Finally, the Lake of the Woods water level appears to be on the way down. Let the dock repairs begin. ☹️
Tag: dock
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Here today, gone tomorrow
We’re back at the lake and this is the view that greeted me when I went down to the dock.
Hmmm, there is something missing here. For those in the know there should be a 20’ section of dock with an 8×16’ floating dock attached to it over where those two random looking posts are in the water and connecting to the far left site of the dock that is still holding on, barely.
Yes, the lake level is high and thanks to some recent torrential downpours in the area it continues to go up.
The dock was there last weekend but I suspect due to a violent storm that went through the area on Tuesday July 19th and the ongoing wave action that has been rocking the whole dock system for a couple of months now, it just couldn’t hang on any longer.
Thankfully, the dock segment didn’t go too far away and it’s just around the corner to the north of us in a small bay next to our neighbours dock. I’ve tied it up there and I guess it will remain there until the lake levels go down to a point where repair efforts can be made.
Runaway dock The lounge chairs that were on the dock also went missing. I did my best “Mike Nelson” impersonation and looked underwater along the shore line between our dock and the neighbours where the runaway dock is currently residing. Turns out they were in front of the floating section at it’s current resting position in about 8’ of water. One by one I dove down, attached a rope and then hauled them back up. The are now tied to the dock to prevent any further underwater recovery efforts.
Lake life, the best life. ?
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Peak?
Has Lake of the Woods reached it’s peak level yet? Perhaps. Signs are encouraging as a recent report indicates a 1/2″ drop in a week.
After a very rapid rise it’s starting to decrease To say the lake is a little high is an understatement. It passed the 2014 high water level by a long way and our dock is holding on by a thread at this point. No loss of lumber but going up and down like a yo-yo with the waves and wakes.
Buckets and garbage cans full of water trying to hold the dock top from breaking up Inflow to Lake of the Woods is decreasing as the major upstream lakes in the basin have peaked and are dropping.
These much drier conditions have caused all tributary flows across the basin to drop considerably and return to high-normal or normal flow rates for this time of year. All major lake inflows have also peaked and have returned to a high-normal range for this time of year. Finally, with these drier conditions being sustained and allowing inflows to continue to trend downward, all major lakes have also peaked. Lac Seul and Namakan Lake levels are very close to their normal range for this time of year. Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods levels remain exceptionally high, but significant reductions in level are expected for the months of July and August on these two lakes should dry conditions persist.
http://lwcb.ca/noticeboard/2022/07/07/2022-07-07-june-precipitation/Estimates are that if the weather is dry that levels may return to normal by mid-august. What is normal? Well, that’s a 2 1/2 foot drop from the current levels to what is considered the top end of the operating range for the lake. That drop would be just right for our dock situation.
Outflows from the Lake of the Woods are at maximum as the Norman dam remains fully open.
July 4, 2022 at the Norman Dam -
High and going higher
Oh yeah, the water is high and getting higher in the coming week and it’s raining today.?
Lake of the Woods water levels are now higher that I’ve ever experienced in 40+ years of lake life. It’s well over our original dock.
Our floating dock section is now riding higher that the fixed section and we normally use a 3 step ladder to get down to the floating dock!. Also in this picture. below the far end has been floated up several inches but still seems to be attached to the underlying crib. I’m sure there will be some repairs needed when the lake goes down.
That right hand end shouldn’t be tilting up like that! The boat ramp that last year I had to put a skid extension on to get the boat over some rocks because the water was so low is now almost getting ready to float away. The back end is floating and I think the boat on the new roller system is helping to hold it down a bit.
Record precipitation this spring in the basin has lead to record inflows to the Lake of the Woods resulting in very high levels.
The current level of Lake of the Woods is 323.89 m (1062.6 ft), over 95th percentile level for this time of year. The average lake level rose by 10 cm (4 in) over past week. The lake level has risen above the 2014 peak of 323.78 m (1062.29 ft) and is below the record peak since regulation began of 324.31 m (1064.0 ft), set in July of 1950.
http://lwcb.ca/noticeboard/2022/06/01/lake-level-forecasts-2022-06-01/The level of Lake of the Woods is expected to rise by approximately 9-12 cm (4-5 in) over the next 7 days
http://lwcb.ca/noticeboard/2022/06/01/lake-level-forecasts-2022-06-01/This next jump in the level could put the whole dock at risk ☹️. Return to normal lake levels “could be many weeks out”.
On the bright side the boat slip could now float the Queen Mary ?
Lower kayak is touching the water A view from the boat.
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Cottage Projects
This last week on vacation I tackles a few cottage maintenance projects. Some required by the passage of time, some required by this years unusually high water levels.
Post Replacement The first was to replace a post that had floated away. At the shore end of the newer dock section I suspect that some serious wave action lifted one of the beams and washed out the post. When I built the dock, the post was very far our of the water and with the weight of the beam and deck boards I never thought this would happen and neglected to physically attach the post to the beam. It’s only 9″ long and is a 6×6 so it didn’t need any bracing. So, today it’s cut a new post, jack up the beam, insert and attach the post to the beam.
The next project is to replace a section of joists that support the walkway from the driveway to the upper deck at the back of the cottage. Apparently we didn’t use pressure treated lumber on this project originally, over 30 years ago, and time has caught up with us.
Out with the old and ready for the new Wood rot has claimed a good section of two 2x10s at the driveway end. I put in a temporary 2×8 to support one side of the walkway and then unbolt the railing posts and the 2×6 extension boards that support the initial step. Then two offset cuts to remove the bad 2x10s and form a splice for the new pressure treated 2x10s. Bolt it all back together, remove the temporary support and voilá, good for another 30 years, at least this section anyway.
The next project is a little more challenging. The old section of the dock is tilting down on the shoreward side, quite a bit.
It seems that the crib under the dock has shifted/compressed over time dropping down 4-6 inches. Since the upper deck rests on this edge, it has inherited a bit of a downward slant as well. After pulling up a few deck boards it seems I did a great construction job here and toe nailed all the deck joists to the top of the old dock section. This will make it very difficult to separate from the dock which was Plan A. Plan A was to lift up the deck, then raise up the joists on the crib to level the dock and then lower the deck back onto the dock. Oh well, Plan B.
Hard at work fixing up the dock. Plan B, after swimming around end checking out the crib is to jack up each end of a crib timber and raise both the dock and the deck at the same time. This required cutting out several dock boards to get access, but is successful in the end.
It was a fairly warm day and the water was about 74°F so it was quite enjoyable to work in a bathing suit and be in and out of the water. Plus with the high water levels boat wakes were keeping the top of the dock pretty wet most of the time.
Part way through the day my super-duper cheerleader and awesome wife delivers a dockside lunch that is just fantastic and we take a break to enjoy the sunshine & view.
The whole thing turned out to be pretty much an all day job with many trips up to the cottage for more tools, lumber etc. Once the repair is completed, boards replaces and everything is cleaned up it’s time to call it a day.
