Spring Debris
 

So I picked up my boat this weekend (Derby weekend) at Melvin Village and brought it back to Wolfeboro. What a ride! The lake was like a parking lot (well, a slow moving freeway...). No complaints, just an observation.

But, to the point of a recent thread, I picked up a bit of debris on the way back. To the point of that other thread I don't think it was related to the derby, but I'm curious about others' experience. What have people picked up over the years during the spring season? This year, I got a big piece of pink Styrofoam, a plastic bottle, and most notably, a 4 foot by 6 inch piece of drift wood.

What have you found?

Happy boating,

Wolfeboro Matt

floating danger
 

This year 6 nicely split pieces of firewood (right after the ice went out), misc branches and trash, cups, plastic bags etc.
Over the years the largest was a almost waterlogged log, about 18" diameter and 25 feet long floating with just one end protruding. Sure boat (maybe worse) killer. Hauled to swamp area and tied off, not to escape again. There have been 4 by 4's and smaller logs, many branches, cans and bottles, and even a dock section.

worse for the pyshcy but not necessarily dangerous
 

Was the deceased dog that we found last year. Must have been caught under the ice.

A few summers ago (July) I had a creepy night out on the lake. We took our little 13' Whaler out at about 11:30 in the evening. As we headed down Winter Harbor to the Broads we came across a sailboard sail. We really didn't have the ability to pick it up so we continued on.

As we did, I was very lucky to catch in my night vision a 4x4 beam of driftwood. Again, this was pretty big for a small whaler.

Finally, as we nearly reached the mouth of the harbor, I again caught something in my nightvision. This time it was a day sailer estimated to be about 10-12'. Just a little more substantial than a sunfish. The creepy part came in that the fog was beginning to set in and the time of night.

I was a little concerned that the day sailer was floating around out there with noone in it and whether anybody might be in trouble. I made a cautious but swift ride home and called the Marine Patrol. I then headed back out to meet him and help him in the search. We both had spotlights but it remained difficult to find the three items. After about an hour long seach, he had managed to drag the driftwood and sail out of the lake and hook the boat up to his tow pole. (he luckily had one of the workhorse Ambar impactable boats.) Needless to say, it was an adventure of a night out there.

I sure can't top that story,but I will say that I always get a good supply of kindling from all the scrap wood the the ice fisherman leave behind from shimming and leveling their bobhouses.It washes into my beach with the first west wind at ice out.Too bad i can't burn the beer cans and plastic,as well.

Junk
 

I pulled a nice Patagonia Frisbee out from beside our dock. My golden retrievre will appreciate it immensely. That, and the usual giant branches. Other than that, not much. Did see a bunch of limbs, etc., in Melvin and Moultonboro Bays...

Swimfloat adrift
 

Against the shore of Cow Island facing Middleground Shoal

I mentioned "The Tree" earlier.

It was a forty-foot maple resting on a big iceberg. From what I could see from my boat (back from the edge of a thick ice sheet), it had sunk in a rocky area close to shore.

There was also a leftover three-foot section of oak dock piling, cut at an angle (to sharpen the piling prior to being driven). Shaped like a giant door stop. It was waterlogged, incredibly heavy, and I had to drag it over the gunwhale with effort.

It dried out on the dock, has been split, and some of it has been converted to heat in my wood stove. :)

Oh yes...I still have that new mooring float that floated by after ice-out. Name it and claim it.

Found/Lost Family ID sign
 

After the ice went out, and the miscellaneous driftwood settled to shore, I found a sign washed up on some rocks in front of my house at the south end of Winter Harbor. This sign is 19 inches left to right, 7 inches top to bottom, and is made from a piece of tongue and groove board, with two screw eyes at the top edge. The name "BARRANCO *" is engraved with a wood burner into the board, and there are initials "JB '84" burned into the back side lower corner. If this is something you lost, please contact me.

Debris
 

One year I almost hit a bob house that was floating. All that I could see was the ridge line of the roof. We've also pulled dock sections, logs, a sail board. The dock section came in handy. We made a small deck in front of our shed with it. It's still there today. :liplick:

Nor'easter debris
 

We got quite a bit of flotsam blown in this last week. Just yesterday I stopped and picked up 2x8 8' long, a 8" thick piece of styrofoam 2' by mebbe 6' and some rather large branches floating in the water just up from our camp. Also notice that the roof of someones boathouse near the mouth of Alton Bay is now at water level (ie - it blew down this past week).

Found/lost family sign
 

I posted about a family sign I found and today I had the pleasure or returning it to the owner. The sign was actually made by his son, in 1984, when the son was 13, and now he is a Major in the military. I'm glad this return took place during Memorial Day Weekend. God Bless America.

Great stroy and another great use for this outstanding web site!