Worldwide, freshwater lakes, rivers and waterways are currently impacted by the lack of rain and water levels, creating serious concerns for all types of boaters, marinas and yachts clubs. The United States and Canada are certainly not spared and, unable to reach launch ramps and service piers, boaters, marinas and yacht clubs are worried as many are scrambling to find solutions to hauling out boats. This is especially true for those located north of the North-American snow belt, where lakes and harbors freeze over the winter— leaving boats in the water is not an option.
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Definitely seeing this on Lake Ontario. We have a Beneteau First 36.7, so the keel is over 7′ deep. Amazing for racing upwind, but challenging for haul and launch! This year we’ve moved our haul-out marina to another port due to the slip not being deep enough in our normal location. When they set our boat down in the Spring it was wobbling on the keel, and took quite an effort to plow out when the work was down (luckily soft mud). That was even before the draught. When we delivered our boat to its new haul out port the first staging slip we tried to get into was so shallow we bottomed out 1/3 of the way into it. Luckily we found another that was deep enough nearby. This has also made us think about hauling earlier since lake levels always drop in the Fall, so it’s cutting the season a bit shorter.