More Debris

[Rinkerfam]

The "Rinkerfam" had an enjoyable second outing of the '05 season today. My only negative observation was the amount of floating debris still in the water. I don't have a major issue with organic debris (bark, driftwood etc...), but the amount of post consumer waste (empty sun-tan lotion bottle, broken styrofoam cups, and assorted plastic bottles) was an unpleasant surprise today. Hopefuly everyone that encounters such debris makes an attempt to pick it up so as to get the lake back to her pristine condition asap.

[upthesaukee]

We finally got the "Upthesaukee" out yesterday afternoon. Nice run from West Alton down to Alton Bay...no dock space (waited 10 minutes) and left eating our picnic sandwiches as we putt-putted out towards Sandy Point. Then it was over to Wolfeboro, with a quick off plane and spin around to pick up a 3 inch by 6 inch birch log then on to the docks where we found several spots waiting for us (go figure). Medium ice cream cones (HUGE) from Bailey's Bubble, watched the people (including one young girl --early teens--take a fish off the hook for her brother/friend (where was she when I was a kid!)) then back to West Alton. Went around Rattlesnake (Waved at I.G. and Snake eyes) and as we started in by the south/west end of Sleepers, there was a white plastic jug floating (five gallon!) that no one ahead of us bothered to pick up! So I know what you mean...not only are we making the lake more beautiful, but especially safer.


And "Upthesaukee" (me) was :) and the wife was :) now that we finally got Onthesaukee this year. Pick up the trash, even if it's not yours, and don't forget to wave if you see the "upthesaukee". And if you're not sure it's the "upthesaukee", wave anyway (see how contagious a wave and smile can be;) ).

Gotta go..7:27 tee time...ahhhhh life is good!

[ApS]

There is definitely more trash on the Lake this year than previous years.

It appears (to me :) ) that:

1) "new" trash (plus redistributed old trash) is blown onto rocky shorelines after ice-out.
2) Lakeport allows a rise in lake level, floating the trash +
3) Boat wakes "shake" trash from shoreline.
4) A few days of calm waters permit trash to drift into open water -- away from the rocky shorelines, where it would normally be "trapped".

This problem was recycled during our cold and wet weeks of May, when the lake level went down temporarily -- then came back up -- releasing more trash. Without having checked Lake Winnipesaukee gauges, I'd say there were two "highs" in the lake level in recent weeks.

Last night, after arriving home from a local restaurant, my dock was soaked -- not from rain, as there wasn't any -- but likely from one or more big wakes.

The downside was that I had been using the dock to sun-dry (http://http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17048&postcount=8) chunks of driftwood that I had recovered last week and some of it may have been "liberated" by the boat wake(s). Oh well.

BTW: Dried-out chunks of oak and maple driftwood makes great firewood. The "liberated" dimensional lumber from dock-building (and mooring markers) can be split to make tinder.

.

[Island Girl]

Went around Rattlesnake (Waved at I.G. and Snake eyes)
A wave back to you, upthesaukee and Mrs Upthesaukee. What a gorgeous weekend... Finally nice weather and a calm lake. We were out there a bit this weekend as well.. It was so nice to be warm out there ...