Time to Open Camp?
 

Last year we opened camp the last week of March. The annual pine needle raking ritual was in full force by this time. We hoped to open camp this week, but put that off because it is just too darn cold and snowy. :( For those who have opened camp, please tell us how it is going!

Never quite "closed"
 

Our only nod to the winter season is to turn off the water pump and drain the pipes. We usually do this around Veterans Day. We continue to come up almost weekly during the cold months and make do with buckets of lakewater or melted snow if the lake has frozen over.

For the last 6 years, we have been able to put the water line back in and turn on the pump by April vacation/Patriot's Day. Not this year! It looks like we are at least 1-2 weeks away from turning on the water and "opening up" for the season. I can't wait!

still waiting for a break in the ice...
 

it looks like we might be able to get over to the island soon... i was hoping for this weekend, but it looks like a bust according to the PIG webcams... the Alumacraft usually can break through the soft ice from Y-Landing to Pine, but it still looks like we might have to another week before we'll attempt it!

PIG

It's time!!!!
 

Opening up this weekend. Hauling a new aluminum dock up to our camp! I hope the opening will go smoothly so there will be more time to play.:coolsm:

brilliant
 

We opened last weekend and it was brilliant and warm!! Got to do chores around the house, catch a little sun, take some walks with the new puppy and make a list of things to bring/repair for this weeekend. We did a quick rake up and removed some fallen limbs but OTW it was relaxing and uneventful, no leaks...knock on wood! We even BBQ'ed Saturday evening:D

Do we have otters in the lake? I think I saw two swim by Sunday morning early, just after that glorious sunrise. Several Loons and a pair of Mergansers also greeted us along with our usual Reds, Chippies, myriad birds.

This weekend seems likely to be very different though, but we always have fun there no matter what. It's good to come home to the Lake!

Yes, we have seen otters many times in our area, as well as beautiful mink.

Here's a mink we saw at the edge of the ice a couple weeks ago:

http://www.echoshores.com/Photos/Mink.jpg

We have lots of mink but I've only seen them darting in and out of rock crevices; never out in the open. Thanks for the photo.

Have some living in my crib dock. We use to have lots of mussels around our place, not anymore. All we have now is piles of shells all around the crib dock. Must be good eating

We open tomorrow. Let's hope the weather forecast improves drastically!

Fingers Crossed!
 

I'm with you on that one! I hope Mickey Mouse and Company have not partied too much over the winter. Hoping for no leaky pipes.:laugh: Last time we were up was in January. Good luck...Dog's Ear!

I opened our camp last weekend...couldn't wait...waded through the fractured ice to put the water line into the lake. No leaks - always an occasion to celebrate with a glass of wine. Got to fix that leak in the waders though! BBRRRRR!

Moosetracks, what type of aluminum dock did you get? This is something I have been considering for a future purchase and would love to hear what you have done.

I'd like to know what type of aluminum docks are used on Winnie as well. I have a Floe system, 48'X6' with an 8'X12' Sundeck in an El at the end. It does extremely well in rough water on windy days and I don't have to pay the ridiculous prices annually for installation and removal. The higher upfront cost is there but it will pay for itself and the 15 year warranty is good too.

BT

We opened last weekend with no leaks and no mice! Life is good. We have a Hewitt Roll-a-dock. My husband can put it in by himself. Pretty easy.

Aluminum Docks vs Wood docks food for thought
 

Just something I thought I would post. Lately the trend seems to be to go with aluminum docking, and especially with wheels. Unfortunatly My lake front is not roll-a-dock friendly, so I spent some time evaluating aluminum over wood dock structures. What I found was surprising, I had a lot of people tell me that there where huge wieght savings etc. and aluminum was the way to go.... What I found was that with a little planning I could keep the wieght of a wood dock down, and save a ton of money over buying Aluminum. Some tricks to the trade are to build 6' sections instead of 8' sections sure you end up with an extra section but you save the wieght.... my nieghbors 6' sections are easy to handle and work with. Also you can make the center support removable and of course the floor boards. In short if you already have the hardware for a pipe dock, don't toss it away and start new, rebuild and design with thought..... Luckily my dock still has a couple of years left, but I am already starting to think about how I will setup a new dock, hopefully with enough planning I will save money and end up with a system that is easy to install and remove......

Aluminum vs. wood
 

I would love more info on this topic. I bought all new aluminum brackets (6)this past weekend along with 2 - 7' lengths of pipe...I consider this a substantial investment! I replaced 3 rotten deck boards and hope to get one more year out of our dock. Our dock has 2 - 10' sections, one of which is hinged to an ancient (older than me!) concrete pad. We tie a 20' pontoon boat to the dock for the season and are in a relatively sheltered area of the lake.

