Tuesday, June 30, 2009

I wish I was here


I need a wind fix
I was just at Mascoma Lake and I could of sailed a 6.4 or 5.4 in the gust on my 100 Ltr but I brought the boy's fishing instead.
Please get me to the Gorge.
Check out the new hatchcam. Looks like a new HD camera. You can also pick the last 10 min tab to see 1 min. slide show. If anyone can find a cheap flight please let me know.
Brian

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Lake Champlain facts sheet

info provided by Lake Champlain Basin Program

Lake and Basin Facts

Lake Length: 120 miles (193 kilometers). Lake Champlain flows from Whitehall, New York north almost across the U.S./Canadian border to its outlet at the Richelieu River in Quebec. From there, the water joins the St. Lawrence River, which eventually drains into the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Greatest Width: 12 miles (19 km).

Greatest Lake Depth: 400 ft. (122 meters). The waters of Lake Champlain reach their greatest depth in the area between Charlotte, Vermont and Essex, New York. Visit the Lake Depths page for more information.

Average Lake Depth: 64 ft. (19.5 meters).

Average Annual Water Level: 95.5 ft. Normal annual variation between high and low average water levels is about six feet (2 meters) in Lake Champlain, but since the early 1870s when daily records began, the maximum range between the high and low average water levels was measured at 9.4 feet (3 meters).

Record High Water Level: 101.89 ft. recorded in 1993 at Rouse's Point.

Record Low Water Level: 92.4 ft. recorded in 1908.

Lake Area: 435 sq. miles (1127 sq. kilometers) of surface water.

Average Volume of Water: 6.8 quadrillion gallons (25.8 trillion cubic meters).

Water Retention Time: Varies by Lake segment. It is longest in the Main Lake, about three years and shortest in the South Lake -- less than two months.

Amount of Shoreline: 587 miles (945 kilometers) of shoreline.

Number of Beaches: There are about 54 public or commercial beaches and 10 private beaches on the Lake's shores. Visit the Beaches page for more information.

Average Lake Freeze Date: The average Lake freeze date (across the Lake's widest part) is February 12th. During the frigid winter of 2003, it froze on February 15th, and during 2004, the Lake froze on January 27th. In 2005, it froze on March 8th. However, the Lake is still freezing less frequently across its widest part than it has in the past. For example, it only froze during three winters between 1990-2000.

Lake Segments: The Lake is divided into five distinct areas, each with different physical and chemical characteristics and water quality. These lake segments include: the South Lake, the Main Lake (or Broad Lake), Malletts Bay, the Inland Sea (or Northeast Arm), and Missisquoi Bay.

Lake Stratification: Lake Champlain stratifies in the spring and summer. The warmer, less dense, upper layer (epilimnion) of the Lake typically extends down about 33 feet (10 meters) in the Main Lake during the summer. Below this layer, there is a sharp transition in temperature called the "metalimnion" or "thermocline," to the much colder waters below, called the "hypolimnion".

Number of Islands in Lake: More than 70.

Area of the Basin: 8,234 sq. miles (21,326 sq. kms). Ninety percent of the water that enters Lake Champlain flows through the Lake's drainage basin before it reaches the Lake.

Land Distribution: Fifty-six percent of the Basin is in Vermont, 37% is in New York, and 7% is in the Province of Quebec.

Area of Wetlands in the Basin: More than 300,000 acres. Visit the Wetlands page for more information.


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Valley News - Mascoma Lake

Published 6/9/09
Disease Cluster Found at Lake
Researchers Seek Link Between Mascoma ALS, Algae
By John P. Gregg and John Woodrow Cox
Valley News Staff Writer
Enfield -- Researchers with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center have identified a potentially significant cluster of Lou Gehrig's disease cases around Mascoma Lake.
Working with a team of other researchers, they are trying to determine if the cluster, and smaller ones like it in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, can be linked to certain algae blooms that produce a neurotoxin that may trigger the disease.
They also noted that the link, if one can be found, would likely involve long-term exposure to the neurotoxin by people with a genetic predisposition to the disease, officially known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
Nine people living near Mascoma Lake have been diagnosed with ALS since 1990, all but one between 2000 and 2006. Three of them were in 2006, according to Elijah Stommel, a DHMC neurologist who has been mapping cases of the disease in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
“There's clearly a cluster of ALS around that lake,” Stommel said in a phone interview yesterday. “I want to be really clear that we don't have any strong link at this point … I don't think there’s any cause for alarm.”
ALS is a progressive, often fatal neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness and atrophy, according to the ALS Association.
The incidence of ALS in the United States is about two per 100,000 people. The Dartmouth team has determined that the incidence of ALS cases can double for people living near waterways with cyanobacteria blooms.
The Mascoma Lake prevalence is about 25 times greater than national norms, he said.
Three cases of ALS also were mapped near Kennedy Pond in Windsor, Stommel said.
“We've found a few hotspots in Vermont as well,” he said.
Stommel -- collaborating with researchers from University of New Hampshire, the Wyoming-based Institute for Ethnomedicine and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services -- hopes to determine whether the ALS cases near Mascoma and other smaller clusters are related to outbreaks of cyanobacteria.


See the full story at the Valley News website.

Did anyone sail today????



NOAA forecasted SE 10 to 20 mph for today. The after cast was S 15 to 25. A lake wind advisory for the 11:00 am forecast update.
Here is the graph for Plattsburgh.
Did anyone catch this session?
what a rip off!

Monday, June 1, 2009

5-31-09 Finally, A windy day on Sunapee Lake

Great to have a windy day on Lake Sunapee. Steve and myself sailed 4.8 and 5.0 on our fsw 85 and fsw 78 litter boards over powered most of the time until the very end. West wind at Soo-nipi, so you know what that means. The tops of the swells were getting blown off, so it was between 20- 25 with gust to +- 35, sunny and 65 degrees. Great fun.
Brian