Looks like my boating will be severly curtailed for now

Dave I checked the Allison Creek ramp and that's a big no way.
The end of the ramps are almost uncovered. I watched a couple of boats (small) run their trailers off the ends trying to load up.
I still need to check Southpoint.
 
Time for Florida

Hey Dave, bring her to Florida .. fly down for long weekends and boat year round!
 
Here is a picture I took which says it all. The floating docks are high sided on dry land and tilting badly. You will also notice a back hoe digging out the area where the fork lift set's the dry storage boats in the water. At full pond the water level is right below that white pipe you see in the picture. I checked ouy my wet slip again yesterday and my depth meter still shows 2.3 feet under the boat...........not too much margin of safety but better than some which are barely floating. In fact there is a 240 Sundeck with it's outdrive already tilted up but stuck in the mud. So he only has a few inches of water under his keel. Interestingly, the Sea Tow boat is in about the same type of situation with just several inches of water in their slip as well.

This weekend ought to be "interesting" as folks show up to get their boats out since last weekend was no where near this bad.


DSC03140.jpg


Here's a picture taken a few years ago looking back from the other end of those docks when the lake was at full pond. That white pipe you see in the picture above is not showing but it is under the support running to the pump on the dock.

DSC00172.jpg
 
5.2 feet as of this AM Charlie. I could be wrong, but if it drops another foot, I question whether they will be able to get any boats in or out of the Marina including the hundreds of boats in dry storage. A foot or two of water makes a huge difference on our lake since it is not that deep to begin with. We noticed quite a few boats sitting high and dry all around the lake when we were last out on Thursday. It kind of reminded me of the predicament boaters had on your lake (Lake Murray) over the last several years. Maybe I should buy some Stabil for my fuel at this point. :smt009

This story was in today's Charlotte Observer:

Low water levels pose boating hazards
Lake Wylie closes 2 access ramps; shoals surface at Lake Norman


With lake levels falling and a worsening drought, Duke Energy on Friday warned boaters of potential hazards and closed two boat ramps on Lake Wylie. Lake Norman and Lake Wylie have dipped to about two feet below their targeted ranges, leaving boats on Lake Wylie stranded in an area once filled with water."There are shoals sticking out ... normally covered by water," said Alan Stopko, a frequent Lake Norman boater. The closed ramps are at the Copperhead boat access area in Mecklenburg County.

The drought, which has dried waterways throughout Western North Carolina all summer, moved into the Piedmont this week. Local governments have enacted voluntary or mandatory restrictions on water use. Other than the severe drought of 1998-2002, lake levels typically hover around the target range, said Duke Energy spokeswoman Marilyn Lineberger. Duke urges water conservation.

Despite the low water levels, Lineberger said the levels must drop a couple of more feet before Duke would encourage local governments to enact mandatory water restrictions. Drinking water supplies should remain unaffected. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities on Friday urged customers to water lawns no more than twice a week and wash only full loads of dishes and laundry to save water.
 
Some lakes are still flooded here in N. TX. Lake Texoma is 64% in the flood pool, Lake Lewisville is 7.5ft into the flood pool, these are lakes near Dallas/Ft Worth. In Wichita Falls where I live, Lake Arrowhead, Lake Kemp and Lake Kickapoo, are at or above 100%. It hasn't been like this since 1998. Waurika Lake, which is across the border in OK, is 32% into the flood pool.
 
Dave,

Sorry to hear about that. Lake Murray is about 3.5' down from it's normal level. Even so, I can still stern my boat in. Let's hope for some rain. Good luck.

Oh and if you need space for your 260, feel free to drop her off at my dock. I promise I won't put to many hours on her.
 
ruf1967 said:
Some lakes are still flooded here in N. TX. Lake Texoma is 64% in the flood pool, Lake Lewisville is 7.5ft into the flood pool, these are lakes near Dallas/Ft Worth. In Wichita Falls where I live, Lake Arrowhead, Lake Kemp and Lake Kickapoo, are at or above 100%. It hasn't been like this since 1998. Waurika Lake, which is across the border in OK, is 32% into the flood pool.

