20 November 2010
Ronnie Ashmore is the WCSC member who, as an unpaid volunteer, has managed the design, component purchase and upkeep, installation and floatation of the harbor-saving Breakwater in winter and summer for over twenty five years. Sometime this summer the entire south section sank to the bottom (forty feet deep) sans the steel floatation cage at southernmost end.
For the first time in its history, the Board of Stewards decided to enlist Custom Steel, the dock-makers, to salvage the sunken Breakwater. Earlier this month (November 2010) the section was raised to the surface. Sometimes the Breakwater sinks because the half-inch thick tire cord straps break from chafe. Those straps, six inches wide, are over thirty years old and all sailors know what chafe will do over time. After the south section was floated by the contractors, about 300 vertical-floating tires needed their closed-cell-foam floatation replaced. This is done by people cutting foam on boats and divers inserting ten inch pieces of 6 inch diameter cylinders in the crowns of tires.
On the above date, seventeen WCSC members braved the cold water and took the work barge and RC boat to the middle of the south section to get in the water (65 degrees) and replaced the floatation. Half the crew were stationed on the boats cutting foam while the others hit the water to stuff the foam in tires.
In The Water
Martin Lipham, Ed Sherman, Woody Bowler, Steve Kiemele, Austin Ducworth, Spencer Mathews and Dave Foland.
On The Boats
Ronnie Ashmore, Joe martin, Ross Martin, Curt Rubinstein, Marv Bromley, Jim Snowden, Margaret Kiemele and Ben Barden
On Shore tending to the hot Vegtable Soup
Bev Sherman and Hugh Vantleven
The job was finished in a few hours and the soup and cornbread Ronnie had made earlier was welcome and delicious. Several of the volunteers were over sixty-five years of age. Breakwater work is about as taken for granted by the general membership as work in the city sewers. Let one of those systems fail we don't want to know what would happen.
28 January 2010
Happy New Year from the Breakwater Team. We hope you enjoy a safe harbor at WCSC all during 2010. The Breakwater is in place at the entrance to our harbor to insure just that! However, as the old saying goes..."Boats are safe in a harbor, but is that what boats are made for?"
Therefore we hope you take your boat out often, have a good time sailing with family and friends and by all means find your way back to the safe harbor of WCSC.
During your departures, just after you haul in those tacky, dangling fenders and stow them out of sight, and as you exit the harbor, please take a good look at both sections of our Breakwater and report anything which looks out of place or sunk or sinking. Maintenance on the Breakwater is difficult and sometimes VERY difficult if something bad has gone unnoticed for a time. For example:
When sailing in and out of the harbor, look for several tires below the surface. This is bad and these can be seen because the surface wall should show a solid mass of tire crowns floating on the surface. If you notice an area where there should be tires but see none...then we have trouble. That means a section is starting to lose buoyancy in the crowns and a domino effect will eventually bring the wall to the bottom. We do not want that. Call either Ronnie Ashmore at 864.420.4782 or Ed Sherman at 864,350.9290.
Again, have a great 2010 and...ease 'er as she rolls!
3 August 2009 Breaking News
WCSC members are some of the best people in the southeast. Tell them about a need and the best of the best show up to help...many already have a boat-load of Fairshare hours and need no more. The best WCSC members realize emergencies arise which loom larger than the Fairshare program so they volunteer to jump in the water and get 'er dun!.
Last month, Ronnie Ashmore, Breakwater Leader and Guru sent out a call for volunteers to recover the South Breakwater section which had sunk to the bottom during the winter. He set the Breakwater work day for Saturday, 1 AUG. Certified SCUBA-diver members showed up. Retired guys, new members and others volunteered to get in the water and do surface recovery work. Together, this team of WCSC members brought all 1500 banded-together tires to the surface, started cleaning out the collected silt in the tire bottoms and straightened the sections. They started work on Saturday 1 AUG at Ashmore's appointed time of 0800 and didn't stop 'til 1700.
Work was headquartered on the club work barge, and lasted eight hours out on the waterwith divers in the water half that time. WCSC member-diver Keat Pruszenski led the way, staying in the water all day. The divers carried long air hoses to the sunken tires on the bottom to inflate each airpocket until the entire south wall ascended. The hoses were fed by Ronnie's portable compressor on the barge. After completing his Breakwater work, Keat swam one hundred yards to C dock and dove and found Dennis Bakers glasses which he lost overboard weeks earlier. Keat is a strong, intelligent diver/member who swims 4.5 miles a week in the Y pool.He is in superb physical shape.
The in-the-water recovery crew were WCSC members Ashley Gates, Past Commodore Spencer Mathews, Richelle (Davis) Fandetti, Barry Irwin, Harry Morse, Dave Foland, Bob Knapp and Art Hutson. Divers were Keat Pruszenski, Blume, Past Commodore Ted Sauvain and Ed Sherman.
The day was also a great, breezy day for sailing on the lake and the members who left the harbor in their boats to enjoy the winds gave many a thumbs up the the Breakwater team as they motored through the gate of floating tires. Next time maybe they can join the work party. There is a running feeling within the Breakwater team that a new member really isn't full-fledged until he/she spends a day working on the BW.
