Stuck in Back Bay
 

Well still unable to fit under Back Bay bridge in Wolfeboro to access open water. 20’ Key West DC didn’t have a problem last year but this year she hasn’t powered up yet :( I know sucks to be me. I’ll keep hoping but next year moving on. My question is where can I find a reasonable $ boat slip near Wolfeboro without taking a second mortgage. Roberts Cove? Melvin Village? Thanks

You might want to try Parker Marina in Alton. On their CL ads they say they have slips available. I know they have a bridge situation too...not sure what the height limits are though. I have been on a slip waiting list for 3 years and counting but I don’t want to travel farther than the Laconia area from where I live.

Maybe lower the boat in the water. Just like removing air from the tires on a big truck that's a wee bit too tall to pass underneath a highway bridge; maybe removing the bilge drain plug and lowering the boat by six-12" could do it?

remove windshield and forward rails.

Stuck also
 

It looked like we might be able to get under BBB by the weekend and then they
lowered the outflow to 245.

Still hovering at 504.27,,,,about 2 inches too high for me

Free Beer?
 

Load the boat to full capacity.

You'll need a crowd.

Maybe free ice cream or free beer will provide incentive?

Add weight?
 

Put three inches of water in the bilge and pump it out when you're under the bridge.

Ballast system
 

When I used to keep my boat at Parker Marine, which also has a low bridge issue, my dealer offered the idea of a ballast system, like the wake boats use, to help weigh down the boat to lower it in the water. It would then be pumped out. Because the water fills a container, and has it's own pump, it's safer than just flooding your bilge and just hope the bilge pump works.

It's a thought, and such a system may pay for itself after a couple years of slip rentals. Given the sheer volume of people I see looking for slips these days, I have a feeling prices are only going up for awhile...

Stuck in Back Bay
 

Forget about a ballast system, stop worrying about the outflow, ignore the 504.??, just do the simple solution - excavate a deeper channel.

Excavating a deeper channel is not going to change the static level of the water in the lake or the clearance under the bridge. It will just make a deeper channel.

Here's another, faster way to get all the water out of the bilge without using the bilge pump. Remove the drain plug, get moving forward, up on plane, and all the bilge water will quickly exit out the open drain in the stern.

The forward movement of the boat creates a reverse reaction on the water in the bilge so it drains out fast.

You could remove the drain plug in Back Bay, exit under the low bridge, and power forward to empty the bilge ..... and re-install drain plug.

Hmmm...interesting math your using there. :eek::eek:

Well, Camp Guy, you threw out the hook and caught two so far. ROTF-LMAO.

Lowering Won't Work...
 

Wolfeboro's Back Bay is part of a river.

Excavating (dredging) a deeper channel would speed up the flow, thereby lowering the river; however, this lowering wouldn't be sufficient to solve the clearance issue being discussed. IMHO.

Your best long term solution might be to buy a a different boat.... the price of slips is an ever increasing cost....

Woodsy

Well technically that would depend on how deep you dig the channel.
Trench down far enough, and you'll lower the collective water level.
Don't have time to do all the math, but I think if you dug a channel 20' wide, by 1000' long and 900' deep, you'd have somewhere around the equivalent of 1 months outflow.

(of course, the dam is what really regulates the water level, so that excavation would have to happen relatively quickly, and then the lake would fill back up).

Maybe a very high powered turbine that sucks the water out of the back bay and pushes it into the rest of the lake?

Or, we could go the other direction on solving this problem and maybe build a trebuchet that launches the boats up and over the bridge?

I think we are missing the obvious answer here. Rebuild the bridge and road higher!

However, would pay much money to see the boat launching trebuchet. Maybe the money from that can pay for the trench and/or new bridge.... :cool:

"We Need A Smaller Boat"...
 

Finally, I can agree with Woodsy. :rolleye2:

Forget catapulting. A short-term "solution" would be to rent a trailer and bypass the bridge.

Give up tubing, stay slipped in Back Bay—change the direction of your boating experience altogether—for the price of a Ford F-150:

https://m.outdoorrevival.com/wp-cont...23-800x600.jpg

More "Affordable" Submarines: https://m.outdoorrevival.com/instant...submarine.html

Don't places like Brussels, Amsterdam, and Paris have some very old bridges crossing their canals that are arched high enough so a boat can pass underneath.

Seems like Wolfeboro maybe could have designed better by having an arch type of a bridge as opposed to a low, flat bridge that's level with the road. Something like that beautiful old Weirs Beach bridge that crosses up and over the railroad tracks to get to Simpson Ave.

Can't you just see a high bridge in Wolfeboro? It would look ridiculous in the middle of town but dangerous for traffic and pedestrians.

It amazes me here in the Forum that we never seem to answer the question asked by the OP ………… instead we reply with silly antidotes about filling his boat with water to lower it, trenching the channel, building a new bridge, etc etc


No one (other than Hillcountry) offered an answer to Standbyme's question ……… He NEVER asked how to get out of Back Bay …… he no doubt has a trailer and has already solved the short term problem

It is yellow therefore we could all live in it as well.

Great camo for Braun Bay :)

Are you looking to rent or buy? If buy, I think you will find all are expensive. I think the last Pier 19 slip sold for something in the area of 70 - 80k. It is supply & demand. Lots of new boaters but no new slips. Same with rental slips but, if you are in the right place at the right time you can get lucky. I have seen rack storage at places like Harilla for sale. They are cheap comparatively but not inexpensive.


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Absolutely correct. In 2006-2007 slips in South Down were going for over 100k then the recession hit and they dropped below 70k and rental also dipped. Now prices have been driven back up. It’s all about the economy.


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You're right...
 

Those were some pretty ridiculous solutions if indeed they were stuck in back bay. If that was the case, a simple draw bridge would be a simple solution. That way I could get my boat into back bay.

Just ask The Beatles!

Excavating the channel would lower the lake, but you would have to do a lot of excavation. When I jump in the water, the lake level rises, when I get out, it lowers. Just an infinitesimal amount, but it happens.

Stuck in back bay
 

Stayed at a cottage in ROBERTS cove a couple weeks ago. Looked like they had a few open slips.
My boat is in a slip at Parker’s - bridge can be tight at times. Last week some of the pontoons were ‘really close’ to the top.

Why not just put it on a trailer and drop it in/out from the public ramps in Wolfeboro until the water level drops? Surprised the marina owners haven't offered to do this already.

How about a drawbridge ! Lol

Sounds like the most logical answer... To me one of the best perks of owning water front is having your own dock that you can launch your boat from.

bridge
 

have you tried going up to the bridge to see how much room there is? I had a slip there in 1998 at the Wolftrap during the lake wide no wake due to heavy rains and flooding. I bet it was higher then as we did not have a lakewide no wake this year and I was able to get my 20' bowrider under bridge by my wife pushing against the underside of the bridge and this pushed the boat down enough to get under.

bridge
 

just looked at a 20' Key West DC on line, don't know if you have the center console version or the bowrider version but either way it does not appear the windshield is any higher than my bow rider was when back there in 98 and the water was higher that year. if you have a bimini frame like I saw in the photos, that would need to be removed.

because there is no answer to his question. There are no reasonably priced slips for sale or rent. And there are are waiting lists everywhere.

I hope she didn't get too much bubble gum on her hands (bubble gum dangling from the underside of the bridge)!