Minimum cruising range...

[Stan Thompson]

In a decade or so the NC Highway 150 bridge that has cut Lake Norman NC (around 9'-11' at normal full pond) in two since 1965 will be replaced by one with 17' clearance. Including major side channels, the longest main channel cruise will increase from the present 50 miles to maybe 130. Four counties and about 5 towns touch the Lake.

I would have enjoyed my Mainship 34 here.

The ragged shoreline, including islands, runs a bit over 500 miles. The Lake is about 1 hour from perhaps 2 million people, guessing, of whom an at least average fraction could afford a trawler.

How big a pre-retirement trawler population—if any—is the new, much larger, LKN likely to attract? The ICW is about 6-7 hours away; LKN is easily reachable after work hours.

 

[caltexflanc]

When we lived in Dallas, a lot of people had very large boats on Lake Texoma, another reservoir with many hundreds of miles of shoreline. In fact the first Hatteras we looked at, a 53ED motoryacht was there. There was also a Sunseeker dealership amongst others.
Besides not liking that particular boat and model (we did end up buying a wonderful Hatteras 56MY) transporting it involved either special trucking it to Tulsa and the Arkansas River, where you had to hire a large crane since no one had a travelift that would handle it, or a very circuitous route to the Gulf, disassembly of the flying bridge etc. On the other hand, Hatteras in the 60's and 70's used to make their boats way inland in Highpoint, and truck them down to New Bern or Swansboro to be finished and launched.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. ST. Welcome aboard, if I've missed you. 11' air draft IS limiting and 17' less so BUT depending on the boat, you may or may not be able to shorten it by easily taking stuff down (bimini, mast, radar arch etc.) or not.

Our current vessel has a 30' air draft with the mast up and about 18' with the mast and bimini down. Both require some amount of time to stow. To get to the ocean where we are in Fort Lauderdale there is 1 bridge with, I believe, 25' clearance or thereabouts. A real PIA if you have to wait around on a busy day. We try to time but...

 

[Stan Thompson]

Thanks. This is useful!

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Can't answer your question but I know a lake in the middle of Wisconsin, Lake Winnebago.
About 40 miles long a mile or two wide, maybe three. Very shallow, like generally less than 10 feet. Big waves can kick up in a hurry and make it very dangerous for small boats and pontoons which this lake has many, many of.

It also has cruisers as large as 40 feet, some trawlers and a few sailboats.

You should see the antiquated electronics on the larger boats. Loran, Old old gigantic radar units, huge television antennas, etc. You don't really need electronics on a landlocked lake but I guess they like to show off at Happy Hour.

pete

 

[alormaria]

I would buy something fast for Lake Norman. Probably a pontoon boat.

 

[caltexflanc]

Good friends of ours have a house on Lake Gaston, kind of the NC/VA version of Texoma. Have to admit a pontoon, which they have there, is pretty ideal for that and there are a few lowish bridges crossing this big lake. We always have a large time when we go up there and it almost always involves taking the boat out, except when we evacuate there for hurricanes.

 

[BandB]

In a decade or so the NC Highway 150 bridge that has cut Lake Norman NC (around 9'-11' at normal full pond) in two since 1965 will be replaced by one with 17' clearance. Including major side channels, the longest main channel cruise will increase from the present 50 miles to maybe 130. Four counties and about 5 towns touch the Lake.

I would have enjoyed my Mainship 34 here.

The ragged shoreline, including islands, runs a bit over 500 miles. The Lake is about 1 hour from perhaps 2 million people, guessing, of whom an at least average fraction could afford a trawler.

How big a pre-retirement trawler population—if any—is the new, much larger, LKN likely to attract? The ICW is about 6-7 hours away; LKN is easily reachable after work hours.

Wifey B: Won't attract any cruisers. Boaters yes. Use as vacation homes, yes. It's a great playground for cruising and if you don't live on the lake a nice 30-40' cruiser sleeping 4 would be great.

But the 500 miles of shoreline is nothing. Even the slowest trawler can go from one end to the other in half a day. We use to do so in an hour. I love Lake Norman. It took my boating virginity and I wanted it more and more. Every possible day we got out on it. We moved to live on it. It's great boating. It's not cruising.

Oh and the 17' clearance. Don't get overjoyed. Half the boats on this site would have trouble with it. Maybe not half, maybe a third or fourth. But a lot. All the boats that can barely do the loop and it's 19'.

Still a boat like your Mainship 34 could be a great weekender for the lake. Well, except one problem still. Diesel. Marinas on Lake Norman don't sell it. I'm sure you could get it delivered though.

So, yay to Lake Norman.

But 30 or 40 miles of boating isn't cruising.

 

[BandB]

I would buy something fast for Lake Norman. Probably a pontoon boat.

Wifey B: We had a Cobalt, 50+ knots.

 

[Stan Thompson]

About the time the new bridge happens (and usual high water MAY clear 19'), diesel will be irrelevant and Duke's Cowans Ford and McGuire zero-carb hydrogen will be coming into vogue.

Google: "diesel is the new asbestos".

EPA may back down...or it may double or triple the price of aquatic rainbows. If the guy that invented lithium batteries sorts out the vitreous version he's said to be working on, two kinds of silent power could vie for dominance.

I loved the smell
of diesel in the morning. But I love steam tech too.����

 

[BandB]

About the time the new bridge happens (and usual high water MAY clear 19'), diesel will be irrelevant and Duke's Cowans Ford and McGuire zero-carb hydrogen will be coming into vogue.

Google: "diesel is the new asbestos".

EPA may back down...or it may double or triple the price of aquatic rainbows. If the guy that invented lithium batteries sorts out the vitreous version he's said to be working on, two kinds of silent power could vie for dominance.

I loved the smell
of diesel in the morning. But I love steam tech too.����

Wifey B: New bridge may be 20 years from now.

And Diesel is the fuel for trawlers and cruising. Clearly not for runabouts on the lake, but it's going nowhere soon.