Tag Archives: Lake Travis

It’s a boat

Posted on June 3, 2007 | Comments Off on It’s a boat

Caught making lists this afternoon of things yet to do on the sloop before it’s presentable and usable again. The memory fades without lists. Proceeding at a stately pace of an hour or so a day, squeezed in between parenting and other things, I have progressed. After more than a year of no use, the boat was (and is yet) pretty dirty, but it’s improving. Finally got the hull and the deck clean of dirt, mold and mildew, and yesterday took on the forepeak, vacuuming the cushions and the surfaces and wiping everything. I got out two baseball-sized mud dauber’s nests. The smell of bleach finally got to me, despite the open hatches. About then two humongously oversized (for a lake) cabin cruisers chugged by at slow speed. They set up more wake going slow, and I was rolling around in the cramped forepeak like a fish in a can. Finally finished, fought off the nausea, and brought the cushions back in from their airing in the cockpit. Then went home. Think I got dehydrated in the 90 degree heat. Memo: next time, tomorrow, bring more water.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Sailing

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From dry to wet

Posted on May 28, 2007 | Comments Off on From dry to wet

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Lower Colorado River Authority graph shows how far and how fast Lake Travis has risen since last Tuesday, thanks to the weekend storms in the watershed. The lake is now forecast to hit 684 feet above mean sea level by Thursday, without any more rain. That would be a rise of 11 feet. I didn’t bother to visit the marina this morning, figuring the parking lot would be under water. Certainly is now. Ah, well, I have other chores including a backyard to mow when the wet grass dries out by tomorrow.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Lake on the rise

Posted on May 28, 2007 | 4 comments

The rancho and most of the area has been spared any severe flooding so far, but Lake Travis is rising like a rocket. According to the LCRA: the Llano River is running more than 12,000 cubic feet per second, when a few hundred is normal. The Llano flows into the upper lakes whose dams pass their excess downstream to Travis. Meanwhile the Pedernales, which flows directly into Travis, is running more than 6,000 cubic feet per second, when a few hundred is normal. Meanwhile, Lake Travis is at 681.22 feet above mean sea level, which is full–for the first time since April, 2005.

The parking lot at Anderson Mill marina was mostly underwater Sunday morning. The lake was more than 12 inches lower at that point. The extra foot could have drowned the rest of the lot. The river authority is keenly aware of all this and may have to open another gate or two on the dam to slow the rise. They don’t like to squander the water, and so have been releasing only enough to generate electricity. But opening more may be necessary to prevent flooding on the lake. Which, in turn, might mean dock and other shoreline damage to folks who live downstream on Lake Austin. A complicated juggling act.

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Posted in Weather/Climate

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The waves

Posted on May 27, 2007 | Comments Off on The waves

The waves of rain some meteorologists predicted seem to have made their appearance on KVUE’s Web radar, with showers at the rancho for the first time all day. But the forecast rain totals were revised downward from as much as 10 inches to as little as 2 to 4 inches. That’s good because Lake Travis is more than full for the first time in two years. The Lower Colorado River Authority has opened the floodgates at Mansfield Dam. It’s been a wild three months as the lake has come back from the drought of 05-06. Any great additional rain now in the lake’s watershed could start flooding homes out there on the shoreline. Looks like the Turnback Canyon race is going to get wet tonight. They’re probably asleep. They have to get up later this morning to retrace the whole 19 miles they came today.

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Posted in Texana, Weather/Climate

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Turnback Canyon race

Posted on May 26, 2007 | Comments Off on Turnback Canyon race

Despite the storms, the Austin Yacht Club is pressing ahead with its annual 19-mile race on Lake Travis. I’ve only tried this one three times since 1985, all three aborted about two-thirds of the way from sunburn and exhaustion. Each time, I spent the night in a small cove miles from the finish line and the parties and etc. The last attempt was the most memorable, because Mr. Boy’s mom broke her hand, hitting it on the transom when trying to start the manual outboard to help me position the anchor in the cove. Fortunately the First Aid kit had a splint and chemical ice pack, and we watched a sitcom on a small TV we had. Motored home the next morning and went to the emergency room. Hope no one has it that bad this weekend and that all arrive on time, despite the inevitable debris in the water from the flooding.

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Posted in Sailing, Scribbles, Texana

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Ignominious end

Posted on May 24, 2007 | Comments Off on Ignominious end

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A 1975 Catalina 22 finds a sad end after 32 years. It was abandoned by its owner, who had removed, among other things, the teak trim. It was leaking sufficiently that it had to be pumped out periodically, and Anderson Mill marina was tired of the game. When they couldn’t get the owner, who was no longer paying his monthly slip fee, to take care of it, they dragged it, scraping, up the ramp on its folded swing-keel. There’s a few more of various makes due to make the trip, victims possibly of the long drought when the docks were moved so far out into Lake Travis that it was hard to get to the boats to maintain them. Some of them were a lot dirtier than ours.

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Posted in Sailing, Scribbles

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Catalina 22

Posted on May 14, 2007 | Comments Off on Catalina 22

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The family sloop, a 1985 Catalina 22, looks better in this photo than it did up close, at the time, as it was covered with grey mold spots after a year without use on Lake Travis. During the drought the docks were moved to where they were inaccessible most of the time. Now it’s back and almost four weeks since the photo was taken, the exterior is three-quarters clean. Elbow grease and Sof Scrub is all it takes. Still have to finish the cockpit and clean out the cabin, but it’s coming along. The admiral wants to sell it and I had planned to, while it was inaccessible, but of course nobody wanted to buy it then. But after 22 years of sailing it, it’s hard to part. Has to be cleaned and the outboard overhauled to sell it, anyway. If I can lure Mr. B. onto it a couple of times once school is out on May 24, I may have the winningest reason to keep it. Racing is something I’ve never cared to do, but he might find it exciting.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly, Sailing, Texana, Weather/Climate

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