca website where you’ll find all the info about the Castle and people behind it. There is an extensive schedule that will fill you in on all the happenings of the festival.
With all the warm weather we have had lately I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get out on the snowmobile and explore Yellowknife Bay. I started on Frame Lake and made my way to Back Bay and Yellowknife Bay from there. If you have never had the opportunity to walk, ski, drive or snowmobile Yellowknife Bay I highly recommend you do so. The Bay holds a very special place in Yellowknife, with so many unique things to see.
One of them being something we may take for granted is the road system on the ice. With roads leading from houseboat to houseboat to the castle and the Fish Plant all built on a couple feet of ice. It is something that is just neat in its self. Having roads leading from place to place you have a better chance to get up close to the several houseboats occupying the area and admire some of the architecture. Along with seeing the houseboats you of course can also see the construction of the Snow King’s Castle, if it isn’t finished already, and see what hard work is put into each year.
I always find it surreal to drive a vehicle on the ice right beside a boat frozen in the ice. Just the thought alone sounds surreal, this is why I love Yellowknife.
There are so many interesting and unique places and structures around the bay, to many to name all of them. What are your favorite things around the bay or rather what sticks out the most to you?
Yesterday was a crazy day I don’t really remember what happened. I did manage to do one thing though and that was read the paper. I know it is not what others might do, but the mystery of the UFO caught my eye. Although the UFO is not the reason I am writing this, the Yellowknife Bay regulations is. I am going to keep this short, like really short as I am trying to get this done between jobs.
The issue I want to discuss with you is about the houseboaters. The City of Yellowknife and INAC want to regulate Yellowknife Bay as they believe it is becoming crowded with houseboats, planes and boats. So what was brought up was the issue of restrictions being put on houseboaters or rather those wanting to build a houseboat. At the moment there are no restrictions as far as I’m aware. Regulating the harbor would include such things like speeds, buildings, development, etc.
To go a little off topic, I believe the Yellowknife Bay house boats are a tourist attraction. Where else in Canada will you find a floating house community. It is just flat-out neat.
My question is should there be restrictions on where and how houseboats are built? I realize this post isn’t up to par and I will come back on this when I’m in a better state of mind.
Living on a houseboat is an experience like no other. Creating power by your own means, solar, wind or generator. Waking up each morning to stoke the fire. Both in the summer and winter living on a houseboat gives you a backyard like no other. It gives you a thrill like no other to know that you depend on no one but yourself.
That being said there are 2 times a year when living on a houseboat can be some what risky. During freeze up and thawing. Think about it, how do you get from mainland to a house when the ice is to thick to cut through but to thin to safely walk on. Well this video I found will give you an idea. You will also get a tour of some of Yellowknife’s more famous houseboats.
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