Flooding Implications for Boating?

[huruta]

Hey. You were all so incredibly helpful with my big wake question, we've got another for you. We have gotten a ton of rain in the Seattle area over the last week and wondering what implications it has for taking out the boat are both on Lake Union & Washington as well as Puget Sound.

We took our boat out yesterday on Lake Union/Washington for a quick spin and it was eerily quiet. Getting out of our lakeside dock was tricky because the currents were carrying us to the other side where boats were moored, but we managed. But I imagine a ton of runoff water is currently entering the lakes. Implications?

Also, on this morning's run we noticed the water level in Shilshole Marina is extraordinarily high compared to normal and the beach at Golden Gardens is currently non existent - we haven't seen these levels in the 12 years we've lived in Ballard. There are flooding warnings in effect.

What is your thought process for going out versus not in this type of weather? Did we get lucky yesterday or just par for the course? Look forward to learning from the trawler sages on this forum!

 

[slowgoesit]

From our perspective, it doesn't seem to make any difference in most cases. However, if you are going certain places, especially outflows of rivers, it can be a bear. Case in point is Everett Marina on a low or outgoing tide, where the volume of water coming down the river, combined with the falling tide, can make things . . . . interesting.

 

[Gdavid]

Expect to see additional debris in the water, be mindful that what can appear as a small stick could be attached to a much larger log below. Not only does debris come from runoff upstream of you but a lot of it is debris along the shoreline that the rising water level frees from the banks and carries into navigable areas

 

[Delta Riverat]

Yes, the debris is a real concern. Here lot's of people camp on delta islands, have firewood piles tent poles and such. Storms blow trees over and when the water gets high it all goes down the river. Prop dingers everywhere.

 

[huruta]

From our perspective, it doesn't seem to make any difference in most cases. However, if you are going certain places, especially outflows of rivers, it can be a bear. Case in point is Everett Marina on a low or outgoing tide, where the volume of water coming down the river, combined with the falling tide, can make things . . . . interesting.

Thanks for your thoughts, makes sense...sounds like you've had some experience with this!

 

[huruta]

Expect to see additional debris in the water, be mindful that what can appear as a small stick could be attached to a much larger log below. Not only does debris come from runoff upstream of you but a lot of it is debris along the shoreline that the rising water level frees from the banks and carries into navigable areas

Oooooo...good point - hadn't thought of that!

 

[Airstream345]

Lake Washington and therefore Lake Union are fed by two rivers; the Cedar River and the Sammamish River. The outflow side (and level of the lake itself) is managed by the Army Corp of Engineers through the Ballard Lock and corresponding spillway.

Generally speakling they raise the level of the lake during the winter to prepare for summer loss. Good article here about the lake itself

As far as Shilshole, we're currently seeing some pretty high King Tides (+12ft). I've seen a bunch of photos today of docks floating higher than their entry ramps (the gangway is going down from the docks to land) and some docks dangerously close to floating off their pilings. You can track local tides here: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions.html?id=9447130&legacy=1

Exiting the Ballard Locks with a high lake level and a low low tide means currents will be super squirrly in there.

As far as the impact of all of this rain I doubt it's signficiantly contributing to the lake levels and not at all noticable (as compared to King tides) in Puget Sound.

 

[Airstream345]

Expect to see additional debris in the water, be mindful that what can appear as a small stick could be attached to a much larger log below. Not only does debris come from runoff upstream of you but a lot of it is debris along the shoreline that the rising water level frees from the banks and carries into navigable areas

We're seeing entire trees float into the inner marina here in Friday Harbor. My dock neighbors just towed a 25 footer out from behind their boat. King tides and high winds mean 100s of years of logs, trees and debris will be floating around Puget Sound until summer and yes....some of them are telephone pole sized or larger.

 

[klee wyck]

Gig Harbor was approaching +14 this morning from a low of -2 overnight. That is alot of water and debri moving around the Sound today.
Keep your eyes peeled!
I agree that these tide swings are much more impactful than the runoff for most boaters in the region.

