Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

[oceansbreeze]

Today was the day! First day towing with new vehicle First launch of the year. Our lake is unseasonably low. (Lake Nipissing, Ontario) and it is 2.5 feet below the norm. Some people have been launching at this spot (and it is where I launched last year)

This is a photo from last year.... as you can see I could float the boat beside the launch. The water was 2 feet right here. Note the trailer tires are submerged, and how high up the ramp the water goes. The van tires are barely wet.

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And now this is today... the rear tires are beyond the part when last year I was floating the boat. Check out the trailer tires....not even submerged, in fact, the bunk was not even wet when I pulled it back out...

(sorry I tried to take a few other photos so you could really see, but people started to watch to see if I was gonna get it floating.... I got self conscious and left))

Check out the story in our paper.... and there is a photo on this link, of one of our beaches. Those buoys in the link, were to keep us boaters from driving into the swimming area... hardly an issue this year...

http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2559030

The few trailers that are parked at the launch, are tilt or roller bunks, for 12-14 footers....

Everybody else will have to pay to launch downtown now... I guess I'm gonna have to too.... Sucks! The above launch is 2 minutes from my house, now I'll have to drive like... 10. l (I know lots of you would love to only have to tow 10 minutes, lol, sorry)

the other ramp, thats even closer.... the water has not even reached the bottom of the ramp yet. At the bottom of the wamp, you can go an extra 10 feet before you hit the water..... now THAT's shallow.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

That sucks !!!! Anywhere else you can go ????

 

[oceansbreeze]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

All the ramps within 30 minute drive on this lake are too low, except for the city owned launch downtown at our waterfront... I just looked at their site... 12 per launch, or $57 per season. It's not unrealistic... just crowded and lots of spectators.

One can also tow to nearby Trout Lake about 20 minutes away from here... but a much smaller lake (7 miles long) and not much to do on that lake really...

I started the thread though, mostly cause I'm sure we're not the only city with water levesl far below the norm.... Was hoping to hear similar stories, and how people are coping.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

I have not ventured out to Lake St Clair yet so far this season due to my seemingly constant business trips at the moment. Our daughter is moving home tomorrow so Monday is our only hope this weekend. I will let you know how it is if we make it.

 

[Brent S]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

Is this because of your lack of snow this year? or did they lower the lake for another reason?

I'm sorry but I think we got your snow here in the mid atlanticthis past year. If it helps, I enjoyed it.

hope you get the rain you need,
Brent

 

[oceansbreeze]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

Yeah, we didn't get any snow in North Ontario this year at all.... snowmobiling was horrible.... went through a set of carbides.

The government reports:
Lake Nipissing
Caution: Low Lake Level Due to Extremely Dry Winter.
As of May 17, 2010 the water level elevation of Lake Nipissing was 195.25 metres. The lake level is 58 centimetres below the long-term average. The lake level is expected to be stable during the next few days. Further change in the lake level is dependent on the amount of inflows and precipitation.

One of the most popular places on this lake is the Feench River, which flows to the Gerorgian Bay.... the government reports this:

French River
Caution: Low River Levels Due to Extremely Dry Winter.
At Dry Pine Bay, the river level on May 17, 2010 was 180.43 metres, which corresponds to a flow of 49 cubic metres per second. The river level is 120 centimetres below the long-term average, which corresponds to a flow of 211 cubic metres per second below the long-term average. The river is expected to be stable during the next few days. Further change in the river levels will be dependent on the amount of inflows and precipitation.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

sorry for yer woes....

it seems to me that the droughts just kinda travel around. we've had them here in recent history. then the south got it. now up north. ya hardly got any snow too if i'm not mistaken. we got more than usual. recent past winters here had hardly no snow. no run off from colo. or montana and wyoming. our major lake in NE. is best i know at 50% of full pool even with normal presipitation. it's still recovering years later.. it got down to 25% of full pool. a 25 mile long lake. dried up.. towns resurfacing..

sure makes boating a challenge when the weathers dishin ya up a drought that's for sure...

 

[bsktball55]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

It's amazing that 2.5 feet makes that big of a difference for you and launching. Most of the ramps around where we go can handle +-10 feet and still be usable. Most of our lakes are flood control reservoirs so they are designed to fluctuate a lot.

 

[Autotech]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

Thats amazing. Down here we are usually in the water by Mid April at the least. But water has been so high I will not put a boat in the lake for fear of pushing water in Peoples Cabins on the banks. Water levels might drop 3'-5-' then comes right back up 5-7'. I have a 3 tier dock that drops 4 feet on each tier to compensate for the water fluxations,and have only seen the top tier twice since December.I bought this place in 1993 and have never seen the Miss. River act like this. Now The US Core of Engineeres say it wil be above Flood stage on June 1. Thats over the road going into my place. Oh well, one thing I have learned is everybody has problems. That's just life. How we handle them is the big thing. Nothing like what they are facing in South La. I will take the high water any day.Sorry for your troubles.

