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?

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.....