Make The Connection When you’re getting together with your “fun-time friends” on the weekends and want to just get out on the lake you don’t want to be hampered by a complicated or time consuming boat or jet ski lift; you just want to get going. Probably the most unobtrusive and convenient style of jet ski lift is the floating lift. These units are molded poly Jet Ski/ wave runner stations that can attach to your existing dock or sea wall [...]
Boat Lift Styles Hands down, one of the most important pieces of equipment on the waterfront is the boat lift. No other tool does more to get your boat, and you out on the water, so choosing the right design for your needs is essential. The standard boat lift design uses a square rack or cradle that is operated by a winch and/or motor that uses cables to perform the lift. This is a very common design and one that gets [...]
If you live anywhere near any of the Great lakes chances are you have at least heard of the problem of invasive species, such as zebra muscles or more recently the Ongoing Asian Carp Drama. The main concern regarding the movement of the carp, more than the zebra muscle, centers on their tendency to dominate and push out indigenous species in the lakes and rivers. Effectively this decimates the ecological and economic basis of these waterways, potentially permanently altering the [...]
Over the last few years in every community around the Great Lakes there has been talk of an invader. At first this talk was only a rumor, a subtle whispering of a possibility. This invader, from the east, arrived from the south in the 1970’s and has steadily moved north, edging ever closer to the Great Lakes Basin. This invader is tenacious in its movement, veracious in its appetite, and, once established in an area, “virtually impossible to eradicate”. The name [...]
Dock Problems? It’s the middle of July and the sun is high, doing its best to incinerate the mere mortals scampering about on the earth below. You ‘re standing on your deck, looking out at the water and dreaming of how great it would be to be out on it, or in it. But there is one problem; your usually convenient path to your boat has been turned into a medieval torture device. In the glare of the sun you can [...]
In part one, we discussed the basic details that you will encounter when designing and installing a new dock on your lake or river. Here, we will discuss, in detail, the variations or options that are available to you when designing and planning the installation of your lake dock system. We will cover the configuration (span and layout), the types of systems available, connection type, and the available decking options. Some of these decisions will be based on your technical needs, [...]
The 2013 boating season brings with it some changes that are bound to make your life on the water a bit easier. In this article we will focus on one specific change in the way some aftermarket canopies are attached to your boat lift canopy frame. For a while now these canopies have used rubber grommets and o-rings, sewn into the canopy itself, to provide anchorage for the springs, bungees, or strapping that ultimately holds the material to the frame. However, [...]
If you are in the market for a dock system for your waterfront you will quickly discover that there are quite a few designs out there. Wading through the different dock systems and variations can be daunting and you will need to determine your specific needs before deciding. We will cover these options in two articles that will outline the available choices and the basic considerations you will need to address when making your decision. In this article we will outline [...]
After last summer’s blistering temperatures and the relative lack of winter snows the last few years, it’s very hard not to notice that some changes are underway. If you spend any time on or around the Lakes of Michigan or the Great Lakes in general you have no doubt noticed that things are not as they used to be. The water levels are down all over and property owners as well as whole communities are being affected. The cause of the [...]
Great Lakes Basin Management With record low water levels on the Great lakes, as well as many of the inland regional lakes and record high temperatures in 2012 and again projected for 2013, the environmental impact on the ecology and economies of the Basin loom large in the view of those who call it home. In light of these broad sweeping changes, federal as well as state, and local governments in the region are deploying plans to address these changes. In [...]
