Maiden voyage buckeye lake ohio

[Julian]

Wow...read that article and was curious to see what the dam looked like from the air, so went to google earth and had a heck of a time finding the dam! Here is a screen capture....can you spot it?


Not sure how far on either side of the spillway the dam extends....but the article made it sound like houses were built on the dam?

 

[Julian]

@lddv1224 You can tell from the smiles that you are making great memories! And that is what counts.

Glad you found us and welcome aboard!

Can you get to the marina and main features of the lake if it isn't at full pool? Sounds like having a jet boat will be a major plus!!!

 

[tdonoughue]

@lddv1224 , Great pics! And congratulations on the maiden voyage. Love the captain in training pic. That has to be the winner.

And welcome!

 

[CFD3Captain]

Buckeye Lake sucks when it's busy. The shallow water makes it ROUGH EVERYWHERE! I mean the entire lake is choppy. Similarly, where GiddYupJoe boats (Indian Lake) gets rough too, but it's a bigger lake and there are more places to hide and get away from the chop, plus its a little deeper overall. Both of those lakes I would be paranoid in without a jet.

@Julian You really can't tell from google earth or maps where the dam is. The houses and everything are really built right on it. I couldn't even begin to tell you how far it runs without looking it up. I am fairly certain it runs from Crane Lake / Crane Island west to Sellers Point though.

Here is a pretty good article / video to watch giving some history and nice information http://www.newarkadvocate.com/videos/news/local/2015/03/20/25025337/

Don't get me wrong, we REALLY like Buckeye Lake. It's just not the family/watersports lake like most of you know and love. It's more adult oriented as there are something like 22 bars on the lake (give or take a few but it's over 20). There is only a sandbar to swim at and its a party bar ,so again not the best for kids. But they love seeing the houses and just site seeing there. Also Cranberry Bog is a really cool island you can dock and get on and they think is cool. We don't get there too often but it's always a fun trip AND the fireworks show on the 4th is one of the best I've seen.

 

[mark_m]

Buckeye Lake sucks when it's busy. The shallow water makes it ROUGH EVERYWHERE! I mean the entire lake is choppy. Similarly, where GiddYupJoe boats (Indian Lake) gets rough too, but it's a bigger lake and there are more places to hide and get away from the chop, plus its a little deeper overall. Both of those lakes I would be paranoid in without a jet.

@Julian You really can't tell from google earth or maps where the dam is. The houses and everything are really built right on it. I couldn't even begin to tell you how far it runs without looking it up. I am fairly certain it runs from Crane Lake / Crane Island west to Sellers Point.

Here is a pretty good article / video to watch giving some history and nice information http://www.newarkadvocate.com/videos/news/local/2015/03/20/25025337/

Don't get me wrong, we REALLY like Buckeye Lake. It's just not the family/watersports lake like most of you know and love. It's more adult oriented as there are something like 22 bars on the lake give or take a few but it's over 20. There is only a sandbar to swim at and its a party bar so again not the best for kids. But they love seeing the houses and just site seeing there. Also Cranberry Bog is really cool island you can dock and get on and they think is cool. We don't get there too often but it's always a fun trip AND their fireworks show on the 4th is one of the best I've seen.

Great video @CFD3Captain thank you for sharing it; much more concise than the actual army corps report on the structural instability as a result of seepage. I believe they ar moving forward with repairing the dam but it will take time (years) to complete and the lake will be kept at winter levels until then. To @GiddYupJoe point there are not tons of options in central Ohio to boat, I'm thinking of using 1/2 vacation day technique to get out during the week may be best.

 

[GiddYupJoe]

It's just one of those things... you play with what your dealt. My family and I just enjoy being on the water, and unfortunately we don't have a lot of choice in Ohio, unless you enjoy the river or Erie. Our Lake is close to 13,000 acres and is 8' at its deepest point, but mostly between the 2.5' and 6' range for most of the summer. You pose a good question, and you are very fortunate to be in Kentucky when it comes to boating. So, having a jet boat, I have not noticed any difference beyond the fact that you know it is not as deep as others. If I had a prop, I would be screaming something different. My dad and uncle spun a bunch of props growing up on this lake, LOTS of stumps back in the day.
That being said, I have not tried to surf in 4-5' of water, I don't know how that will work!

I have seriously contemplated working Saturdays and taking a day off during the week this summer just to get out in the water when the place is not slammed! Water sports are prettying not an option during the weekends.

