But hundreds of people were not prepared for the strong winds and challenging weather conditions, which blew about 1,500 people out of American waters and over the border.
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A floater yelled, “God bless Canada!” as he was being rescued, CBC News reports.
The St. Clair River is an worldwide shipping channel and both the Canadian Shipowners Association and the U.S. Lake Carriers’ Association issued a joint statement earlier this month urging that the Port Huron Float Down be nixed for good.
The Facebook group for the Port Huron Float Down event thanked the Canadians for their swift action calling them “amazing neighbors”. But in time, the Canadian Coast Guard, along with the federal and provincial police, came to their rescue.
Due to the hard conditions, some rafts deflated.
“They have the right to do that, and we have little mechanism to stop it”, said Mike Brown of the Canadian Coast Guard.
Most of the “floaters” had to be recovered from the water and then towed to shore. “They were terrified of entering another country without documentation”. Numerous partying Americans were very concerned about landing in Canada without any identification and made a decision to take their chances swimming back to the United States.
“It was a bit of a nightmare, but we got through it”, Mr Clarke said.
After transporting 19 busloads of Americans to United States Customs and Border Patrol, Canadian authorities could finally take a breath – and pat themselves on the back.
Sarnia Police, Lambton OPP, the Canadian Coast Guard, Lambton EMS and other agencies responded quickly, but fortunately just a few minor injuries were reported.
A number of local authorities in the area have called for an end to the Float Down over safety fears.
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Those 1,500 revelers were all put on Sarnia Transit buses and brought back to Port Huron, Mich. without incident or questioning (and without passports, most likely).
