Just some bits and pieces about . . .
Damage to the boat ramp at the Day Park. Here’s the story I did for the Elk Rapids News, plus some photos of the damage and this update: someone made an attempt to fill in the collapsed section by tossing some stones into it. Probably not going to help much . . .
Over the holiday weekend some folks forced a 40- or 45-foot boat down a ramp intended for much smaller craft at the William Good Day Park on Torch Lake. They got stuck and damaged the ramp and dock. Supervisor George Parker is assessing the situation and says that the boat launch may have to be closed until it can be repaired. Any permanent fix, he says, could be expensive and time-consuming.
In order for the Township to apply for state grant money to help with the project, it must have a current, DNR-approved recreation plan in place. A Recreation Committee has been appointed—members are Carrie Perez, Sharon Philion, Sue Sarin and this correspondent—and invites community recommendations for revisions and updates of the existing 10-year-old plan. The boat ramp issue adds urgency to the project.
The new well at the Wilkinson Homestead. Before I got around to publishing the photo of the drilling, the well was in, the quilt exhibit was up, and Loraine Mottern was watering the geraniums with water from the well. Another one of Betty Beeby’s plans comes to fruition. Thanks to her and to all who donated funds to the project.
Torch Lake Views 
flandrumhill
July 14, 2009
Most of the boat ramps around here look more primitive. Not as fancy but much easier to maintain and more difficult to damage.
Gerry
July 14, 2009
Depends on what you’re trying to put in. We have lots of rustic boat launches fit for canoes and bass boats. We need to do some work on those, too, as they’ve been eroding, but they’re functional. The problem is getting the larger boats launched without damage. I don’t have any launch photos from the Day Park right now, but I have a bunch from the Torch River launch site that would give you an idea. Must see if I can pull that together.
torchlakedays
July 15, 2009
So…. the big question is – what about the MO-rons who forced their boat down the ramp?? Don’t they get to chip in???
Gerry
July 15, 2009
Well, that depends. Neighbors of the park saw the boat launchers. Whether they can be identified I don’t know. Whether they can be held accountable I don’t know.
There aren’t any signs saying “Maximum length/weight xxx.” Everything, even the $5 fee, is done on the honor system. Maybe before we put a lot of tax dollars into repairs we need to think about how–or whether–we want to run a boat launch.
dmarks
July 15, 2009
That’s pretty bad. Boats are typically more fragile than concrete: it would be justice if their boat was holed from this.
Might be time to go diving to find the offending boat!
Gerry
July 15, 2009
I think it was the trailer that did the gouging. The boat itself probably didn’t touch the ramp.
As public budgets go to blazes we hear about “reverting” secondary county roads to gravel. Maybe we’ll “revert” the boat ramp to gravel, too.
dmarks
July 15, 2009
Well, it might work. The Ojibwe and Odawa launched watercraft on Torch Lake for centuries without benefit of concrete ramps, after all.
Gerry
July 15, 2009
Indeed they did. Of course, they didn’t run to 42-foot cruisers with 420 HP twin diesel engines . . . (Neither do I. I’m just saying.)