This is going to be a long post. I'll try to keep it as cohesive as possible, but much of this is still in the idea phase, so please bear with me. I will refer to it as the FRF going forward.
I'm considering having a bit of a freeride at my place on the Fox River in Waterford, WI in 2010. Here are the basics (I'll number each of them, so you can refer to each numbered item when commenting):
1) The waterway where I live is 1100 boatable acres that includes a section of the Fox River (north of the Waterford dam), all of Lake Tichigan, and techically, the Tichigan Marsh - where the river flows through, and you can actually head north on the river into Big Bend (about 10 miles), then even follow the river west under I-43 and into the Vernon Marsh (a good 15 miles). However, for our purposes here, we'd be sticking on the "main" river (as locals call it) and Lake Tichigan. The lake and "main" river are what make up the 1100 acres. All of it is plenty deep for skis, and all of it has a 50mph speed limit from January 31 to October 1.
2) The pics show the 2 plots of land owned by my subdivision, that include a small park, beach, and boat launch. It is a private launch, and we watch it pretty closely. I regularly sneak an extra buddie's car/trailer down there, but never more than one. Parking at the launch is limited, and the cops will ticket if someone calls on cars w/o an association pass.
3) There is no beaching allowed of skis on the beach to the right side of the launch channel. The plot of land on the side that includes the beach (right side) is where everyone (but me and my ski buddies) hangs out. I always hang out on the rip-rap side (left side), which is also the side of the channel where the launch is. The beautiful part is that the water is knee deep from the rocks till a good 20 or 30 feet out and a good 60+ feet wide. It's the perfect spot for my beach stands. Nobody messes with any of my stuff. The resident that borders the side with the launch/rip-rap is a long-time co-worker of my dad's, and he gets a real kick out of watching me and my buddies ride. He keeps an eye out. I often launch 3 skis at a time, leave 2 on stands at the park, then head up to the lake (about 2 miles), burn up a tankful, then return to swap skis, and repeat. Never a problem.
4) The 50 mph speed limit is pretty regularly enforced via radar. Obviously not a problem for most stand ups. I've been pulled over and warned, well technically, "congratulated
" twice, but never a ticket for speeding. We've got a handful of 80-115mph boats in the area that are most-targeted for speeding tickets.
5) The river and lake are a very popular with wakeboarders. Lots of boats with fat-sacs filled
.
6) The park is private "members only". Obviously, I've brought friends there many times in the past - maybe up to 4 or 5 at a time, w/o issues. Sometimes people with pontoon boats who are not members will anchor near the roped off swimming area at the beach and use it. Nobody really gets upset.
7) Alcohol is not allowed in the park.
8) Depending on the response to this, I'll bring the idea to the pres of our homeowner's assoc, to get her OK. If she says "no", we may do something anyway, as the assoc doesn't own the river, and there are other ways to acces the river.
9) There is a nice sandbar up on the lake where people hang out.
10) Parking is the biggest issue I can forsee right now. We simply can't park right by the launch. My house is 200yds away, but my driveway is small. When buddies come over to ride, we mostly park on the street in front of my house, which is technically illegal, but the cops only ticket for overnight parking. My street is small, narrow, and very lightly traveled. Fitting 20 cars/trailers on my street would be a problem. Shuttling people back and forth to the launch would not be a problem.
11) There is a public launch 1/2 mile from my launch. People could easily drop off their gear and beach stands by my park, go use the public launch, then ride on over to the party. The public launch is next to the waterford library and dam. There is a no wake zone from the launch, north, about 1/4 mile. Anyone using this launch MUST respect this no wake zone. There is limited parking at this launch as well, maybe 15 or so spaces. However, there is much more parking for vehicles w/o trailers, so bringing skis in pickups would have a potential benefit there.
12) There are no bathroom facilities at my park, but there is a porta-pottie at the public launch. There really isn't a good spot for beaching at the public launch either - just a ramp and a pier to tie up to. So, if you wanted to use the porta-pottie there, you'd probably have to go in pairs, so someone could watch the skis. As stated before, my house/bathroom is 200yds from the launch. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say my wife won't be thrilled about wet jetskiiers in an out of our house all day. We could consider renting a porta-pottie for the day by my park/beach, but then we'd certainly need approval from my assoc.
13) The area between the rip-rap and the launch is flat and grassy. Excellent spot for setting up chairs or maybe some ez-ups.
14) We wouldn't really be riding much right in front of my launch. In fact, I'd make it a rule that the area near the launch would be used strictly for beaching/relaxing. When it's time to goof off and ride, we'd be heading up the river a bit, or up to Lake Tichigan. There's also a small lake (Buena Lake) on the way up, that's mostly 3-4' deep where boats rarely go. We can tear that up as well.
15) No dates in mind yet, really, other than it would need to be a Sunday, most likely, and not conflict with my July vacation or any GLW races.
16) If a few guys wanna come up for a "test-run" sometime in april or may to check out the area first, I'm good with that.
17) I'm PC illiterate when it comes to posting maps and such. Anyone who knows how is welcomed and encouraged to help out here. For now, to see the basic area, go to mapquest and enter:
4400 Riverside Rd.
Waterford, WI
This will show you the park/lauch area, and you can look at the satellite photos also. My house is on Barnes Ln. (nearby), so you can see the distance.
As for the public lauch near the library/dam, enter:
300 N. River St.
Waterford, WI
Same deal, you can see where the launch is in relation to my place, and you can look at the satellite pics. Basically, the no wake zone goes from that launch to just north of the island on the right/east side of the river there.
18) Back to the issue of parking and possibly avoiding having everyone using the private ramp (to prevent complaints). My main trailer is a 3-place (stand-ups/blasters/x2s only). We could literally just have everyone park by me, transfer skis 3 at a time on to my trailer, then ride with me down to the launch, and get dropped off with the skis. However, I'm still leaning towards the idea of having as many people as possible dropping off their gear at my park, then using the public launch (till parking runs out).
19) On or before of the day of the ride, I would provide written and verbal directions as to water depths, places to do subs, places to avoid, underwater obstacles, locally accepted behavior, etc...
I told you this was gonna be a long post
.
That's most of the stuff I can think of so far, and some of you who have ridden by me understand this area first-hand, and also understand how it can be an interesting and fun place to ride when the boat traffic is right. Also, since we normally only have one cop out at a time, and they can really only watch maybe 10% of the whole waterway from any one spot at any given time, you just need to keep your eyes open and ride "smart"
.
Comments, suggestions, and discussion now welcome...
Linear Mode
