" JimH" wrote in message
...
"Smithers one of 1000's" Smithers of a 1000 names wrote in message
...
JimH,
When is it boating season in your neck of the woods?. We normally have
the boat recommissioned the first weekend after April 15th. By May,
the
weather is perfect for quiet days on the lake. It isn't till Memorial
Day
that the lake becomes busy.
" JimH" wrote in message
...
"Smithers" Yes, Smithers is not my real name. wrote in message
news
Does anyone have a favorite boating toy they are hoping will be under
the Christmas Tree or Menorah?
Since I don't trust anyone to buy what I want, I normally have a box
with assorted hot sauces and a sweater under the tree. I then go
shopping after Christmas at deep discounts.
I plan on updating my stereo system on the boat, so I can play my
IPOD
through the system, and have some nice speakers in the cabin.
Everything I plan to get will be after Christmas and closer to Spring.
This includes:
1. New bolster type helm seat and adjustable pedestal
2. New carpeting
3. Bimini (high enough to stand up under while driving)
4. Portable rechargeable battery charger/jumper
5. AM/FM/CD player (replacing the cassette player currently in the
boat).
I am also taking the sunpad and 2 cushions to an upholstery shop to be
recovered.
This has been my plan since buying the boat last summer, with these
projects planned in Spring. The helm seat and sink/ice box was
already
torn out before I put the boat to bed for the winter.
Believe it or not...........it is still technically fall even though
the
ground is covered with snow and temperatures have been in the single
digits......
This is going to be a long winter. :-(
All marinas on Lake Erie typically have boats hauled out by November
1st.
There remains, however, the trailer boater and some die hard blow
boaters on
the water in November.
My boat insurance does not cover being in the water from Nov.1 to Apr 1.
I think that is a pretty common policy.
Come December everything on the water shuts down on Lake Erie, although
I do
not know the shut down date for commercial large ship traffic.
The Coast Guard keeps the shipping lanes open all year, according to a
friend of mine that is an officer for one of the freighter lines, but I
think the lock up at the Soo shut down for a short time.
Come mid to late March, despite the ice and temperatures, some die hard
boaters (on trailers) are back on the water.
Marina's typically open their season on April 1st, with fishermen the
first
ones to splash, followed by those living on boating condos with heat.
The crazy ones are the live aboards. I have a friend living on a 27 Four
Winns, it is bubbled and under a shed roof.....personally, I think he is
nuts........
The Lake Erie water temperature is around 40 degrees on April 1st
Temperatures do not rise into the 50's until May and finally reach
comfortable levels (for swimming and in water activities) from late June
through early September. Temperatures then begin to plunge into the
50's in
October till they reach 34-33F throughout the winter.
It is amazing how quickly the water gets cold, isn't it?
Although the Lake is shallow (35 feet is an average depth on the Western
Basin) it does not always freeze over. Most years it does and folks
living
on the western islands are capable of driving their modified cars across
the
ice to the mainland.
It has to be pretty lonely out on South Bass during the winter. I hear
the keep one bar open year round for the locals......any truth to that
rumor?
So.........to answer your question............as we now have a small 20
foot
runabout, we do not plan to be out on the Lake until mid May next year,
and
then only for some cruising or fishing. When we had larger boats with
full
cabins we would start spending weekends on the boat at the marina by mid
May.
Lake St. Clair, since it is shallower, warms up quicker, so lots of
people will spend the weekend by late April. This year, with the fall
being so nice, we were still out in shirt sleeves working on the boats in
mid Nov.