 

[kend301]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

Have the same problem here at times (once or twice a year when a storm is off the coast and tides are just right ) except I am in the water , sorry this is blurry camera was set to close range.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

A lake up in my area, lake sakakawea, was down about 35 feet from the 'normal' level. At that point you feel like you need roadsigns and mileage markers on the ramps that are still in service!

 

[DavidW2009]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

Wanna see some recent drought? Lake Hartwell at Hartwell, Georgia, Jan. 2009.

South Carolina is just out of (9) years of it. It's pretty much over, now.

This is why I put off buying a boat for almost (10) years.

The last photo is the same Lake Hartwell, a few miles from where the other photos were taken, but in Oct., 2009. The lake is still down a bit, but quite useable.

There were other lakes in the area, all manmade, that were unuseable.

 

[IES99]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

Wow, not enough snow in Ontario, when this year parts of the US had record amounts. Darn jet stream. I fished Lake Nipissing (from Monetville) with may dad back in the 1960s. Fond memories of that.

And, on this same thread, I see Lake Hartwell in upstate SC, where I plan to boat this Memorial Day weekend, trailering the boat up from Charleston to spend the weekend with my son who is a student at Clemson.

Lake Hartwell was very low a couple of years ago, but has recovered. That was the same drought that just about ran Atlanta out of drinking water.

Ed

 

[DayCruiser]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

I feel your pain. Droughts do travel around the world. Yours will end soon like ours did in SC. When you are in the midst of one you think it will never end. Very stressful time if you love lakes , boating and just the beauty of a full lake. Just a big world where there has to be a drought sometime and somewhere.

 

[oceansbreeze]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

Heard on the radio an hour ago, that the yacht club is unable to launch many of the sailboats, as there is no water for them at the docks they usually moor at.

This is not to be confused with our waterfront's city owned marina and launch. That ramp is fantastic. Paved all the way down, and deep. I could launch my boat there, and most likely will have to. This ramp has docking for 150+ boats.

But the yacht club is located in a sction known as Callandar Bay (in the town of Callandar) and is one of the deepest areas there is nearby.... unless they have a swing keel, this drought is gonna be a pain this summer..

We have fire burning restrictions everywhere..... no permits are issued, no exceptions.

to Bsktball - the 2.5 only makes a difference at the ramps. Although Lake Nipissing is the 4th largest in Ontario - it is quite shallow. At the beaches, I need to walk our 500 yards to get up to my waist. Now we have 500 yards of shoreline and then the water...

I still need to swing by the other ramp I used last year, and take a photo. The water has not even gotten to the bottom of the ramp yet.

 

[cougar1985]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

i remembered every clown at work who bugged me about no snow for snowmobiling!amazing how many people dont or cant relate snow to melt to runoff to waterlevel at camp.the first fellow worker whom bitches about less water at their dock is gonna get it both barrels,lol.my brothers (montreal river)is down 27 feet with zero runoff coming into it at the moment.

 

[DavidW2009]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

"The water has not even gotten to the bottom of the ramp yet."

Looking for some drought relief, this map came across my screen.

Even if we melted all the polar ice, it doesn't look like it would effect lake levels in Ontario. (It would do a number on Florida and Castro, though.)

BTW, I'm not into faux global warming.

But, I sometimes wonder if these so-called "chemtrails" affect rain fall?

 

[oceansbreeze]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

The first pic, is last year. Boat is floating, and parked beside the ramp..... now check out the next pic. lol

The next pic (taken today) is where the boat above was docked while I parked my trailer. The boat was where the truck is parked. The water is only 6-8 inches deep. People were over at that little island (visible in pic just beyond the pickup), and only up to their ankles.

This last pic (also taken today) is the channel where I would have driven my boat out into the lake. Note the guy standing in the middle of the channel taking photos of the sunset.. lol his tripod is in the water, and he is not even knee deep. There's a red buoy, and a green one a little farther out. Also, last year, I could pass the channel marker on the right (not a wise thing to do - but doable) as you can tell from the cement footings.... not likely to happen anytime soon. lol

 

[Bluesmobile]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

My lake has suffered a 10 year drought. I remember swimming when I was little at my cabin and (we have cinderblocks to prevent erosion) the water lapped just above those cinderblocks. now the water is 3 feet from them, grass has grown in the gap and grandpa can get his pontoon under the bridge from the closest ramp (another one farther down the lake)

Also remember riding in grandpa's 12' SeaKing under that same bridge and we had to duck back in the day.

Its not as bad as yours but I do wish the water would rise alittle.

 

[eastont]

Re: Long Weekend here, and can't launch. No water!

The St. Lawrence River, where I boat, is down about 1 1/2-2 feet. At the marina/club where we keep the boat, some of the slips are unusable because of the lack of water. Where there was enough water to moor a 40 footer, they can only dock small boats. It's a big PITA for the owner trying to find dock space for everybody.