 

[huruta]

Lake Washington and therefore Lake Union are fed by two rivers; the Cedar River and the Sammamish River. The outflow side (and level of the lake itself) is managed by the Army Corp of Engineers through the Ballard Lock and corresponding spillway.

Generally speakling they raise the level of the lake during the winter to prepare for summer loss. Good article here about the lake itself

As far as Shilshole, we're currently seeing some pretty high King Tides (+12ft). I've seen a bunch of photos today of docks floating higher than their entry ramps (the gangway is going down from the docks to land) and some docks dangerously close to floating off their pilings. You can track local tides here: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions.html?id=9447130&legacy=1

Exiting the Ballard Locks with a high lake level and a low low tide means currents will be super squirrly in there.

As far as the impact of all of this rain I doubt it's signficiantly contributing to the lake levels and not at all noticable (as compared to King tides) in Puget Sound.

Thanks for chiming in - this is great information to put things into perspective. As well as the f/u post on the logs, really good to know. Appreciate you taking the time.

 

[BruceK]

Amazing how long flood debris can persist. It`s over a month,since the Hawkesbury River which leads into our cruising grounds flooded, and still there are masses of debris, lying in wait for a prop, a rudder, anything underwater, to snag. Earlier this year I saw a large maybe 10000L poly water tank like you find at rural homes which some kind soul had tethered to a mooring buoy to stop it wandering and catching boats.

 

[AlanT]

A couple of pictures taken at Tyee Marina in Tacoma WA this morning. The large floating rooted trunk was about 25' long with two main trunks and had been wedged between my boat and the dock

 

[huruta]

Gig Harbor was approaching +14 this morning from a low of -2 overnight. That is alot of water and debri moving around the Sound today.
Keep your eyes peeled!
I agree that these tide swings are much more impactful than the runoff for most boaters in the region.

good to know...will definitely keep our eyes on the tides.

 

[huruta]

A couple of pictures taken at Tyee Marina in Tacoma WA this morning. The large floating rooted trunk was about 25' long with two main trunks and had been wedged between my boat and the dock

View attachment 134656
View attachment 134657

Wow, that is a lot of debris! An excellent reminder to keep eyes peeled for the foreseeable future.

 

[tiltrider1]

While the high tide was predicted at 12’ we had the correct atmospheric conditions to increase the tide by an additional 6”.

 

[AlaskaProf]

While the high tide was predicted at 12’ we had the correct atmospheric conditions to increase the tide by an additional 6”.

Reading the Seattle Times (from our comfortable elevation of 2300'), I noted flooding on the streets of South Park. Do you know of any issues at the Duwamish marinas?

 

[Bmarler]

While the high tide was predicted at 12’ we had the correct atmospheric conditions to increase the tide by an additional 6”.

Olympia was even worse. We were predicted in the 16.5 ish and ended up with 18.4 (if memory serves).
Most of our parking lot at the marina was flooded, and some cars were ruined. Road to the marina was impassible for a few hours too.
I didn’t check the barometer but it must have been very low at exactly the right time for the tide.

 

[huruta]

Olympia was even worse. We were predicted in the 16.5 ish and ended up with 18.4 (if memory serves).
Most of our parking lot at the marina was flooded, and some cars were ruined. Road to the marina was impassible for a few hours too.
I didn’t check the barometer but it must have been very low at exactly the right time for the tide.

Yikes, sounds terrible. Hopefully most escaped unscathed. One follow-up question I have is whether there is any concerted effort (any body/agency?) that collects/discards deadheads or if they just hang around until they end up on land again?

 

[huruta]

While the high tide was predicted at 12’ we had the correct atmospheric conditions to increase the tide by an additional 6”.

Hey tilt, I was trying to figure out what was added to the expected. Where did you find this information? Thanks for posting.

 

[tiltrider1]

My data came from a private monitoring buoy in the San Juan’s. Sounds like things got worse as you went deeper in the sound.

