Odd hazards in the lake
 

What is the strangest thing you've hit or almost almost hit at speed on the lake?

On Monday, I almost hit a watermelon, an entire watermelon with only the top cut off.
It was just below the surface and I'd never have seen it had I not just missed it starboard side.
I've also encountered towels, a shoe and multiple hats, which I remove from the water when found.

It didn’t happen on the lake but this reminded me of an experience my uncle had when driving on the NJ Turnpike at speed. He saw a straw hat bouncing ahead of him on the highway and as he approached it, the hat bounced up and caught itself on the drivers side mirror. He rolled down his window and brought it in.

When I started reading this, I thought: "oh no, this is going to end with "there was a severed head in it."". Really glad the anecdote went in an entirely different direction.

I didn't almost hit it because I wasn't in the boat but when I walked outside I saw something floating in the current by my house. I tried to make out what it was and thought it might be a tv. I finally got in the little boat and rowed out and got it. It was a computer monitor. I called the police and there had been some computers and monitors stolen at the high school. It sat in my closet for several months but they finally came and got it.

Group question, how much distance do you give a lakegull to move out of the way before you turn the boat?


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None, I usually aim for them.

A year or so ago, southwest end of Welch, leaving narrows heading toward Gov'nrs, I saw and almost hit some 4x4x16ft PT lumber floating just below the surface.

Luckily I was able to flag down an MP to mark/fetch and I was going slow from just leaving narrows. Else at speed in the open, it would have been nasty.

Since you can't predict their escape path that is probably the best way, as long as you don't "correct your aim!"

that's how collisions with spinning cars are avoided in NASCAR !:)

A deer swimming between Long Island and Sandy Island.

In NJ you never know.... :D

In September, 2003, a boater reported that he hit a submerged object just north of light #18 heading towards the Barber’s Pole. I went to this location. I searched for about 20 minutes before I found a wooden piling about three feet below the surface. Normally, a boater would pass 20-30 feet west of this piling on their way to the Barber’s Pole. Also, lake was lower than it would be for most of the boating season. The water’s depth at this point was about twelve feet. I took a photo of the piling and sent it to the Marine Patrol. It had been removed by the following spring.

Piling
 

Interesting. Any idea of why it was there? Remnants of some structure?

I dove on it when it was first reported. It took me a while to find it. To me it appeared to be a broken tree about 4-6 inches in diameter with strong roots into the bottom. I tried uprooting it by hand and couldn't move it. I went back several days later with a hand saw to cut it down and couldn't find it again.

out of the darkness
 

It was a dark and stormy nite. Really! We were leaving Wolfeboro after the July 4'th fireworks. Well, there were supposed to have been fireworks, but the event was canceled due to a thunderstorm that blew through. We sheltered at someone's dock during the intense storm and when it was through, left in the very dark night with freshening winds towards the Barber Pole. About the time we were rounding the point, keeping Parker Island on our left, a huge trampoline type float appeared out of the dark, right in front of us. It had gotten away in the storm and was drifting south. It was taller than the bow of my boat and we were going slow, bow high to deal with the white caps. Had my OMG moment, missed it by a foot or so and kept on going. Haven't been to Wolfeboro at night since.

We see deer swimming out to Whaleback Island fairly often—pretty awesome to watch, mostly when they spring out of the water.

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