What to do when the lake dries up

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J

JohnS

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Sep 25, 2008
177
Islander (Wayfarer/McGlasson) 32 St Georges Harbor
Joe Diver said:
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.
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No reason they can't still provide security. I suggest all the slip owners contact the management and insist they have the guard take a dinghy out to the docks for his rounds. (While in college, I worked as night watchman at a marina. Had to carry a "watch clock" on my rounds and at the end of each dock, put a key in the clock to mark the tape inside with the time I was there. Was a fun job until they kicked out all the liveaboards.)
 
J

JohnS

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Sep 25, 2008
177
Islander (Wayfarer/McGlasson) 32 St Georges Harbor
rgallagher said:
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.
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I'm wondering how your boat got into the lake?
 
R

r. gallagher

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Mar 18, 2007
86
Hunter 28.5 cedar creek lake, tx
transport

To answer the question about how my boat got into the lake:

I purchased the boat while it was at another lake north of Dallas. I hire a transport company to haul the boat to Cedar Creek on a trailer. The laske is too low to trailer a sailboat out. As I said earlier; it was one of those things where you just know the rain will come before it gets any lower. Well, the rains did not come and now it is too late.
 
Merlin Clark

Merlin Clark

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Oct 26, 2005
2,057
- - Satellite Beach, FL.
I've moved a 32' project boat in and out of my yard (actually behind the house) and work boats on and off trailers in weird places using commercial crane services.
The crane services I used here in FL and in GA were very good at what they did and the cost was reasonable. As with many similar services, they charge from the time they leave to the time they return to thier shops and it's by the hour.
Might try to get together with the other boat owners and see if you can get a group together to defer expense. A good crew can snatch a boat out in 15 minutes.
Good luck.
 
T

Tejas

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Dec 15, 2010
164
Beneteau First 36.7 Lake Travis
If you're willing to spend the money ... getting a boat in or out when the water is down is probably possible but can be expensive. When our boat was launched it required first the laying down by a small crane of decking to support the second larger crane used to launch the boat.
 
neilmcc

neilmcc

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Aug 27, 2011
90
Hunter 336 Scotland
If it is too late to get the boat out of the lake and the rains will return sometime in the not too distant future then can you support the boat sitting in the mud and wait it out until the water returns. Many sailboats in tidal waters sit on supporting legs and the keel between tides and float back up nicely when the harbour fills again. It looks unlikely that you will be hit with waves which would cause problems as the boat refloats (if it gets to the stage that it is sitting on the bottom) so, is it feasible to wait it out and look (pray) for rainclouds.
 
JVB

JVB

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Jan 26, 2006
270
Schock Wavelength 24 Lake Murray, SC
Some ideas to consider BEFORE the boat is in the mud:

Put salvage floatation bags under the boat attached to a network of straps. Inflate the bags to enable towing the boat close enough to shore for a crane to lift it onto a trailer or jack stands.
http://www.subsalve.com/emergency.htm

Or leave the salvage bags inflated so the boat comes to rest on the mud bottom like a flat bottom boat would when the water drops.

Or rope together a matrix of old tires about the size of a garage door. Cover the tire mat with old carpet or heavy sheets of plastic. Loosely attach the improvised mat to one side of the boat to protect the side down past the keel as the mat with the boat (laying on its side) on top is dragged out of the water by a heavy duty tow truck or tractor. Use a crane to put the boat on a trailer.
 
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Joe Diver

Joe Diver

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Mar 19, 2011
225
Catalina C25 Eagle Mountain Lake
My brother sent me a couple of pictures of the marina...looks like all but two docks have been towed out. It will be Sunday before I get out there to take pix.



 
Hermit Scott

Hermit Scott

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Sep 25, 2008
2,288
C30 Event Horizon Port Aransas
If you just can't haul it then, I would let the keel sink into the mud and use the dock to support it from the sides. Sailboats are designed to sit on the keel on the hard so as long as you keep it upright then it will be ok. Another option is to lay a thick piece of plywood under the keel now. When the lake lowers further, the keel won't sink into the mud. You would have to build some structure to support it while it gets low.
OR build a time machine, go back and haul it when the lake is full. You will look crazy but be respected as Noah after it dries up.
 
RichBone

RichBone

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Sep 25, 2008
992
Oday 25 Gibraltar
How long has the boat been in the water? When was the last time yours or any of the other boats had their bottoms repainted? You mentioned a yacht club with races. There's got to be a haulout somewhere on the lake.

Rich
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
We have a little water that we could spare.
 
zeehag

zeehag

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Mar 26, 2009
3,198
1976 formosa 41 yankee clipper santa barbara. ca.(not there)
Ross said:
We have a little water that we could spare.
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been trying to come up with a unique answer to this problem each of you have, but garden hoses may be too small in diameter to handle much of this mess or to bring enough water from one place to another and hurrycames/tropical storms do not wanna go to where i am trying to send em.....some of my friends are being burned out while others are being flooded out.....
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
How about reverse flow in the oil pipelines. Kinda like sending empty rail cars back.
 
FourPoints

FourPoints

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Apr 8, 2010
1,606
Frers 33 41426 Westport, CT
Ross said:
How about reverse flow in the oil pipelines. Kinda like sending empty rail cars back.
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Or we just build a water pipeline...
 
zeehag

zeehag

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Mar 26, 2009
3,198
1976 formosa 41 yankee clipper santa barbara. ca.(not there)
Ross said:
How about reverse flow in the oil pipelines. Kinda like sending empty rail cars back.
Click to expand
that would work--and tejas already knows how to use the oil slime on surface.....
 
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