What to do when the lake dries up

[r. gallagher]

I currently have my Hunter 28.5 docked on a big lake in Texas. With our drought continuing, and no relief in sight for the immediate future, I am beginning to plan for a dry lake bed. I have been wondering how to support my boat should we get down to a point where I am no longer floating. I have about four feet of water beneath my keel. Our docks are not floating docks, so we are continually adjusting our lines to accommodate the dropping lake levels. Here is my question for anyone that may have experience with our situation:

As the boat begins to settle into the mud do I:

a) try to balance the boat using all four dock lines to keep her from leaning over

b) careen her using 4x4 (something I have no knowledge about other than pics posted here)

Any help / advice would be appreciated

 

[Amos Cape]

We are facing the same thing here in Kansas. If I was you I would start looking for a trailer!!!! I don't think it a good idea to try and support it in the water like you are thinking of doing. It could do damage and it could take years to get the water back to the normal level or it could happen over night.

We have boats pulling every day. We had one with a six foot keel pull today and they had to pull it with a tractor to get it to the crane. Yes it had some damage.

 

[Fly_H23]

If you have any concerns that the bottom is soft and muddy, why take the chance? If one side holds and the other sinks deep into mud, you might find your damaged severely. Any way you could pull her out with a trailer or lift?

If you cannot pull it out and if the pilings are strong enough, I wonder if you could attach slings under the hull and tie them to pilings? Let the keel sink in the mud and hold it upright with sling? If the marina lets you, this might offer the best chance of not damaging the hull.

 

[zeehag]

pray very very hard for rain......with any luck, mebbe some might come to ye--i hope it is soon...

 

[MrBill_FLL]

remove the boat.

-how much weight will that mud support?

where will it stop sinking? will it stop before the cabin is under mud? (do you feel lucky)

maybe you can ask your insurance agent if its covered as a mitigation for further damages.

 

[zeehag]

practical answer to my smartass one-- haul and dry store vs relocate to area wherein there is water..... goood luck and may the texas drought be relieved soon.

 

[FourPoints]

huge public works project; build a large pipeline from the NE to the plains / south to divert all the rain and floodwater we have had here...

 

[Johnb]

Every experience I have ever had with keels/centerboards slicing into mud, and getting stuck, with the boat still floating and subject to wind, waves and tides has been BAD.

Get it out while you still can is my instinct.

 

[r. gallagher]

Thanks All

The lake is too low to pull out with a trailer. The marina is really not a sailboat friendly marina, in that there is no travel lift, crane, or any other system in place. Add to that, the owner just walked away from the business and let it go back to the bank due to the slow business because of the drought. I never thought about pulling the boat because it was one of those things where you just know the rains will come and the lake will return. Every time the rain was forcast, it would go around us. Then we had the possiblity of rain from TS Lee. But, a cold front came down and pushed Lee eastward. At least we are now out of the 100 degree temps.

I do have a robust dock with steel piers that I tie on to. I guess I will try the four corners and 4x4 beams in combination. The bottom is mud/sand so not worried about rocks.

 

[JST123]

Looking at your dock in the picture why not put hoisting straps under the hull and attach them to the dock supports. One forward, one aft and then attach a strap on ech side between the two for and aft staps to keep them pulling together. The marina owner is not going to complain, as you stated he walked away form it all.

 

[Chris Blubaugh]

wow

doesn't look like you are alone! what is everyone else doing?

 

[justsomeguy]

The lake is too low to pull out with a trailer. The marina is really not a sailboat friendly marina, in that there is no travel lift, crane, or any other system in place. Add to that, the owner just walked away from the business and let it go back to the bank due to the slow business because of the drought. I never thought about pulling the boat because it was one of those things where you just know the rains will come and the lake will return. Every time the rain was forcast, it would go around us. Then we had the possiblity of rain from TS Lee. But, a cold front came down and pushed Lee eastward. At least we are now out of the 100 degree temps.

