New "Toys," for Winni Divers!
 

Well, this past weekend we saw 2 Bob Houses, go down through the ice in Meredith Bay. On Friday, one was 3/4 under and the other was still sitting on top, but Sunday afternoon both were below the water, and all you could see was the very top of them semi-floating. Have fun! Here's a dumb question! WHY would anyone wait to pull their Bob House, when they knew the weather was warmer than normal? It seems someone "with some time on their hands, (like retired) and a snowmobile," could make a few bucks, by offering a "Service" to pull Bob Houses, to the shoreline, BEFORE the ice gets too thin, for anyone who lives far away and leaves their Bob Houses on the lake. Maybe when I retire, I could start a service like that! Oh well, this Saturday is the first day of Spring! YahooooOO!
"The Eagle"

It could be that they left the bob houses out there in the bay and left -- assuming that they'd get more ice time when they returned. Then, after returning, realized the ice was too much of a gamble. I was up there on the Lake over 2/20 weekend, and later realized it was one of the last safe weekends for ice in many spots...although it sure didn't seem so at the time.

Amazing what a little snow cover can do for ice longevity.

Bring on spring!

Nice! - wonder how the boaters are going to like it when they hit the bobbing "bob" houses? Does anyone know who owns them so we can sue if we hit them? Is it likely that they will sink or just float around all summer?

I suspect (hope?) that most of us, if we saw something like this floating while we were boating would take the initiative to remove it from the water to avoid it damaging some other unsuspecting boat. I know I have a collection of dock timbers in my scrap pile that I have removed from the lake during early boating season. So, no I don't think it will float around all summer. Now about the sinking - I'm not sure how long that would take for it to become waterlogged enough to sink.

May be pretty tough trying to tow an almost sunken bob house with your average boat I think. Would not want to hook one up to my tow line as being filled with water, my guess is this would be very heavy. Hmmmm, anyone ever have to do this?

Seems to me that the owners should pay some type of fine if they need to pull them from the ice if necessary.

Last time I went by Meredith Bay a couple of weeks ago, one house still sitting on the ice looked like a basic plywood structure that could have been constructed on the cheap and maybe the owner never had the intension of pulling it back off. I hope this is not the case.

All in all, looks like we need to keep our eyes wide open this spring as I sure the last wind/rain storm may have also tossed a lot of hazards in the lake.

A wise move.
 

State law says that you must remove your bob house prior to April 1st (I think).

The state has made a very good move to NOT enforce the law this year.

Hey, this eary ice out caught all of us by suprise. There should be no shame in not getting the house off. It would be VERY dangerous to encourage people to go out on the ice to avoid a fine.

Nice move NH! That's using your head.

Misty Blue.

Question for Divers
 

If the bob houses sink, will they become a home for fish, like the artificial reefs that are established in the briney sea?

Never would like to see anyone attempt to remove a stranded house when the ice is not safe but don't you think someone with the right equipment could get the job done? I see many island services companies in operation around the lake that could get the job done. Expensive I suppose.

Just hate to think about all the junk that may still be left inside that pretty much ends up on the bottom of the lake.

Any junk that may be left in the Bob house, and the bob house itself ending up in the lake seems nulled out by the fact that any attempt to remove it after the ice gets week puts a life at risk. Once of the dangers of early season boating is realizing that things are floating in the lake. I do this every year. The first several weekends are very slow moving, and I spend alot of time investigating anything of any size that looks like it is floating at or near the surface...

Now if one was to find a bob house in the water partially submerged. My suggestion would be to call the Marine Patrol. Give the GPS coordinates if available, or describe the location as best as possible.

Some odd years back leaving on a windy ugly weekend while leaving the lake I thought I saw something out in the lake.... I called the MP, the took what information I could give them, and they seemed to be more the willing to investigate.....

Just to re-state my position from the prior post so it’s clear am I'm not misunderstood >”Never would like to see anyone attempt to remove a stranded house when the ice is not safe but don't you think someone with the right equipment could get the job done? I see many island services companies in operation around the lake that could get the job done. Expensive I suppose”

My thought was that some companies around the lake may specialize in this type of salvage operation. That thought may be incorrect.

Beer bottles and cans sink into the lake every year and they are very dangerous as they wash into the shallow sand and people cut their feet on them. It would be nice if they always removed their debris especially those items.

I'm sorry - if you put one of those bob houses out onto the lake, you are responsible to get it off. The ice does not typically become too weak overnight. Although I agree that life should not be endangered to retrieve one of these, think of the possible injury/loss of life if a boat hits a partially submerged one on-plane. If you own it, I don't care what the cost is, get it off of or out of the lake.

I agree 100%. Especially these days when we can track ice and weather conditions on Winni, via web forums, from half a world away. There is no excuse not to get them off the ice.

It looks like the plywood bob house remained on an ice sheet that broke loose and the bob house is just (maybe 10 feet) off one of the Meredith town docks. How deep is it at the end of those docks? If it's only 9 or so feet deep with a 6 foot tall bobhouse sitting on the bottom that could be a problem.

I'll take ten sunken bob houses in lieu of one sunken car or truck.

I'm sure all the beer cans are empty.

Both sad I think, Grant.

Question: Do they leave cars on the bottom or are you referring to losing one while trying to recover a house?

We don't have anyone on this board from the Marine Salvage business on the lake that can comment on retrieving one that is some 50 yard from the town docks? Maybe it’s not possible?

No -- only referring to the environmental impact of a vehicle (gas, oil, antifreeze, brake & power steering fluid, for starters) vs. a bob house (plywood, perhaps some garbage).

And, yes, vehicles are removed PROMPTLY. I know that Tom from Dive Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro had a very busy season recovering cars, trucks and sleds.

And, yes again, just about anything is retrievable. At a cost.