Hydraulic Boat Lifts
 

We just installed one of our new Black Anodized Lifts on Lake Sebago. These lifts are made by the Feighner Company in Michigan and are an amazing product. Check them out at the Dock Store on Bay Street in Wolfeboro.


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That looks like my boat on it!

What do they run for a 32' loa boat 8500lbs dry? How much depth needed to install and use?

Boat Lift
 

For your boat I would recommend a 10,000 lb lift. They have several different series depending on water depth but the minimum for a lift that size is 18" of water. The list price is $12,720, however we are runnning some year end sales which would reduce this price at least a thousand. Any other questions you can call Northeast Dock and Barge at 603-515-9032.

How far can you go... before a canvas awning becomes a "Boat House"..? What if you add side curtains.? Just wondering. :look: NB

Boat Awnings
 

Awnings can be as large as the boat you have. If your putting on an awning you should get a permit from the state. It is called permit by notification and it is the most common permit to file for waterfront related items. Side curtains are a grey area. They do resemble a boat house but they are seasonal and removable. I will talk to to our shoreland scientist and get a better answer for you.

If a neighbor installed one of these, I'd complain like hell that is was blocking my views. Just one persons opinion......

Awnings
 

Well remember its not a boat house and it is seasonal, so it's the least impacting alternative to a boat house.

Actually: There is nothing more pleasant to me, than to see, a well designed boathouse that Fits In. I like "Substantive"..is that the right word...?? Like it's been there for decades....or a century...

There is no way I could ever afford one but I really ENJOY looking at them.

The frame and canvas "Boathouse" doesn't offend me at all. There are different levels of wealth and I enjoy them ALL. :D NB

From NH Wetlands Bureau Administrative Rules:

Env-Wt 101.09 "Boathouse" means a docking facility which has a permanent roof with or without sides covering the boat slip or slips.

Env-Wt 101.15 "Canopy" means a seasonal open structure with a flexible fabric roof not able to withstand the expected snow load and without side walls, which is erected to shelter watercraft during the boating season.

Therefore, if it has a permanent roof, it is a boathouse. From the regulatory standpoint in NH there is no such thing as a permanent canopy.

Also, please note that by definition canopies may not have sides.

I seem to notice a fair number of hard roofed canopies, or open sided boathouses popping up. Have the rules lightened up on permitting for them? I thought that they were no longer permittable. The ones I have seen are on properties that I don't recall seeing anything like it before in place.

A dug-in structure can have permanent roof. If it is new construction and over the lake it needs to be seasonal.

I would assume that there are hard canopies that are seasonal by being removable.

It would be rather hard to seasonally remove a 12' x 30' hard shingled roof...Unless you have a crane.

The ones that I have noticed lately are standard crib or piling docks with regular shingled roofs on them. I noticed one of the luxury home builders (I wont post their name) is doing a big house down in Alton that has a brand new dock, boat lift and hard roof setup out front. I dont recall anything like that being there before.

No kidding
 

A hard canopy does not have to be wood and shingles.Open the mind a little and think about a metal awning for instance.

It still wouldn't comply as seasonal being that the reg calls for flexible fabric...I can't recall ever seeing anyone set up a canopy like that in use, although I recall seeing a joke pic in a previous thread a while back where someone hodge-podged something like that together. Probably something done on the Wal-mart side of the lake...

Back in the late 80's someone tried claiming that they would unscrew and remove their metal roof annually. That is in large part what led to the current specifications for fabric canopies.

For about fifteen dollars the Gilford Lowe's has 4x12' green sheets of wavy, sort of corrugated, all-purpose roofing-siding plastic material that is so attractive it would blend terrific on a Governor's Island 3.5 million dollar home with an enclosed boat lift!

Can u remember Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie?

Just curious, in theory a hard roof over an existing slip attached and supported by existing piling or posts on a dock seems like a lot less impact to the shorefront. Why would des consider granting a dug on boat house over this?

The boat house opens up a can of worms such as shoreline stability, storm water management/drainage issues, and overall impact.

I agree with you. I could never understand the dug in theory. I guess you are putting it in the lake that is not your property????

I would think the theory is not having that permanent structure on the water blocking neighbors views but set back on/in the land where it stays out of the line of sight over the water.Makes a lot of sense to me.

Several decades ago the State (pre-DES) decided boathouses that extended out into the public waters were an unacceptable encroachment on the public trust. This decision was grounded in issues of property rights, reasonable use, and what is essentially a taking of public property for private use. At the time, environmental concerns were considered less of a priority than they are now. Dug-in boathouses became the only boathouse option at that time. As a result, the application of the least impacting alternative standard for boathouses became "is this the least impacting method of dug-in boathouse construction?" rather than "is dug-in boathouse construction the least impacting alternative?".

to go back to lifts...
 

Are permits required for boat lifts in existing slips?

yes. You can use the Wetland Permit by Notification process.

Getting back to the fabric canopy for a moment, I am looking at a property that has grandfathered double wide U shaped dock. So there are two slips in the middle of the U and one on either side. Would the state allow a canopy over a dock that big?

Boat Canopies
 

Goodhue and Hawkins recently added four 30x28 canopies as an in water showroom. It looks really nice, the governors council had to approve the design, but it passed without an issue. They had Northeast Dock and Barge install tall dock post legs, and Image awnings made the canopies. There canopies are made of aluminum and a green canvas cover is then removed in the winter.