I do have a robust dock with steel piers that I tie on to. I guess I will try the four corners and 4x4 beams in combination. The bottom is mud/sand so not worried about rocks.

As far as drought goes, I hear you, and I wish my 100's were history.
I do like JST123's idea.

 

[Deadline]

Terrible situation

Just today we got caught in a gale on the York River that briefly resembled a tropical storm. I told one crew member that it could be much worse, "We could be in Texas!" You have our deepest sympathy.

 

[JohnS]

Any other marinas on the lake with a travel lift? Can you get to them with the water this low? (If necessary, you could hang some weight off the mast to heel the boat way over, lifting the keel.)

 

[dhays]

Any other marinas on the lake with a travel lift? Can you get to them with the water this low? (If necessary, you could hang some weight off the mast to heel the boat way over, lifting the keel.)

+1

Get the boat out of the water while you still can. The Hunter got in the lake somehow, so I would assume there is a Travel Lift somewhere. I like the idea of calling the insurance company and telling them that you want to get the boat out of the lake to prevent damage. They may help pay for it.

Find SOMEWHERE on the lake where you can pull the boat. As JohnS mentioned, you can empty the water and holding tanks and hang weights off the halyards to induce a heel to reduce your draft a bit and get someone to gently tow you to where you can haul the boat.

Face it, you can't sail it and you can't sell it. Getting it out is the only way to salvage a bad situation until, and if, the drought changes.

 

[Fly_H23]

If you can move it out of the marina, perhaps you can find a deep spot and drop a mooring? Is it a state owned lake ask the park service first of course.

 

[Joe Diver]

I'm in Harbor One on Eagle Mountain....we've been staying around 5.5 feet low, but it's starting to drop more. I have 2.5' under my keel.

They sent out notices a couple weeks ago that they're relocating the marina, starting yesterday. They're going to tow the docks out into the slough to deeper water. While there won't be power/water, they will be providing skiffs to ferry people out to their boats. I'm more worried about security than anything else...normally we have a security guard who walks the docks at night and keeps an eye on things...don't know what is planned when they have the whole marina out in the slough.

In this pic you can see a barge out in the slough driving pilings:

You can see how low we're getting:

I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions for your issue....but good luck....we've got to get rain soon....and I bet we get flooding rains, the lakes will come back up, and go way up.....

 

[rdwalker]

Wow, you guys are really hurting. If it were me, I'd try to pull the boat out, since the extent of the drought and the duration are unknown. Your boat could wind up standing on dry land, perhaps.

Then again, it could be just the opposite. I took this picture last Sunday, Memorial Day Weekend, on the eastern side of Lake Champlain Valley. Too much of a good thing? And it is still raining...

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

huge public works project; build a large pipeline from the NE to the plains / south to divert all the rain and floodwater we have had here...

One of Obama's "shovel ready" projects? :dance:

 

[r. gallagher]

sail boat unfriendly lake?

Our lake is a great lake to sail on. It is approximately 33,000 acres (when it has water!!) with over 320 miles of shoreline. It is not a Corps of Engineers lake so houses dot the shore all over the lake.

That said, it is not really a sailboat friendly lake (IMHO). There is only one full service marina and that is where I have my boat, and now he is closed. We only have about 10 sailboats docked there and only 4 of us sail our boats regularly. My wife and I are on our boat every weekend and spend over nighters on the boat regularly during the year. There is no travel lift, no crane. We have no marina that services sailboats with trailers to haul out, bottom jobs, etc. The marina owner once told me that if the boat does not have a big motor on the back end he ain't interested! Our slips are out front (for depth purposes) and I really believe that people sitting at the marina restuarant enjoy watching the sailboats while they eat, even if most just sit and rock in the slip. There are a lot of people that live on the lake that have sailboats at their docks. We always comment while sailing that we never see more than one or two more boats on the lake while we are out. You do see a lot when the yacht club races but after the race they all go home. We wish there was more sailing on the lake and more sailboats at our dock with active sailors.