Last year we were able to elevate and tie off the hinged section high enough that it was out of the water. We then had to remove the 2nd section and put it up on land for the winter. The two of us did it but I can see it getting harder and harder each year.

I have been considering an aluminum dock (for the weight savings) but my husband thinks that it could buckle. Pressure treated boards are extremely heavy and not that great for the environment. Has anyone built a dock with cedar framework and decking? Was it worth the extra $$$ to save on weight? I am considering all options. $$$ is very much a consideration and I only want to do this once!

Pressure treated (PT) boards aren't the hazard that they once were, but they are heavy—at least for the first year. If you buy PT one season early and dry them in a sunny area, they'll be easier to work with. With preservative treatment every other year or so, they can last 25 years or more, as mine have already. Complete immersion by lakewater, such as we've been witnessing recently, is certainly shortening their lifespan. I sometimes wonder if the Lakeport dam operators aren't shareholders in the aluminum dock business! :laugh:

A neighbor has "edge-grain" fir sections (four-foot sections) in a wood frame that he puts in every year, and has replaced it entirely just once in fifty-five years. Another neighbor built a dock of expensive mahogany, but two seasons of high water and ice pressure has not been kind to it—and it's only two years old.

To do it all again, I'd build a "composite" dock: four pilings driven close to shore outside the reach of ice out to twenty feet or so, with a lift-up aluminum dock attached to it.

A pipe dock, located in your quiet area of the lake, is hard to beat for economy. I'd take LIforrelaxin's advice on the shorter sections for ease of handling.

Contrary to what APS posted,I would not build docks totally out of PT if you need to remove them each year.We made that mistake once.They are extremly heavy and it can be backbreaking work.We also tried using PT for just the framing portion and cedar for the decking.Big weight difference.The one problem with aluminum decking is noise.We had a neighbor with alu decking and his kids would run up and down that dock endlessly and it made a very annoying racket.Some things to think about.

SIKSUKR, is your decking removable. One of the easiest improvements I see that can be made to wooden docks is to make the floor board removable. In my current 8' section I have created 2 4' flooring sections that come off before I take the frame out. Also as I previous mentioned just by shorting the sections a couple of feet you get a section that is easier to handle. My next design comming in a few years will incorporate 6' frame sections, and 3' deck sections, which I believe will be very managable....

Also a note on preasure treated vs. standard kiln dried lumber. While the Kiln dired lumber is lighter, you have to be aware that the kiln dried wood has more up keep to it. It should be stained every year to help fight rott. As opposed to the preasure treated, which I do nothing too, and have sections that are 20+ years old. As for enviormental impact, I wouldn't worry to much the presure treating additives are not as bad as they used to be, and as long as you use pipe legs, the frames are not really in the water that much....well the last couple of years are an excpetion....

Here are some links to a couple of aluminum vendors that I researched when I did mine.

http://www.floeintl.com/docks.asp?pageName=rollIn&sm=1

http://www.alummikondock.com/

I think they both have NH dealerships.

BT

Mine were not removable.I can see where removable would be a much better option if using all PT.

Aluminum Dock
 

Sunrise Point-We were lucky and found an aluminum dock on ebay-15 miles from where we live in NY. It is 2 complete 8' x 4' sections of Hewitt Sectional docking. We trucked the dock up in the rain to the lake last weekend and opened camp....No leaks, no mice, except our driveway was washed out from the Patriots Day flooding! Nothing that 7 yards of stone and some back labor couldn't fix! We currently have an old wooden dock that we hoist up in the winter. This dock is 3' x14'. I have a block and tackle attached to a tree to pull it up. I lowered it into the lake for now, until I get time to install the new one. I think the Hewitt Sectional is going to work for us, but I rather have one that I can hoist up. I'll have to get in the water to get this one out, but the price was right!

Otters, deer and loons
 

Last year in Hermit Lake on two occasions I saw otters on our lake. I don't know about the BIG lakes. One time four otters were swimming together, diving, playing and fishing. They came within 30 feet of shore and put on a great show. Two years ago we spotted a beaver swimming past our camp. Last year we were just getting up to start our day when my wife said,"Look at that big dog swimming across the lake." The mist was just burning off the water, but I knew that was no dog. After getting the binoculars, I identified this "dog" as a deer swimming right towards us. There was a frantic race to get the camera and then out to the deck to try to snap the shot. I was spotted by the deer, (can't imagine why ;) ) and she veered away. The deer made land two camps down. When I got the photo, I realized my zoom was not adequate to get great picture. :( I was so discouraged I went out and purchased a new camera with a better zoom. So now I'm ready for any wildlife coming to shore for breakfast. So far, we saw a pair of loons circling the shore line. Were they looking for real estate? With the flooding I doubt their usual spot is above water. Two years ago, we had a loon chick. None last year. Let's keep fingers crossed they will have better success this go around. The usual hybrid water fowl have also made their appearance.