Madison Lakes Get Together- Aug. 14th
 

How's it going all. Seeing how we no longer have an official poker run anymore on the madison lakes, I thought it would be nice to just organize a little get together for a day on the madison lakes for anyone that would like to join in. Date will be the second saturday of August (14th), and if the weather will not cooperate, the 15th can be the back up date. I'm open to suggestions from people familiar to the area wether or not we want to stay on one lake, or tour the chain. Touring the chain would require going through S-N-W areas as well as a lock. Gilligans Island, is the hang out between lakes Menona and Waubesa, but in my opinion it get's too crowded with people that don't have the common sense or curtisy of being careful around other boats. Therefore, I would suggest we start on Mendota, and we could go through the lock and tour Menona and Waubesa, then make our way back through the lock and hang out at Picnic Point on Lake Mendota. It has facilities on shore with a short walk, and a nice sand bottom until about 20 feet from shore. We could raft up there and hang out. Also available on Mendota, is Mendota County Park. There are slips available there (5) and an overnighters could stay there. Facilities are also available there. Marshall Park on Mendota is a real nice launch, as well as Warren Park. Again, we can cement the details in place closer to the date. So if anyone's interested in joining in, please post up and include the boat you run. If you have any other questions you can email me at:

[email protected].

-Ryan

I'm in. Sounds like a perfect plan to me. Should be fun.

I'm in...2003 Baja Boss 275...looking forward to it....

Damn it.....I would so love to join but I will be away at a NHRA event that weekend! If anyone happens to attend Aquapolooza next weekend let me know I will be there! 97 Crownline 225 CCR white black with no stripes or graphics other then the crown emblems.

Hey all. To anyone that wants to join in, if we decide to tour the lakes, we will need a lock pass for the day. The lock charges $5/day. I can get these passes ahead of time and collect money and hand them out if I know ahead of time. So let's keep this in mind. This would be used to go from Lake Mendota to Lake Menona, and them back through again. The ride through the channel is a nice one, there are quite a few newwer bridges.

-Ryan

I went through the channel this weekend and the water levels is high, only about 8-10" above my windshield on the 2nd bridge from Monona.

yup, i know. went through myself this weekend with the ski.

I'll go if I finish by then! :)

What do you have to finish?

I would also love to go but, I wont be in the water until next year with the apache... I still have alot of glass work to do..
Jr.

Well, with the high water, Lake Menona has been shut down to slow no wake. The water has been coming down about 2.5 inches a week, however, seems we get more rain every third day. If the water does not lowwer to the point of lifting the SNW on Menona, we will stay on Lake Mendota.

Also, I did go to Naughty Gal on Saturday night, with the high water, my Eliminator with no windshield had about 5 inches to spare going under the bridge to the restaurant. It was pretty tight. There is more clearance with the bridges on the channel between Lakes, however, if the water does not come down more, I don't think some of the bigger go fasts will get through. I'll keep you posted in the next couple of weeks. Here is some reading meanwhile.

www.countyofdane.com

How about Lake Wisconsin as an option if the water levels are still an issue???

As of right now, from the ferry north is slow no wake......

http://www.co.columbia.wi.us/ColumbiaCounty/

Looks like they just discontinued the SNW for Lake Menona. That's great news.

http://www.countyofdane.com/press/details.aspx?id=2250

Sounds like things are falling right into place. Should be fun.

With a change of plans now I will be able to attend! Hope the weather works out and the lakes keep going down. I asume times will get posted as well as more detailed info next week?

Yup, for sure. I'll work on the thread through out the week. Glad to see you can make it.

Add a 25 Warlock to the list of boats that will be attending. :D

Yep...weather starting to shape up...possible T-Storm...but that should firm up by Saturday. If the levels are up, I won't get under the bridge at Nauti-Gals with my windshield...is there slips to use before the bridge. Last year I had maybe 2" clearance...more like 1". Are we launching at the same spot...time?

My windshield is the same height as yours. I also had about an inch to spare.
The bridge I am more concerned about is the 2nd one north of Lake Menona.
I was planning on putting in at Warner Park which is on the east side of Mendota.
I believe there is a place to dock just before the bridge by the Nauti Gal ,so that shouldn't be a problem.
Hopefully the water will go down this week. It's supposed to be hot.

Meet up spot will be at Marshall Park like years in the past. They have a beautiful park/launch. Also, if anyone is wanting to spend the night at Mendota Cty Park, Marshall is relatively close by. Figure getting there between 930 and 10am. I'd like to have everyone in the water and ready to go by 1030 so we can take advantage of a realetively calm Mendota and then start the tour.

