Water Levels

Great Lakes

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2016
1,444
Lake St. Clair - Michigan (MacRay Harbor)
Boat Info
2008 - Formula 400ss
Engines
Volvo Penta D6-350
So the water levels are higher than last year for the same period. The bay's should be over our heads next summer
Superior +7 (inches)
Michigan/Huron +11
St. Clair +8
Erie +11
Ontario +13
Screen Shot 2017-12-15 at 7.13.45 AM.png
 
I suppose I should start building those steps for the dock! It's amazing how different entering/exiting the boat is from year to year with these kinds of water level changes. We were practically jumping down into our boat 3 years ago. We'll be climbing up to get in this year. Good stuff.
 
With a choice of extreme's I'll choose too high, but too much of a good thing isn't always good!

y4mCy53hk16xf7-g1E5ZaS-A4b8BhO4KT9pvo_3E6yjKAiZ307rm9sG70b6a6MfMTmJSJJNd1e4HqwL_JffJxYq0G52VfQXLWp5Sbj4vWMPeSbQCd-EzBE5KSRGEXkA_lmkMLi3MGzCo3UbMznh4ZpzTvaG7jhZ_RytNwLuBQh42rO_rh09B3h-64nVCT1dc1BsH0eYyNjNuErWoYGHNLgpYg


Loss of beaches, erosion, excessive flotsam, damage to docks and structures, electrical infrastructure underwater...

I'll hope for levels slightly less or equal to 2017's...
 
I 100% agree RC. I thought last summer was a good level.

I suppose I should start building those steps for the dock! It's amazing how different entering/exiting the boat is from year to year with these kinds of water level changes. We were practically jumping down into our boat 3 years ago. We'll be climbing up to get in this year. Good stuff.

My boat neighbor is on the corp team that measures the water weekly. He's saying we have another 3-5 years of increase levels then a gradual downturn. The crazy thing is, right now we're 20" below the highest on record in 1986. You're gonna need a flight of stairs :D
 
I 100% agree RC. I thought last summer was a good level.



My boat neighbor is on the corp team that measures the water weekly. He's saying we have another 3-5 years of increase levels then a gradual downturn. The crazy thing is, right now we're 20" below the highest on record in 1986. You're gonna need a flight of stairs :D

It is crazy to think about that much water. 20 more inches and I'd be able to wax my hull from the dock!
 
With a choice of extreme's I'll choose too high, but too much of a good thing isn't always good!

y4mCy53hk16xf7-g1E5ZaS-A4b8BhO4KT9pvo_3E6yjKAiZ307rm9sG70b6a6MfMTmJSJJNd1e4HqwL_JffJxYq0G52VfQXLWp5Sbj4vWMPeSbQCd-EzBE5KSRGEXkA_lmkMLi3MGzCo3UbMznh4ZpzTvaG7jhZ_RytNwLuBQh42rO_rh09B3h-64nVCT1dc1BsH0eYyNjNuErWoYGHNLgpYg


Loss of beaches, erosion, excessive flotsam, damage to docks and structures, electrical infrastructure underwater...

I'll hope for levels slightly less or equal to 2017's...

I'm hoping for a bit less - about 10 inches.
With fixed docks, we damn near needed a Sherpa to get in to the boat a few times.
Ended up building a 2 level modular set of steps by the end of the season we really only needed the one section.
 
We have seen the 1986 Lake Michigan record high and also we have experienced within an inch of the record lows of the 1960s at our home. When the water was at its lowest we could get onto our boat's hardtop from our dock. We put a ladder on the dock so guests could get down to the boat to board it and get off. Last summer we put our 1986 steps back on the dock for guests to use to get up to the walk around deck when boarding. With 1986 levels, the swim platform is an easy option for boarding as well. We are not there yet, but another 19" and the swim platform will be about 9" below the deck on our dock. We beefed up the rip rap on our sea wall last summer. I hate spending money on piles of rocks.
 
Interesting article in the paper last week about our waters. Not about levels, about lake effect. 37 years in this house and that storm in '14 was the only time I have ever had to shovel off the roof. Felt like I had all of that 1.2" of Lake Erie in my yard.
Lake has been above average temperature from very warm fall, but recent cold temps have it at about normal temperature now, if that continues it will freeze within about a month.
Hopefully the levels will stabilize somewhat, Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence were a mess last year, felt so bad for the residents and boaters there, and lots of damage.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/12/09/sensors-could-make-lake-effect-snow-forecasting-more-precise/
 
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I'm enjoying the lake levels here on Lake St. Clair. It reminds me of when I use to go everywhere in my 220 Sundeck, only now I'm in my 400 Sundancer. At my marine we used to use a ladder to access the boat from the swim platform. This year I just step from the dock to the upper swim platform.
 
The lakes have and will fluctuate like this for eternity. I love the high levels, but on the other hand, we know that drought conditions and lower levels are in the future.

I wonder what happened to everyone that thought global warming was causing the low lake levels? Or the conspiracy theories about the hole in the Saint Clair river or the Chinese ships coming in and stealing water out of the Great Lakes o_O. Have not heard a word about that the past couple of years.:D:D:D
 
I grew up on Lake Huron and got used to the fixed-level docks. Then moved away and where we are now there are only floating docks.

Makes me wonder why, in areas like the Great Lakes where there is so much variance in water levels that they would build fixed docks. Our here we might have 3' difference in levels from high years to low years, but with floating docks it makes no diff what the water level is.
Here are two pics of our floating docks....
P30200281.jpg


P30200321.jpg

I realize most fixed-level docks wouldn't need to be this fancy but certainly it wouldn't be much more difficult to make the docks so they could float up and down on the pilings.
 
we know that drought conditions and lower levels are in the future.
That's the the part that's not so fun. The pendulum will swing back

Then moved away and where we are now there are only floating docks.
We have floating docks at our marina and it's great. You don't have to constantly adjust dock lines. Lake St. Clair gets kinda lean when water gets too low. Better know where you're heading
 
We have floating docks at our marina and it's great. You don't have to constantly adjust dock lines. Lake St. Clair gets kinda lean when water gets too low. Better know where you're heading

GFC first saw his boat in Building 1. Floating docks are definitely easy to get used to! Looking at pics in Bldg 1 from the previous years with low water makes the boats look like toys. They sat SO LOW. We used ladders to get up and down. Now you can just step aboard.
 
IMG_2781.JPG A few years back we could walk under our dock and not get our feet wet. There is four feet of water near the shore now and 25 feet at the end. We are the same level as Lake Michigan/Lake Huron. That is a lot of water.
IMG_2781.JPG
 
GFC first saw his boat in Building 1. Floating docks are definitely easy to get used to! Looking at pics in Bldg 1 from the previous years with low water makes the boats look like toys. They sat SO LOW.
Is this building 1, and is this the low water condition you're talking about?

P4130845.jpg

Definitely need a pair of climbing boots to get down to some of these boats.
 
Yep! That’s low, but it has been even lower. One winter it got so low that my rubrail went under the bottom of post and got stuck. Probably 5’ below the top of the dock.

What year was that? About ‘09?
 
Our marina on Georgian Bay (same lake body as Huron/Michigan) has floating docks. Last summer for the first time in 15yrs there, the ramps from shore to the fuel dock was uphill. (the docks are about 2ft above water, the shore was only 1ft). Crazy. One of the other marina's in our area have fixed docks. I stayed there one year before we went where we are now and that was in the low water years. They had to install wooden ladders for people to get down to their boats in the slips. That was a royal pain in the A$$ when loading things down a ladder.
 

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