DAWSON CITY – The George Black ferry was put to rest on its winter berth shortly after 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, after a few final crossings that morning.

It had been announced that the final run, returning to the Dawson side of the Yukon River, was to have been at 11 p.m. Monday.

“We had to cease operations just around eight o’clock because it was too foggy and we couldn’t see,” said Jim Regimbal, the Northern Area superintendent for the Department of Highways and Public Works.

“I received a few phone calls and touched base with our foreperson (Peter Nagano), and we decided to put some runs on in the morning so that people could put their affairs in order.”

West Dawsonites had been expecting another three hours of crossings on Monday night, so the ferry did those on Tuesday morning, ending at about 11:45.

The extraction is three days earlier than last year, but ice has begun showing in the river.

As well, after the mechanical problems with one of its propellers and a drive shaft caused interrupted service during the summer, the department was not sure that the George Black could handle pushing through even mild ice before final repairs to its systems are made.

The summer repairs were a quick fix to get the boat moving again during a time when travel had already been disrupted by fires and floods elsewhere along the route to the Klondike.

“There was still some vibration after that so we’ve been cautious and have run the boat on shorter hours – 7 to 11, instead of 24/7,” Regimbal said.

“We have the parts, and they’re going to be installed properly (which will take some time) before next season.”

Ice has been showing up on and off since last Friday as the temperatures have fluctuated between -15 and +8 C, and the weather has been a mix of snow, rain and ice pellets, often on the same day.

Snow-covered floes that were easy to see were there late in the week. By Sunday, these had given way to transparent window panes that were hardly visible from the shore.

One resident who had travelled across on Tuesday morning recalled seeing a large sheet of nearly invisible ice from the boat, which hit the boat, and did not shatter, which is what she was expecting it to do. The boat carried on by, and the ice slid by and continued downriver.

Most of the pulling power getting the boat out of the water and up the ramp was provided by four winch trucks from Mercer Contracting, which has been doing the job safely for the last four years.

These trucks have to be booked 10 days in advance, so once they are on the road, it’s not really possible to extend the season.

The hard pull is to get it out of the water and up the inclined ramp to where it can sit without sliding back to the river.

Adjustments to the position and the straight pull to the final berth were made using several loaders.

Before the present system of extraction was inaugurated, the heavy lifting was done by a combination of loaders and graders, linked to the boat by a complicated system of cables and pullies.

The strain on the cables as they went around the two “deadman in the ground” pullies was potentially dangerous.

That was made clear when one year, not too long ago, a cable snapped and a released pulley went bouncing up over the dike and across Front Street to hit the historic Yukon Sawmill. Fortunately, there was no one in its path.

“The timing was good this year, and it’s nice to be able to give people in West Dawson ample warning,” Regimbal said.

“Then, when it does come out, it’s done in a safe manner, which I am really happy about.

“All things considered, I’m happy with this season, and really happy with the travelling public. They were kind – as they always are – but this year they had to put up with a lot.”