Now as far as the weather. Mendota and Menona both went up 2-2.5 inches as of Sat-Sun's rain. I'd say it's borderline as of right now wether Menona is put back on slow no wake. If we get more rain this week, it could very well do that. Unfortunately, I do not know how the bridge clearances will play out for any of the boats until the day of. Nautigal's is pretty low almost all the time. I wasn't expecting many people to attempt that one. I know it's 5 days out, but as of now they are forcasting the possibility of rain for saturday, with Sunday being the good day. We will have to make the call closer to saturday wether or not we want to go with the rain date of Sunday. Below is my number if anyone wants to chat.

Reminder: If you have mufflers, use them. If you have switcheables, keep it relatively quiet, and dont switch them, the sheriff's will pick up on that and follow us the rest of the day.

Ryan
608-712-4194

Okay...forecast ain't looking bad...possible thunderstorm sometime around noon, but I'll keep an eye on the radar...the rest of the day is supposed to be around 90 degrees. Sunday is sunny high 82. I've never been/launched at Marshall...is it much further than last years location? I think it was Olin or something like that? Will we be going through the locks at all...that was a blast last year, but I understand water levels are a concern, especially that bridge in the channel...anyone close enough to recon it before Saturday? Has the no wake been lifted?

I was going to make the call tomorrow at lunch wether on not we wanted to plan on Sunday instead. Looks like Saturday has the possibility of rain in the morning, then later, but it could change. Sunday sounds like a for sure nice day.

Marshall Park is on Lake Mendota:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...sin+53705&z=14

What is everyone's take if we end up going with Sunday vs Saturday. Again, tomorrow at noon time I will make the call, just looking for some feedback.

I would like to try and make it through the locks and tour the lakes, hopefully friday night's rain will not put the lake levels over the edge. Unfortunately, official plans will be a bit last minute due to our lovely mother nature. Again, give me a call if you want to talk about the details or for questions.

Ryan
608-712-4194

Frankly I could do either day...it's about an hour and half drive for me one way...but I doubt either day will be a late one and I had planned a round trip in one day anyway. Unless...there's enough interest to make it an over-nighter beginning Saturday and we actually meet up on Sunday. I know nothing of the area and it's off the cuff...but what the neck. It was going to be six us of going if it was on Saturday, but that may change if it's Sunday, which is okay if we all agree that Sunday is the better day. I know that's not a vote for either day, but I'm flexible.

Well, hopefully more people are flexible this weekend.

Stay tuned until tomorrow noon time. That will be the official decision to go with Saturday or Sunday. Thanks everyone for being patient....

Ryan

Checked with my group...Sunday is preferred...

Sunday.

Hello all. Well, I think at this point it's pretty clear that we will be having our fun run on Sunday. Two reasons; one, the weather is still iffy for saturday, and two, if the lakes go up much more from where they are at with the torential downpours we are getting right now and what's coming tonight, the lakes may be shut down for the weekend all together. I'll know more tomorrow about that, and will post. But as of now, we will plan on meeting over at Marshall Park on Lake Mendota between 930 and 10am. We can all say hi and see what everyone is running before launching. Also, we will be staying on Lake Mendota, as I received clarification yesterday that the lowwest bridge in the channel only had a current clearance of 60". There isn't much that will get under that.

So let's hope for the best, meet up Sunday morning at Marshall Park, and have some fun romping around Mendota and then rafting up at picnic point. Again, if anyone has any questions/concerns, give me a call. See ya Sunday!!

Ryan
608-712-4194

Sounds cool to me...are we planning on grabbing a bite anywhere or should we simply load up on the snacks? Either is okay with me. Thanks for keeping an eye on things...if the lake goes to no-wake, then I'm pretty sure I'll head to Lake Michigan. Keep us posted.

I'd plan on bringing your lunch to have an picnic point. I'll post another follow up tomorrow in the evening.

I am going to need all of saturday to get the boat back together. I think it is done raining... 2.5" today here. Put your boat back together party at our place SATURDAY!!! Stock boats Rule!

Get er done.........

No problem for tomorrow morning on Mendota guys. We'll see ya in the morning.

Forecasting 12-15 mph winds and sunny. Might get a little bumpy :boat:

Thank you to everyone that came out. It was nice to meet everyone that visited from out of town. It turned out to be a pretty good day. Would have been even better yet if it wasn't for the wind. Started with 4 boats, and ended up with 8. I think we should try to make this a yearly thing, and maybe we will pick up some more people along the way. If the water is at the correct levels, we should be able to tour the lakes as was originally planned.

Thanks again everyone!!

Ryan

Great Job Ryan getting this thing together. I knew we'd pick up a few more boats as the day progressed. Everyone I spoke with had a great time. I know I'll make it back to Madison at least one more time before the season ends. Check with Steve on photo's...they came out pretty good. Anyone else have any to share,please send me jpegs...thanks.

:worthless_without_p

Had some things come up last minute and couldnt make it, glad to here everyone had a good time.