 

[SteveK]

Boundary bay (Point Roberts)
15.12 feet today @ around 11am with an east SE wind, This could add a few inches

Friday 14.9, Saturday 14.6

 

[Hippocampus]

Don’t need the flooding you NW folks have been seeing to get troublesome debris. There are water retention fields around Philadelphia and Baltimore. When that water is released the debris often finds its way into the C & D canal. Being waterlogged often just a small branch shows or even nothing at all although the trunks maybe quite large. On our most recent trip down the AICW there was lots of debris in places. Of interest usually a short way back into the canal from an inlet. Wasn’t surprised to see debris near the mouths of feeding creeks/streams/rivers but was surprised by the inlets being a common source.
Quite pleased for all the negatives of a single screw having it behind the keel has meant multiple encounters with debris and (knock on wood) no harm

 

[RedRascal]

One follow-up question I have is whether there is any concerted effort (any body/agency?) that collects/discards deadheads or if they just hang around until they end up on land again?

There is https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Navigation/Debris-Recovery/

Next time you are passing by the Ballard Locks look for a barge tied up on the lake side of the north side of the large lock waiting wall. You'll see logs, boats, docks and other debris they've pulled out of the water stacked up on a the barge.

You've reduced the some of the implications of debris in the water as a threat to your boating fun by buying a keel protected single screw boat. You don't want to hit anything however you'll have better odds of less damage if you t-bone a log compared to t-boning a log with a twin screw boat with unprotected props. So in essence you guys bought a little bit of debris protection insurance with your boat choice. Sorry that my comment may blow this thread up into a 20 page debate over single vs twin engine boats. I am just trying to point out a positive that you have with your hull and the flood of debris that is out there right now.

 

[Bmarler]

Yikes, sounds terrible. Hopefully most escaped unscathed. One follow-up question I have is whether there is any concerted effort (any body/agency?) that collects/discards deadheads or if they just hang around until they end up on land again?

In the south sound I haven’t seen any specific agency to collect logs, but at our marina if we see one we’ll get the dock hands to go get it.
They usually end up on the beach though, till the next high tide. Keep your eyes open.

 

[huruta]

There is https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Navigation/Debris-Recovery/

Next time you are passing by the Ballard Locks look for a barge tied up on the lake side of the north side of the large lock waiting wall. You'll see logs, boats, docks and other debris they've pulled out of the water stacked up on a the barge.

You've reduced the some of the implications of debris in the water as a threat to your boating fun by buying a keel protected single screw boat. You don't want to hit anything however you'll have better odds of less damage if you t-bone a log compared to t-boning a log with a twin screw boat with unprotected props. So in essence you guys bought a little bit of debris protection insurance with your boat choice. Sorry that my comment may blow this thread up into a 20 page debate over single vs twin engine boats. I am just trying to point out a positive that you have with your hull and the flood of debris that is out there right now.

Thanks, Red! This is new information - nice to see out tax dollars at work and glad that there is some effort to get these hazards out of the water. Also very much appreciate the information regarding the positives with our boat - we hadn't bought it in mind for that but it's great to know this - of course we'll still try and avoid these! No blow up so far....

 

[huruta]

In the south sound I haven’t seen any specific agency to collect logs, but at our marina if we see one we’ll get the dock hands to go get it.
They usually end up on the beach though, till the next high tide. Keep your eyes open.

Will definitely do. I'm sure the recovery vessel RedRascal mentioned is not going to cover all the needed ground.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

We used to go through the Ballard locks every weekend and check out what the Corp of Engineers had pulled from the lake. The picture would be a couple of weeks worth of junk. A common joke was to tell friends that we saw their boat at the locks, up on the barge. I wonder if anyone ever reported their boat missing?

 

[rgano]

You wake can have unusually high impact on flooded areas - last thing they may need is somebody cruising by creating that last bit of wake that ruins a barely capable barricade to the encroaching water. Not that you did any such thing, but watch out.

 

[MVDarlin]

Salt water water levels are mostly controlled by tides. Debris, dead heads and such are a very real concern when either flooding or especially high tides erode shorelines. Stay vigilant.