Was The Lake Cleaner This Year?
 

Hello All,

During this season of boating, my wife & I remarked that the water visibility seemed to be clearer in shallow areas. The same places we've anchored for years as well as going through the Weirs Channel and even in our slip just seemed to be clearer.

I went to the marina yesterday to bring my boat home for the winter. I was standing 20' from the boat when the Lift-All raised the boat out of the water to be bottom washed. I immediately noticed that the hull was noticeably cleaner that in years past!

I remarked to the marina folks about this and a few also remarked that the boat hulls seem to be cleaner this year. Do you think the reduction in boat traffic this season had an impact? What about all the rain early in the season? Just curious ......

P.S. Special thanks to the guys at Lakeport Landing for going out of their way to accommodate and help me yesterday. It's always appreciated! :)

same as other summers to me...

I agree with you White Rook! My husband and I remarked on the better visibility in the water also. I too would love to know the reason!

Yes, I agree also. I'm not sure what the reason is but my wife commented on it as well half way through the summer.

Dan

I personally think it has to do with the amount of rainfall earlier in the season. Allowed for a lot more run off rather then lake remain still.

I don't have the difference in this year to prior years but that would make sense to me.

Better mix of chemicals this year.

On a more serious note. I can remember back around 1990 when I first started boating on the Lake I never had "Wash" the hull. Just a normal clean up with a bucket of suds and that was it. Now it's Acid Wash and a Power Washer. If you do not do it the day you take the boat out the water the "crud" dries hard as rock.

I remember taking (1987) a cruise on the Mount and hearing the person that did the travelogue that at a six foot depth you could drink right out of the Lake?

The UNH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program has many years of data including water clarity. A link to the 2007 report can be found here:
http://www.winnipesaukee.org/unh-llmp.htm

I did not find a copy of a 2009 report, probably not available yet. If someone involved in the program reads here, maybe they could offer an opinion on this year vs past years. They are out there making measurements on a regular basis,

How about all those leeches that showed up this summer? Supposedly, the leeches want colder and cleaner water. Not too sure this is a good thing?

As a family that has been on the lake for more than 100 years I can tell you that we used to put our water pipe out from the cottage each spring and it would be 10 feet below the water surface.

That depth provided water for drinking that was acceptable!

Clarity? Chlorine helps but kills fish.

Drinking water.
 

The family drank the lake water from 1898 up til about the mid 80's when Samoset Condominium was put in. We notice the turbidity of the water turn worse. We decided to put in an artesian well.

You are all missing the point.... You see the lake was so much safer this year that people like White Rock just used there boats more? More use less crude build up on the bottom.

ok now onto my take.... I think this all depends on where in the lake you are located. White Rock Mentions Lake Port so I assume his boat is moored down in that area... all the water flows through there... The flow was high this year thus the water kept in motion and kept slime from building up.

If you are in areas of the lake where the water sees less natural movement you probably didn't notice much difference....

Thats my take and I am sticking to it......

I definitely believe the water was clearer this year. In late July I was anchoring in over 20' of water and could easily see the anchor sitting on the bottom. In past years 12-15' was the deepest I could even get a glimpse of it.

Ken

I agree, I am up in northern part in Moultonborough by Suissvale. Frankly I did not see much of a difference at all. I still had to clean the sides daily to avoid a line (and I pull my boat every week) All white boat you see EVERYTHING... even with 15 coats of wax / polish.

I don't think that is because the lake is any less or more clean. In my cove the wind usually blows right at my dock so I get a build up of pollen as well as weeds etc when the wind is kick'n. One thing I can say for certain was the pollen in the lake early this year seemed on the higher side.

I noticed the water did seem clearer out near Rattlesnake, however in Alton Bay it was not. I took the boat out of the water just about every time I used it this summer and I needed to clean the hull each time.

You know what they say about…."stuff" flowing down hill. Maybe Alton Bay got all the…."stuff" from the rest of the lake. :eek:

Clear Water
 

Here is a picture of clear water taken on Sept. 28th off in Alton Bay. In August it more of a brown tint.


Please excuse my attempt at jocularity.

More Rain...Less Sun...Cleaner/Clearer Water?
 

I recall reading here that the "Silver Sands Marina" locale will coat a boat's bottom with a dark reddish-brown stain. (So it does depend where on the lake you are).

I'm in your general locale, and agree. The yellow pollen layer was as fierce as ever, and appeared weeks earlier, compared with previous years.

