[Rhodes22-list] Lake Access

Mon May 8 21:33:12 EDT 2006

Hi Herb,

The lakes around here, Kerr Lake near the Va border and Jordan Lake about
20m from Chapel Hill, were built by the Army Corp of Engineers in the 60s
and 80s respectively for flood control and recreation.  During the land
acquisition phase, I think the State of  North Carolina reserved most of the
land up to a certain contour level at each lake for the perpetual use of the
NC people.  Basically, this means no one can build on the set-back.  In
retrospect its obvious to almost all NC boaters that this was a great idea.
Unlike, for example, Lake Norman near Charlotte which I've heard was
developed by power companies and is dotted with homes on the shoreline, a
few of the better sites owned by power company executives.

There are very few vacation homes that can be seen from the water at  our
local lakes and there are also very few private docks and ramps.  Part of
Kerr Lake is in Va and in that part there are "Flowage Easements" that allow
property owners to have docks and shoreline access.  I haven't seen any such
structures in NC, so I guess there are no Flowage Easements allowed.   While
daysailing in the spring or fall in the NC part of Kerr Lake one could
easily imagine being the first sailor to "discover" the "natural" beauty of
that man-made lake because the view is almost entirely of trees.

The average public set-back seems to be several hundred feet.  Since the
lake level fluctuates around 300' or so and the set-back contour is 320' at
Kerr Lake, the set-back depth depends upon how steep the topography is at
any given point.  Flatter slopes allow for bigger set-backs   Same set up at
Jordan Lake.

I'm glad our local lakes are protected from large commercial development.
Our sailing club has been trying for years to acquire a permanent site at
one of those lakes, but it's been very difficult.  I suppose this is the
downside to public land preservation.

PT

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Herb Parsons" <hparsons at parsonsys.com>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 2:37 PM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Lake Access (was "Getting ready to trailer boat")

> That brings up an opportunity for some "political discussion" (not much
> of that around here lately) that's tied to sailing
>
> Lake Grapevine, located in North Texas, is a man-made lake (almost all
> of the lakes in Texas are man-made). About 12 miles long and 1 mile wide
> (these are estimates, I didn't look it up), it's popular among
> sailboaters for number of reasons.
>
> It's very close to both Dallas and Ft Worth.
> Much of the bottom area is a combination of natural cliffs and "quarry
> made" cliffs, which means that sail boats can safely sail very close to
> the banks of the lake.
>
> The orientation of the lake corresponds to prevailing winds, enabling
> us to (typically) have nice windward runs going close-hauled almost
> straight up the lake, of course giving us downwind runs on a broad
> reach. While it makes for typically easy sailing, there are enough
> surrounding hills and buildings, along with finicky Texas weather, to
> give some unpredictable wind changes, so it stays interesting (for the
> most part).
>
> Here's the "problem". As John mentioned, Gaylord entertainment built a
> HUGE hotel right on the bank of the lake, between my marina and the next
> marina north. The hotel is beautiful, if you like large hotels (it also
> gives a significant wind shadow when sailing to the mark at that end of
> the lake, but that's not pertinent to the "problem").
>
> Because of the popularity of the hotel, the small city of Grapevine
> faces some "expansion issues". One that continually crops up is use of
> the lake and lake front. (There are, I believe, three other cities that
> border the lake, but it appears to mostly be a hot issue in Grapevine).
> There are those that don't want to see further expansion, citing the
> "natural beauty" of the area and crowding of both the shoreline and the
> water.
>
> How do others feel about similar issues in their area? We're not
> talking about a big hotel that's coming in trying to force out the
> marinas (the type of problem they have in Florida). We're just talking
> about other "entities" (some directly water related, some not) wanting
> to share the lake.
>
> Here are a few examples:
>
> An outside paintball arena. This has already been built and opened,
> about ½ mile from the shoreline, in spite of some very vocal opposition
> by some residents.
>
> A new nightclub (owned by the hotel, going up just west of it, on a
> bluff overlooking the lake).
>
> Expansion of an existing city park that allows extended stays of RV's,
> and has cabins for overnight guests. This too has already been opened,
> directly across from my marina.
>
> A proposed business located in the above mentioned park, offering
> rental small craft including "water trikes" (the big three-wheeled water
> tricycles).
>
> Another large hotel across from the existing one (about ½ mile from the
> lake). Approved, but construction hasn't started yet.
>
> A condominium with docks on the lake. This has been proposed, but to
> the best of my knowledge, not yet approved.
>
> Another "wrinkle" in all of this is the fact that all of the above is
> in the northeast portion of the lake. Most of the rest of the lake
> currently seems to be mostly ignored.
>
> Thoughts?
>
>
>
> Herb Parsons
>
> S/V O'Jure
> 1976 O'Day 25
> Lake Grapevine, N TX
>
> S/V Reve de Papa
> 1971 Coronado 35
> Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana Coast
>
> >>> jhnblngr at yahoo.com 5/8/2006 1:00:15 pm >>>
> small indeed! i'm always amazed at how many people even know where
> grapevine is let alone having been here. now that we have the gaylord
> texan resort here its really taken off. thanks and welcome john b
>
> Ellner <ellner at pressenter.com> wrote:  Hi Y'all!! It definitely is a
> small world. We live in Wisconsin & own a
> Rhodes......were in Austin, TX this past week to visit my
> daughter.....and
> I spent Friday in Grapevine, TX at a nursing home visiting my great
> aunt! Mary/SV Toy Blew
>
>
>
>
>
> At 09:00 AM 5/8/2006 -0400, you wrote:
> >Kari,
> >I have some of the same questions as John. If you've already sold it
> back
> >to Stan, questions may be mute. But if it's not a done deal, there
> are
> >people looking for boats on this list. Sorry to hear you are selling
> your
> >Rhodes. Hope that means something better is coming your way.
> >
> >Rob Lowe
> >S/V Getaway
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "john Belanger"
> >To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
> >Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 3:40 AM
> >Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Getting ready to trailer boat
> >
> >
> > > kari
> > > could you send some pics of your boat? why do you have to sell it
> and is
> >it a good deal for you to sell it back to stan? what year is it and
> where
> >did you sail it. i'm in grapevine and am curious about how you used it
> ie
> >daysailing or cruising, dry sailed or in the water at a marina. i'm
> >gathering info cash, and courage for buying one but am not quite there
> yet.
> >thanks john b
> > >
> > > Kari Day wrote:
> > > Hi All,
> > >
> > > Sadly my husband & I are selling our Rhodes. We are
> > > selling it back to Stan. Since we are in Dallas we are
> > > trailering it back to Edenton. The only experience we
> > > have with the trailer is when we bought it and brought
> > > it home.
> > >
> > > Some dumb questions - To load the boat the manual says
> > > to follow the directions in reverse. Is it really
> > > exactly in reverse or is there some things that should
> > > be done before anything else? Second - I see a lot
> > > about raising the mast, but not so much about lowering
> > > it. What are the steps? Is it better to lower the mast
> > > at the dock with the boat in the water or after the
> > > boat is loaded on the trailer. There are no electrical
> > > lines near the boat ramp.
> > > BTW-we have Stan's mast raising equipment.
> > >
> > > Thanks in advance. I know from reading this is a
> > > generous group.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Kari & Joe Day
> > >
> > >
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