Paddles and Pistons: Lake Charlevoix Boat Count 2010

Boat counters Jonathan Friendly (left) and Paul Nowak tally the craft in Hemingway Point marina. Photo by Gilbert Robinson

Human muscles are competing nicely with internal combustion engines for small boat users on Lake Charlevoix and Round Lake.

The annual boat census of the Lake Charlevoix Association (LCA) conducted on Saturday, Aug. 8, tallied 756 kayaks and canoes as well as more than 500 rowed boats on the lakes Aug. 6, compared with 802 personal water craft. Overall, the numbers of boats without motors comprised just about half of all the 5,458 vessels counted.

The boats counted by LCA volunteers ranged from 100-foot-long power boats to kayaks and personal water craft. The total compared with 5,023 tallied a year earlier, but the counters followed a new protocol for counting tenders and other small sailing craft that meant that not all the boat categories are strictly comparable with data the association has been collecting since 1998.

Sam Williamson, a director of LCA who organized this year's count, said the new methodology was needed to clear up some ambiguities that counters from previous years had noted. Previously some counters had treated tenders as rowed boats while others had put them in a category of power boats less than 26-feet long. This year they were tallied in a separate category and more emphasis was placed on counting a variety of other craft such as wind surfers that were beached away from the shoreline.

Cass and Sam Williamson returning from their boat count. Sam, an LCA director, organized this year's count. In the background is Sail La Vie, a Tartan 31, that Sam raced in the Chicago-to-Mackinac race this year. He was second across the finish line in his cruising class and sixth on corrected time. Photo by Gilbert Robinson

"The new procedures are easier for our counters," Williamson said, "and will give us even more accurate detailed comparisons for future years."

The boat data are shared with the Coast Guard and the County Sheriff's Marine Patrol as well as municipal officials to help them understand the patterns of lake use and how they may be shifting.

The count showed 662 larger power boats, 26 feet and longer, almost unchanged from last year's 681. Smaller power boats, the largest category in the count, totaled 1,858, down from 1,875.

The census found 237 tenders, a quarter of them in Round Lake alone. The personal water craft category showed a rise to 802 compared with 725 a year ago. The total of 760 sailboats of all sizes was up from 656 last year. It included 278 "sit or stand on top" boats such as windsurfers, Sailfish and other sail boards, as well as 482 others that ranged up to 70 feet long.

Williamson welcomed the help provided this year by a Coast Guard Auxiliary member who joined 13 LCA members early Saturday morning to cover seven separate areas of the 61-mile-long lakefront as well as marinas and launch ramp areas.

Totals and methods

This is the tabulation of the boat count of Lake Charlevoix and Round Lake accomplished on 8-06-10. Corresponding figures for the previous 12 years are also shown.

Method: Boats on moorings, lifts, at slips, at anchor, on the beach, and dinghies on board or alongside larger craft were counted by volunteers aboard small boats early in the morning before there was traffic on the lakes. Boats in the larger marinas were counted by walking the docks. Launching ramps and campgrounds were surveyed sequentially that same afternoon between 1PM and 4PM. At the ramps, boats seen launching, being retrieved, and empty trailers were all counted. The general principle was to count every boat that could be/is used on the Lake Charlevoix that day.

The count is always done in late July or early August, except 2007, when it was done on the third weekend in August. We think that weekend may not be comparable to the other dates. The weather has been fine AM and PM for all years except 1999 when it was overcast in AM and threatening to rain in PM, 2003 when forecast was for possible thunderstorms [didn't happen] in PM, and 2009 when it rained in PM [launching ramps were counted Sunday 8-2-09].

Included in the totals, but broken out for display, are launching ramp, and camp-ground boats. The approximate percentage distribution of boats at the launching ramps and camp-grounds is 75% power under 26', 10% power over 26" and 10% PWC. This distribution is roughly the same, year after year.

Dinghies/tenders accompanying larger boats are broken out for display but have been included in the power, 26 ft. and under, or oars/paddle categories.

Year	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998
Type of boat
Oars/paddle*	1376	1086	780	938	857	894	863	879	597	778	709	655	648
Sail, all sizes	760	656	663	597	660	611	603	605	566	706	664	693	692
Power, <26'	1858	1875	1959	1865	2175	1921	1995	1945	2102	1916	1733	1851	1824
Power, 26" and up	662	681	584	619	587	579	636	588	529	568	558	554	454
PWC	802	725	736	748	724	732	715	684	659	668	583	592	554
Totals	5458	5023	4722	4767	5003	4737	4812	4701	4453	4636	4247	4335	4170
Launching Ramps & Campgrounds*		126	179	120	208	139	227	189	271	259	203	148	207
Tenders**	229	79	142	159	205

*Boats at ramps and campgrounds are included in the overall tallies this year.

**Oared and powered boats carried aboard larger boats, as well as those tied to boats or docks and clearly used as tenders were included in the tender category this year; previously, many had been counted in the separate oars/paddle category or as power less than 26 feet.