Come on in, the water's fine!
Next Breakwater workday is 8 AUG. See below from Ronnie Ashmore.
To all WCSC members,
We are planning another workday for the breakwater this Saturday, August 8th.
For those that have not seen it yet, we worked all day last Saturday raising the South breakwater.
Due to last year's low water level many of the tires were filled with silt and would not re-float. After a lot of digging out by hand and with plastic stadium cups, we finally got it to the surface.
However we ran out of time and did not get all of the silt out and most importantly we did not get additional flotation stuffed into the tires.
The plan for this Saturday is to:
1. Try to remove additional silt. Please bring some old Clemson, USC, etc. plastic stadium cups if you have them.
2. To stuff additional flotation into the tires.
3. To replace/repair some broken rubber connecting straps.
4. To reconnect the breakwater to both flotation platforms.
You will need to bring a life jacket as this is in the water work. You will get dirty so wear an old swim suit and actually a long sleeve shirt is not a bad idea according to the crew this past weekend, but at least an old tee shirt. You may also want to have some gloves.
We could use around 10 to 12 people mostly in the water. We will need someone to operate the skiff and to cut flotation.
We will have water and soft drinks, but bring your own food.
We plan to start at 8:00 AM and work until the job is done. If we have enough help, this should hopefully only take 1/2 day.
Please let me know if you can help and what time you plan to be there so I can make sure we are covered.
Respond to me directly at Sailtanzer@aol.com or my cell 864-420-4782.
Ronnie Ashmore
Welcome to Fall 2008 Breakwater News--
Balls
By Ed Sherman
There now lay two mooring balls anchored in the center of the entrance of the WCSC harbor. Please don’t touch these balls because they are part of the ongoing Breakwater Project. If you see fishermen tied to one of these balls, please, take aim and shoot them.
On Sunday 21 September, the Breakwater Team needed to locate the positions of the two huge, concrete anchors which stabilize the outboard end of the North section (line of tires closest to the clubhouse). To find these massive anchors, a diver had to follow the stainless steel cable from the end of the section down into the depths, through underwater tree limbs, encountering a frigid thermocline at 30 feet, and continuing to follow the cable to the anchor-resting depth of sixty-five feet. A marker float was deployed and sent to the surface to mark the anchor position. Afterward a mooring ball was dropped by Ronnie Ashmore on the work barge. The ball is anchored only by a very small cinderblock with a small rope rode – not strong enough to hold a moored boat. AND…if a boat does moor there, she will drag the marker anchor and destroy the known position of the Breakwater anchor.
Both inboard and outboard anchors were found and marked. The purpose of this work is to later attach strong chains from the buoys to the anchors to enable movement and re-position as the lake level rises and falls.
As the year progresses and we enter 2009, you may see floating markers in and around the harbor in strange places. Not a good idea to try and cut loose these various floats because it could destroy the day’s work of a volunteer. A good example of such a float is at the main launch ramp where you will see a red noodle. This marks the end of the ramp, beyond which mud is encountered by trailer tires.
WCSC members have always honored the hard work of fellow volunteers. This is a crucial time to work together so we can accommodate boats in shallow water, keep our docks safe and protect the harbor, most work of which is accomplished by underwater volunteers and underwater tackle. Something floating on the surface may represent hours of underwater work.
Please keep an eye on the Breakwater and report anything "fishy."
Nature and the Breakwater
The great blue heron ( ardea herodias ) The heron is a lean gray bird which is often mistaken for a crane and may stand four feet tall. Our heron has long legs, long neck and a daggerlike bill. When it flies, it folds the neck which is a sign of a heron. It has great size with a 42"-52" wingspan. Majestic! The GBH also loves the breakwater. Often seen perching early morning or early evening. The Breakwater provides a safe haven because the heron can see 360 degrees of water surface and feels safe from preditors. Fish for dinner can also be spotted by the heron. Herons have what looks like a beard on the front of the neck. Wave hello but leave the heron to nature. This summer we saw flying, a great blue heron chick!
Breakwater Workday
Watch closely the WCSC Google site for news about a Breakwater Workday. Usually in late spring when weather and water become warm, the Breakwater Project Team starts planning a retrofit to withstand the summer months. Your help with the Breakwater will gain you many gold stars and Fair Share credit is awarded for time served. You don't have to be a diver to serve the club on the Breakwater. All you need is an ability to swim and a place in your heart for the WCSC harbor.
Keep eyes peeled
When sailing in and out of the harbor, take a moment or two to scan our Breakwater looking for several tires below the surface. These can be seen because the wall should show a solid mass of tire crowns floating on the surface. If you notice an area where there should be tires but see none...then we have trouble. That means a section is starting to lose buoyancy in the crowns and a domino effect will eventually bring the wall to the bottom. We do not want that. Call someone! See "Breakwater Divers" in the "Breakwater Project" portion of "Harbor Committee" to find out why.
Thanks
Thanks for caring about the WCSC harbor and for understanding the delicate balance by which our precious Breakwater survives.
See ya out there.
Your WCSC Breakwater Project Team