High water levels lead to delayed start of summer boating season

When Amy Lince answers the phone at Brian’s Lakeside Marina, chances are the person on the other end is either wondering when they can put their boat in Houghton Lake or if they can reschedule a time to take their boat out of storage.

“What’s the new date you are looking at?,” Lince asked a customer during a May 19 telephone call.

Currently, with the lake level much higher than normal this time of the year, Brian’s Lakeside Marina Owner Chris Tribelhorn said boat hoists aren’t high enough to hold boats out of the water.

“The lift won’t pick the boat out of the water and, if we get wind and waves, it will float away,” Tribelhorn said.

With the high water levels, Lince said customers are at a point where they are making the tough decision not to get their boats out of storage.

Brian’s Lakeside Marina has about 400 boats in winter storage, however, Tribelhorn said “maybe 50” boats have been taken out as of this week. During a normal spring, about 150 boats would be out of storage by now.

Tribelhorn said another problem being caused by the high water levels is that people are having trouble installing their docks.

“It’s extremely high, I mean, I’ve never seen it like this,” Tribelhorn said of the high water level.

Tuesday morning, Tribelhorn had about 60 more feet of dock to put in at the marina. In a normal year, his crew would start installing the marina’s dock around the second week of April, however, with the extreme rain that came this April, he had to wait.

In order to accommodate the higher-than-normal lake levels, Tribelhorn has the marina dock set about six inches higher.

When customers call the marina, Lince said, for the most part, people are understanding of the lake level situation. However, she said there are a few who are either upset that nothing can be done or just do not know about the situation.

Lince said it seems most locals are contacting those who live elsewhere and have summer cottages or second homes on Houghton Lake. When an out-of-town customer calls, Lince said there are times when they have “absolutely no clue” of the flooding, high water levels or the trouble people are having with hoists and docks. With the customer’s lack of knowledge regarding the situation, Lince said, at times, she has to be the bearer of bad news.

When having conversations with customers, she often has to tell them the goal is to prioritize the safety of the marina staff as well as the integrity of the customers’ equipment and has had to work with customers to get their boats out of storage later than anticipated.

She said some customers are looking to keep their boats in storage until the water level recedes, with some looking to get their boats on Houghton Lake in late-May or even the beginning of June.

Julie Cover has a second home on Houghton Lake and is one of Brian’s Lakeside Marina’s customers. She is also one of those people in a holding pattern.

Cover’s dock was installed by Dick’s Docks and Lifts, Inc. April 1, however, her boat is another story.

“I have no clue,” Cover said of when her boat will be put into Houghton Lake for the summer. “They [Brian’s Lakeside Marina] are going to be kind enough to hold it.”

Generally, Cover has her boat on-the-ready for summer enjoyment from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. With her boat still in storage, Cover said her family, including her four grandchildren, will have to wait. She said her 17- and 20-year-old grandchildren understand the situation with the water levels, however, for her 12- and 14-year-old grandchildren, the situation is disappointing.

“They had plans, let me tell you, they had plans,” Cover said.

Cover’s younger grandchildren had plans of bringing a mass of friends to Houghton Lake to enjoy the summer, but those plans have changed with the current water level situation.

“We cannot get the boat out,” Cover said.

While Cover called the matter a “first-world problem,” she said the situation and her grandchildren’s feelings about it are “extremely sad.” Her family has had their boat for about 20 years and being on Houghton Lake during the summer is part of their tradition.

“We are staying home,” Cover said. “There’s nothing I can do.”

‘Fighting Mother Nature’

Dave Haugk, of Troy, who has a house on Iroquois Avenue, said he will be coming to Houghton Lake for Memorial Day weekend, however, it’s going to be different.

Instead of being on the water in his family boat, Haugk is anticipating that he will be utilizing his four-wheeler and the woods.

“I’m hoping sooner, rather than later,” Haugk said of getting his boat out for the season.

Usually, Haugk has his boat, hoist and dock out by mid-May, however, with the heightened water level, that isn’t possible. He already had May 9 set to launch his boat and had to cancel. He planned on launching it this Saturday, however, he’s going to cancel again to be “cautious.”

Haugk also took caution with his lakefront property as he placed 175 to 180 sandbags along the seawall of not only his property, but his neighbor’s property.

“It is what it is, we’re fighting Mother Nature,” Haugk said.

This reporting is made possible by the Northern Michigan Journalism Collaborative, led by Bridge Michigan and Interlochen Public Radio, and funded by Press Forward Northern Michigan.