A
Good Day Boating??
I
often hear people say that "A bad day boating is better than a good day
working." The same people like to opine "The best days in a
boater's life are the day he buys and the day he sells a boat."
These and other pieces of nautical blather come from people who have
never owned boats.
Thursday morning, June 29, 2006 is thus far not a "good day boating" on
the Lower Susquehanna River in Perryville, Md. The water is
rising fast and it is too late (see pics below) for me to get my 32'
Party Cruiser out of the water. Twenty three out of fifty
seven spill gates on Conowingo Dam are open allowing 460,00 cubic feet
per second (no, that is not a typo!) to pass through the dam. The
emergency reporting service ((410-457-2525) says that several more
gates will open throughout the day with the river expecting to crest
tomorrow.
This
is what my boat looks like on a good day on the Susquehanna... Before
the monsoons started last week
Here
is some of the junk that comes down the river as gates are opened,
allowing debris backed up behind the dam to pass through. It clogs
everything.
Another
view of the jam at Waterwalk Marina. The floating dock and drum came
down overnight. In a few minutes (currently 10:00 AM), the water
will start coming into the parking lot where I am now sitting in my
camper. My guess is that I'll have to get out of here (and lose
internet link) early this afternoon.
I
can't risk lowering and starting my motor. Only a small portion of the
junk in the river is floating. It is starting to smell.. If I
were to foul the prop, my next stop would probably be around Norfolk,
Va. There are no rescue boats on the Chesapeake today.
Whole
islands of debris are floating down the river. Most of water logged
stuff is just below the surface
I took the detour around Port
Deposit and took this pic of Conowingo Dam from Rt. 1
Usually, the biled up debris extends out into the lake for a few
hundred yards from the dam. At this point, almost all of it have
passed through. Of course, more will come down from the dam
upstream tonight.
Here
are the twenty three open gates. I was standing in the same place
in 1972 when Agnes came through. All fifty seven gates were open and
the water was still
rising. The dynamite truck sat
here waiting for orders to blow the center section out in order
to relieve pressure. My guess is that by tomorrow
around thirty five gates will be open.
I
felt bad for this beaver that swam out from under the dock while I was
taking the pictures above. He was trying to make it to Garrett Island
(in first pic above - about 300 yards) by swimming at a 45 degree angle
against the current. A few yards off the dock, the water was
coming over his face. Becoming exhausted, he turned and went with the
flow. He will be a very long way from here next time his feet touch
land.