Can anyone boat in those conditions? I imagine the floating debris is pretty bad too. You have my sympathy because we have had high water levels here too several times in the past 6 years that I have boated on our lake. Nothing akin to the flooding you have had but pretty bad nonetheless. Our lake turns catsup red when it get's like that too and once the rains come all the debris from the open low lying areas that get flooded comes floating down the lake too.

I hpoe your water levels will recede back to normal real soon.
 
SML for some reason never gets much affected. We are less than two feet below full pond today and I have never seen it much more than 3 feet below full pond, that leaves us with plenty water to go to 99% of all areas on the lake.
 
Alex D said:
SML for some reason never gets much affected. We are less than two feet below full pond today and I have never seen it much more than 3 feet below full pond, that leaves us with plenty water to go to 99% of all areas on the lake.

When we were going to buy a lot on Smith Mountain Lake that's one of the things we liked. The water levels were controlled real well. I still love that lake. :thumbsup:
 
shrike said:
Here in Texas and OK, we have the oposite problem. Some say it may be September before Texoma is at a level that is usable. If we dont get any more rain!

I rented a slip this weekend for Aug and Sept so that we can get some boating in this year. With the help of the marina manager, who guided us, we took an old service road to launch and get to the marina.

I may get spoiled as this is pretty nice to just jump on and go, then hang out with the 'neighbors' in the evenings.
 
Larry&Leisa said:
shrike said:
Here in Texas and OK, we have the oposite problem. Some say it may be September before Texoma is at a level that is usable. If we dont get any more rain!

I rented a slip this weekend for Aug and Sept so that we can get some boating in this year. With the help of the marina manager, who guided us, we took an old service road to launch and get to the marina.

I may get spoiled as this is pretty nice to just jump on and go, then hang out with the 'neighbors' in the evenings.

Be carefull with that nice boat! there are a few guys that are not taking anything our except for their dinghy or jet ski. Aparently there is a ton of debris floating just at the water line such as uprooted telephone poles, dead cows, tires, and many other objects just dying to break off your BIII :grin:
 
shrike said:
Be carefull with that nice boat! there are a few guys that are not taking anything our except for their dinghy or jet ski. Aparently there is a ton of debris floating just at the water line such as uprooted telephone poles, dead cows, tires, and many other objects just dying to break off your BIII :grin:

yeah... we had just been taking out the waverunners, but now that we are down 17' (only 15' more to go!) most of the debris has settled on the banks (and ramp roads). We still take it easy tho of course and don't venture into the areas we don't know.
 
We FINALLY got our Sundancer back from the shop and will splash her once again this weekend at Keowee.... it's only 2 ft down. If anyone is interested I'll post a report next week and letcha know if it would be worth the trip to cruise the upstate area on Keowee.
 
Gerald..........glad to hear you finally got the boat back. Let us know how it runs after you have had a chance to test her out.

We did manage to get out this weekend but it meant putting the outdrive in the trailer position (and turning off the engine) and coasting to glide over the bad areas. Even then I felt a little "tug" or two on the outdrive as it caught a little bit of mud. I saw two 280DAs just plowing thru the mud with their outdrives churning everything up big time. If you try to head out in these conditions with an inboard you risk a lot of damage so all those folks seem to be staying put.

So far the water levels have been holding. But if we lose another 6 inches of water that will be it.............boating will be over for us until water levels come up.
 
Hey Dave, Don't you think it is time for the new 260 trailer and tow vehicle? :grin: You could move to the coast where the water rises and falls daily. :smt043
 
midway said:
Hey Dave, Don't you think it is time for the new 260 trailer and tow vehicle? :grin: You could move to the coast where the water rises and falls daily. :smt043

That would be great Nolan except for the cost to buy a Diesel Powered Truck and suitable trailer and then rent a storage facility where I could keep everything..................then of course there is the additional insurance and fuel to drive the truck...yada, yada, yada. :smt101
:smt043
 
Gerald,

Glad to hear you got her going again. :thumbsup:
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,944
Messages
1,422,724
Members
60,927
Latest member
Jaguar65
Back
Top