 

[CFD3Captain]

Great video @CFD3Captain thank you for sharing it; much more concise than the actual army corps report on the structural instability as a result of seepage. I believe they ar moving forward with repairing the dam but it will take time (years) to complete and the lake will be kept at winter levels until then. To @GiddYupJoe point there are not tons of options in central Ohio to boat, I'm thinking of using 1/2 vacation day technique to get out during the week may be best.

Where do you normally boat?

What pisses me off about the whole repair thing and the Suckenor's speech (yes I hate that guy) is that he talked about it needing done years ago. He swoops in now to look like a hero, yet he could have done this as soon as he got in office if he truly gave a shit . It would be done NOW.....AND they could have left the water up (because duh, its been in use). Instead, he waits until it's at the point of no return and now the area takes a hit for 5-6 years. And to be honest, if some of those who line his pockets didn't own houses, property and businesses there, I am not sure he would have stepped in. I am not sure what boats they will let on the water but I guarantee it will be HP restricted and our boats will be included in the restricted. IF they allow pontoons the area MIGHT survive for the next few years but I am skeptical.

I am truly glad it's being fixed but if it really has been such a problem and an issue (first time I have heard about it) then why did it come to this? The whole thing just stinks.

 

[mark_m]

Where do you normally boat?

What pisses me off about the whole repair thing and the Suckenor's speech (yes I hate that guy) is that he talked about it needing done years ago. He swoops in now to look like a hero, yet he could have done this as soon as he got in office if he truly gave a shit . It would be done NOW.....AND they could have left the water up (because duh, its been in use). Instead, he waits until it's at the point of no return and now the area takes a hit for 5-6 years. And to be honest, if some of those who line his pockets didn't own houses, property and businesses there, I am not sure he would have stepped in. I am not sure what boats they will let on the water but I guarantee it will be HP restricted and our boats will be included in the restricted. IF they allow pontoons the area MIGHT survive for the next few years but I am skeptical.

I am truly glad it's being fixed but if it really has been such a problem and an issue (first time I have heard about it) then why did it come to this? The whole thing just stinks.

@CFD3Captain we bought the boat in August 2014 so we're newbies. Home water is AlumCreek.

On the dam at buckeye lake... I was never aware. I never really have been to buckeye lake, except to run a 5k mud run few years back. Unfortunately I missed the Jimmy Buffett and the Grateful Dead concerts there.. Always regretted that. My wife's old boss owns a cottage up there, I can't imagine how property and business owners must be feeling right now.

Re: governor response - it's politics, doesn't matter which party in office you know they would blame it on the other guy. I have to wonder where they're getting the money for this now and I guess there's the army corp report and safety factors to make it actionable now. From the corp report I saw engineering assessments going back to the 70s indicating that there was an issue, with a near miss in the 90s, 2000 with near failures.

I'd be interested to hear from a local of the area to get a viewpoint from someone first hand.

 

[mark_m]

Kicking the can down the road... Problems were identified and communicated 75 years ago.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/downloads/2015/03/BL_Dam-CORP_Rpt_03-11-2015.pdf

 

[cbus]

I've never boated on Buckeye Lake but have been there a couple times. As mentioned before, not a great kids environment but it has its pluses.

Like @GiddYupJoe , I also call Indian Lake my home and I have invested money into staying there every weekend during the summer. I can't imagine what all those people are going thru and the devastation it will bring to the local economy.

It's sad that the government had this information years ago and didn't use common sense but that would be an oxymoron I guess.

Further research indicates that the best and proper way to repair the dam is to completely empty the lake and fix it from the lake side. I am no engineer but that would be complete disaster to that area.

I wish all that call Buckeye Lake their home the best and a fast but proper solution to their problem.

 

[lddv1224]

I agree Buckeye Lake isn't the best lake to have fun with the whole family. I have indoor boat storage near Buckeye Lake, however I wasn't planning on taking the boat out on Buckeye Lake much even before all the Dam issues came to light.

@GiddYupJoe We plan to head up your way at least a few times during the summer. My off days are Mon/Tues so I'm assuming its not that crowded during the week. Where is the best place to launch from?

I'm sure most of our boating will either be at Alum Creek, Salt Fork Lake, and Caesars Creek

 

[lddv1224]

@Julian @tdonoughue Thanks

 

[GiddYupJoe]

@lddv1224 my personal favorite is mound wood. It's on the south east side of the lake.

 

[CFD3Captain]

Salt Fork is my home lake but we like others enjoy the occasional trip to Buckeye! The whole thing is a real shame. On a side note, this may open me up to trying a few other places I have never been ( Alum Creek ). Never heard of Caesars Creek. My worry is what it is going to do to the other lakes traffic.