Madison Reatta?
 

So I read somewhere if we get together we can avoid noise regulations... who's all in the madison area? Maybe we can plan an event every single weekend to avoid the noise police? :drink:

Edit: Regatta. Not an old weird buick.

That might be difficult to overturn since the majority of states are at or moving toward the same noise regulations as Wisconsin being 86 decibel maximum and captains call cut outs are illegal. This regulation is also closely adapted by the DNR, and nobdy can mess with whatever they establish. I know it totally sucks but there is little hope for the minority of us who feel the sound of a loud V-8 is music to our ears.

There is no official "regatta" anymore. I organized a small get-together last year August that had about 10 boats. As far as the exhaust, if you want to run open exhuast, may as well bring your check book.

If there is interest from some folks for another get together this year, i'd be all for it.

Speaking of Madison lakes, do you have any idea about the bridge height/clearance going down the Yahara river from the Locks on Mendota to Menona?

I've been through the locks and down the river in my former boat (21 ft Sea-Ray 210 Sig) but not sure if my new boat will fit (250 SLX)

Also, do you think I'd have any problem with the captains call exhaust? How would they have any reason to stop you if you aren't running through hull?

I've actually got an email into the city madison engineering to get the brindge deck elevations. The current lake levels are online everyday, so I can just take the difference and that's the clearance. I started working on this yesterday so i'll hopefully get some information soon. I'm planning on going through the channel this weekend, but I have a pretty low boat even with the addition of the windshield this year..

I'd leave it on quiet or pretty much closed off, and you would be fine. When I had the switcheable, I used to run it between 1/2 and 3/4 closed off. I wouldn't give them any reason to come sniffing...

Here is some information I received from the city of Madison on the bridge Heights. It basically looks like the controlling bridge is going to be the Williamson St. bridge. The engineer told me to add 845.6 to the heights. I'm assuming that was the water level of Monona that day. So if it was 7' of clearance at 845.6, I'd say as of today, you would have a minimum clearance of 7' 4".

Current Lake Levels:

http://www.countyofdane.com/lwrd/lan...kelevelpg.aspx


Yahara River Bridge Elevation Survey:

Water level City Datum -1.03 on day of survey
Measurements obtained by measuring down to water elevation
All measurements considered approximate due to survey methods used
Assume plus or minus 0.1 accuracy

Feature Over the Yahara River Bridge minimum elevation Upstream elevation Down- stream elevation This Bridge minus the Proposed East Wash Bridge Bridge Type
Rutledge Street Roadway 9.6 9.6 9.6 0.6 Filled Concrete Arch
Jennifer Street Pedestrian 8.6 8.7 8.6 -0.4 Wood Glue Laminated Arch Shaped Beams
Winnebago / Williamson Street Roadway 7.0 7.0 7.2 -2.0 Filled Concrete Arch
Old RR Bridge at Williamson Pedestrian 8.0 8.0 8.0 -1.0 Steel Girders
RR Bridge south of Main Street Railroad 7.8 7.8 7.8 -1.2 Steel Girders
Main Street Roadway 10.2 10.2 10.3 1.2 Filled Concrete Arch
East Washington Avenue Roadway 9.3 9.6 9.3 0.3 Filled Concrete Arch
Proposed East Washington Avenue Roadway 9.0 0.0 Concrete Arched Beams
Old RR Bridge Future Bike Path Pedestrian 8.0 8.0 8.0 -1.0 Steel Girders
RR Bridge north of East Washington Railroad 7.7 7.9 7.7 -1.3 Steel Girders
East Johnson Street Roadway 9.8 9.9 9.8 0.8 Filled Concrete Arch
Sherman Avenue Roadway 8.1 8.1 -0.9 Steel Girders, Fake Conc Arch Facade
Sherman Avenue Proposed Design Roadway 8.0 -1.0 Concrete Beams, Fake Conc Arch Façade.
Average Bridge Height on Yahara River 8.5

I had no problem with the locks this saturday. The lowest bridge still gave me 4 foot of clearance. You can get a pretty big boat through there after all.

My dad has a 35' Sunrunner, and never had a problem with the bridges. The problem was the locks themselves! Since they go up and over (and drip crap all over your boat), they are much lower than any of the bridges.

If by crap, you mean water, yeah, they do drip water on the boat.....

Weeds, green water, etc.

I did a fun run /poker run in Madison with some of you guys I'm sure back a few years ago now and it was one of the best runs we've been to. We launched out of Middleton and I'm not sure where else we went but it was a blast and I'd love to get back there one of these days.

I drive that beltline through Monona across the water way leading to Mud Lake to our land in Gotham several times a year and always mean to drag the boat over and check it out.

Maybe now that we have a place at Riverbend we'll leave the MX bikes at home and do the lake instead of Azzy. Is it still a pretty happening time on the weekends on N Mud or are there better places to raft up for an afternoon? Chad

Marshall Park is the public launch you are referring to in Middleton. Gilligans Island is the small sand bar that is what you are seeing from the Beltline. It can be fun down there, but unfortunately, i've had a couple of bad experiences down there with some inconsiderate boaters that have kept me from hanging there. My new spot to tie up at would be either picnic point or 3-foot bay on Lake Mendota. Both are lowwer key with typically bigger boats and more careful folks. Picnic point also has a bathroom within walking distance on the bike path.

I havn't made an official post, but it sounds like we are shooting for the first saturday of August to have a little get together. It sounds like as of now we are going to try and do a "Madison Tour" and start from Mendota and go through all the lakes and back up to Mendota to hang for the day. I'll start an official thread first of week of July. The more the merrier........

Man I would love to take advantage of that, what a great way to get to know my way around the lakes!
...unfortunately I think that may be the week we're heading to the Mississippi with the kids.
Does that "Tour" happen to be kid friend friendly, does anyone bring the kids or is that pretty much an adult thing?

:d

Yeah, i'm heading down to the Mississippi this weekend, staying at the Hawkeye Marina in their slips.

I don't see a reason why it couldn't be kid friendly. We like to zip around the lakes, but that's about the only thing.