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gods of the sea

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Initially Posted - 05/19/2002 : 22:43:20

Several months ago a posted a request for some information on GPS systems and received many good answers. My problem was to try to set up a warning I was getting close to underwater hazards in Carlyle Lake Illinois. The gods of the sea have a sense of humor and we should be careful on how we make our wishes as we make get our wish but not in the way we wanted. Lake Carlyle is on the Kaskaskia River and the area received massive amounts of rainfall. The underwater hazards are now at least 16 feet down. The lake is so high that water is over the rock walls protecting the marina and now boats are bouncing in the surf from winds from the South. 16 feet may not seem much to you ocean sailors but in flatland Illinois that is a lot of water. The lake has doubled in size and private landowners are now warning their fields are private property and not open to sailing. My marina is the only one open but we do not have power or sewerage facilities. It may be a long summer as water can be released only a little at a time to prevent flooding downstream. But my problems with the underwater hazards were sure fixed.

Bob Arrowood
C-25, 82 SR,SK

Robert B. Arrowood

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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5909 Posts

Response Posted - 05/24/2002 : 20:33:09

Bob,

Some years ago I visited Saylorville Lake, just outside of Des Moines, Iowa. Storms brought the level of the lake up to 47 feet above its normal level. We sailed through the upper branches of a grove of trees, and we anchored in what was normally their upper level parking lot. Local boaters accused the Corps of Engineers of holding back the waters too long before they began to dump them. The Corps of Engineers said it wasn’t their fault…They said it was an act of God…a rare and unusually severe 100-year storm, that couldn’t have been anticipated.

The next year they had another storm that raised the level of the lake to 52 feet above normal. The Corps of Engineers said it was a rare and unusually severe 200-year storm. Just think, in less than 2 years, they put 300 years of storms behind them!
Whoever installed their docks really knew what he was doing. The cables that anchored the docks in place were sufficiently adjustable that they remained usable both years.

By comparison, at my home lake in southern Indiana, a storm once raised the level of our lake by 12 feet, and our nearly new docks broke loose and were washed down the lake, complete with about 30 of our sailboats and their owners. One new boat was crushed between the docks and a steel seawall.

Take heart, Bob…it could be worse!

Steve Milby "Captiva Wind" C-25 T/FK #2554