The 80's were "boom years" for The Big Lake, when the "McMansion" made its first appearance—here and elsewhere.

Though I think water quality can be restored by comprehensive State management, a lot of environmental problems began in the 80's—including the removal of Lake Winnipesaukee from New Hampshire's list of lakes with the water quality "Class A". :(

1) It's been my experience that Lake Winnipesaukee is never clearer than the last few days it is covered with ice. At that time, the dam operators keep the lake artificially full, so the first strong winds after Ice-Out will churn shoreline waters to a brown color.

The Lake's water—then at its most erosive level—probably gets its first big charge of "nutrients". (Phosphorus and nitrogen, which feed algae, the snails that graze on algae, the snails' cecariae that make "Duck Itch", and eventually impart that bad "algaefied" smell and taste to the water).

2) As for other man-made factors regarding water "cleanliness", check out any rocky shore today: a black "bathtub ring"
appears all around the lake.

This year's "bathtub ring" is very narrow, which corresponds with my observation that the lake was kept unusually high most of the Spring and Summer. (Unloading passengers—from boat to dock—was a breeze until late August). The "bathtub ring" was left high and dry in September, leaving about 18 inches of especially "clean" rock showing below it.

This ring is made—most likely—as denser fossil-fuel-oils and asphalt's oily residues are washed into the lake from parking lots, roadways, and driveways from within the Lake Winnipesaukee Basin. Other oils, such as powerboat gearcase oils, probably make up the rest of the deposit.

This "bathtub ring" was photographed in 2006. It is a much wider ring when compared with the narrow ring around the lake this October. The lake is pretty much deserted this time of year, but maybe someone with a digital camera could provide an Autumn 2009 photo for comparison. :look: ?

From a diver's perspective, visibility was about average this year.

The biggest decline in water quality has really been over the past 25-30 years. My family has been in the same location since 1945, and still draws water from the Lake (although we stopped drinking Lake/tap water years ago). But overall turbidity has escalated dramatically in my lifetime (I'm 48, and have spent every year on Winnipesaukee, most of it snorkeling & SCUBA diving). Then again, the number of houses, lawns and boats has increased quite a bit, too. But overall, Winnipesaukee remains pretty clear.

I think temperature had a lot to do with clarity this year as well -- it never really got warm enough to spur those MASSIVE algae blooms that've become a staple of August over the past ten years or so. I saw far less green algae in open water than usual in August & September. This is a good thing, but all you need is another warm summer and it'll be back.

OCDACTIVE- I have found that some waxes actually attract the stuff that results in a scum line. As you have found, more coats doesn't necessarily provide more protection.

The lake water seem clearer to me this year. My unscientific observations:

I just pulled the boat after being in the water since May, the bottom is noticably cleaner. I slip the boat is a very protected spot, so this has nothing to do with traffic. I'm guessing the rain kept the water flushing out of our little cove more than usual.

On the other hand I've noticed that I could see a lot deeper than usual at my favorite anchoring spots. I could consistently see 20' down behind Timber. I startled myself a few times, thinking I was off course in some familiar routes because I could see rocks, that I never noticed before. My guess is that this was because of the reduced boat traffic and calmer weather.

It's obvious that because of the gas prices last year, poor weather and recession this year, boat traffic has been down for two years.

I also feel like the weather was less windy this year. I don't have scientific data to back it up and my observations were mostly weekends. But I seem to remember more days in previous years with high winds. A lot of rain this year but not that much wind.

Do you know what types attract the lines? I have been using this new stuff called leverage and it doesn't seem to attract the scum. My only problem is when the wind kicks up it pushes everything into my dock, weeds, pollen, etc and it causes the line. Easilty brushed off because of the wax and polish but it still happens. If you happen to know the products that attract please let me know so that I can avoid them in the future.

This was the first year I used Gel Coat Labs polish/sealer on the hull bottom. I slip the boat all season, and the pollen was pretty bad. With a light brush and sponge, it was far easier to get the lines and crud off at the beach than last year with no product. I do put on a coat of Flagship Premium wax, but just for the heck of it, not needed.

I do one coat of the polisher/sealer, then one more coat of the sealer alone. Boat stays pretty darn clean, and washes easily. The true test came with the squares left from the jackstands. I couldn't get to them due to poor planning. They were cray hard to get off the crud with anything.

I appreciate the fact that this UNH-LLMP does this work, but I wish they'd publish all of their annual reports in one place on the web. There's no way to tell how things are trending by studying one year's worth of data. Does anyone have any reports older than 2007?