[Rhodes22-list] Dynamic Equilibrium Put Into Winter Storage

[Mark Kaynor]

Roger,

The New River is considered to be the oldest river in North America and one of the oldest rivers in the world. It originates in northwestern North Carolina, flows North through southwest Virginina and on into West Virginia. National Geographic did a story on it in the June, 1999 issue. You may have heard of "Bridge Day" when the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia is closed for a one-day festival that includes BASE jumping?  http://www.nps.gov/neri/bridgeday.htm

At any rate, Claytor Lake was formed when Appalachian Power Company built a dam on the New River, just south of Radford, VA, in 1939. The lake covers 4,500 acres and is 21-miles long. Our water quality is generally very good, with fecal coliform levels never exceeding state standards. See http://www.focl.org/wq2001/FOCL%202001%20Water%20Quality%20Report.htm for more info. I suppose there's enough water flow most of the time to keep the lake fairly well flushed out <g>.

I'd say the majority of craft on the lake at any given time are bass boats, with pontoon boats being a close second. Fortunately, even on high-traffic weekends like the 4th of July, there are never "too many boats". We're also lucky in that the operator of the marina concession (the only marina at the dam end of the lake - the best sailing area) has tried to group the sailboats together wherever possible. Certain areas of the docks have longer finger piers spaced farther apart than others, and have been conducive to this policy. 

Mark Kaynor

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402@centurytel.net>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 10:24 AM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Dynamic Equilibrium Put Into Winter Storage


> Mark,
> 
> Our family lived in Russellville, AR from 1987 - 1990.  Russellville =
is
> located about 90 miles west of Little Rock.  The Arkansas River runs =
right
> thru town.  A US Army Corps of Engineer's dam across the Arkansas =
River at
> Russellville creates a manmade lake called Lake Dardanelle.  Many of =
the
> state parks in Arkansas are associated with US Army Corps of Engineers =
dam
> projects.  The state leases space along the shoreline, within these =
state
> park, for marinas, which are operated by private companies.  The
> Russellville Marina, where we kept Dynamic Equilibrium, was operated =
under
> such an arrangement.  Although the winter months were too cold for =
swimming,
> the water never froze & there was good sailing all year round.  The =
only
> reason to pull the boat out of the water was if you were going =
somewhere
> with it or doing maintenance.
> 
> The marina was about a 10 minute drive from our house in Russellville. =
 In
> general, I liked this arrangement except for two things:
> 
> The predominent type of boat at the Russellville Marina was the =
pontoon.
> (i.e. "party barge")  The owners of these things were notoriously bad =
at
> docking.  They just didn't seem to care what they hit & docked "by =
ear".
> The aluminum pontoons, dive planes, & square edges on the decks of =
these
> things would just chew up the hull of a plastic boat.  I always tried =
to get
> a competent skipper with a "real boat" in the slip next to mine & =
stayed
> away from the gas dock during busy times.
> 
> The other thing that sometimes made life in the Russellville Marina
> unpleasant was the watershed that emptied into it.  You see, Lake =
Dardenelle
> is surrounded by hills.  Many of these hills are used for commercial =
large
> scale poultry & hog farms that were there long before the lake & the =
marina.
> The state of Arkansas has such lax antipollution laws that these farms =
were
> allowed to dump animal waste onto the ground.  Most of the time, this
> practice didn't seem to matter & was undetectable.  However, during =
the
> normally dry summer season, the area would occasionally get a brief
> thunderstorm.  This brief but torrential rain would wash some of this =
animal
> waste down the hills into the Russellville Marina basin, but then =
would stop
> before the marina basin was flushed out.  At these times, the smell =
around
> the marina was incredible!  While we lived there, the marina & boat =
owners
> petitioned the City of Russellville & the state DNR to do something.  =
But,
> the farms were grandfathered in under the pollution control laws & =
weren't
> doing anything illegal.  I was always surprised the issue wasn't =
considered
> a threat to public health.  Anywhere else, you would expect the state =
would
> either close down the farms or close down the marina, but not in =
Arkansas!
> 
> We usually use the winter months for planning next summer's cruises as =
well.
> The boys & I would still like to circumnavigate Isle Royale National =
Park in
> western Lake Superior.  We were going to make that voyage last summer, =
but
> then I got laid off from my job & our life has been pretty hectic =
since
> then.  Hopefully, 2003 will be better.
> 
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Kaynor" <mark@kaynor.org>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2002 8:03 AM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Dynamic Equilibrium Put Into Winter =
Storage
> 
> 
> > Roger,
> >
> > I'd have to agree with you on that one. Pulling the boat at the end =
of the
> > season is always sad for us, too. Then it's a long winter of reading
> books,
> > magazines, and catalogs, and "pining for the fjords". Sigh. Our =
weather
> just
> > turned cool, too. We managed to get in an overnight a couple of =
weeks ago,
> > but it looks like that's the last one for the season for us.
> >
> > I envy you your indoor storage - I'd love to keep the boat out of =
the
> > weather and be able work on it over the winter. We sail mostly out =
of a
> slip
> > at the local state park. They close the marina from 1 Nov through 31 =
Mar,
> so
> > even if it's nice weather, we have a deadline - if we're not out by =
1 Nov,
> > we could lose our slip.
> >
> > Mark Kaynor
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402@centurytel.net>
> > To: <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
> > Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 9:44 PM
> > Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Dynamic Equilibrium Put Into Winter Storage
> >
> >
> > Well, today I cleaned the boat for the final time, winterized it, & =
put it
> > into winter storage.  I store it at the Midland County Fairgrounds.  =
For a
> > mere $187, I can store the boat inside a secure, guarded facility =
until as
> > late as May 1, 2003.  Midland County rents out winter storage space =
inside
> > the buildings which are used for the animal, craft, and vender =
displays
> > during the annual county fair.  It's such a good deal that people =
come
> from
> > as far away as Detroit & Grand Rapids to store their summer toys at =
our
> > county fairgrounds.  I wish Midland County would restrict fairground
> access
> > to county residents thru the month of October because the available
> storage
> > space fills up so fast that I have to cut my sailing season a little
> shorter
> > than I would prefer.
> >
> > It was only about 55 deg F & with a 10 - 15 knot wind this =
afternoon.
> > That's a little chilly & windy to be playing in the water.  But, at =
least
> > the job is done & NOAA weather radio is predicting snow flurries =
around
> here
> > this Wednesday.  So, I'm glad to have the boat safely tucked away in
> advance
> > of that!
> >
> > Putting the boat into winter storage is sort of the last act of =
summer for
> > me.  I'm always sad to see summer end, but I enjoy fall & winter
> activities
> > as well.  So, it's time to move on.
> >
> > Roger Pihlaja
> > S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> >
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