Unlocking the Fox locks – Lake Winnebago to Lake Michigan

There is a system of locks that allows boaters to get from the Lake Winnebago waterway though Menasha and up the Fox River to the bay of Green Bay. Once in Green Bay you can navigate the Great Lakes and get to the rest of the world via water.

Photo of Appleton WI lock curtsy of gwo-main.com
At one time this system of 17 locks allowed commercial traffic to continue upriver through additional locks and connect to the Wisconsin River then to the Mississippi River. This provided a much needed waterway link from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River. However with the development of the railroad system and the development of other lock systems the commercial traffic has ceased long ago.

Construction of the Fox lock system began in the 1840’s. Due to a lack of funds all but the remaining 3 operational locks were closed in the early 1980’s.

The Fox lock system presently has the first lock in Menasha and the last two locks from Rapid Croche down river to the bay of Green Bay in operation from mid May through the boating season. With the passage of many years of non-use many of the locks are in need of repair.

In 2000 the state of Wisconsin agreed to take over the locks to prevent the system from being abandoned by the army corps of engineers. The state received $11.8 Million with a pledge for an additional $5.6 Million for restoration of the lock system.

With the commercial traffic gone the focus is on tourism and riverfront development. In 1995 an economic impact study was done and this study estimated the re-opening of the lock system would generate a $74 Million annual positive economic impact. With inflation this number should be even higher today.

The ‘private donation’ funding needed to complete this project to re-open and operate the lock system is over ½ way to the goal of $6 Million.

The Friends of the fox http://www.friendsofthefox.org/ is working to raise funds to re-open the lock system and ensure operation for the future. To protect the Winnebago water system of invasive species they plan to build a barrier at Rapide Cronche.

The Friends of the fox http://www.friendsofthefox.org/ will be holding a meeting to give a status update on the project to re-open the lock system. This meeting will be held April 29, 2006 at Waverly Beach starting at 5:00 PM. Waverly Beach, N8770 Fire Lane 1, Menasha, WI 54952.

The above information was prepared by Presentation Rentals a audiovisual equipment rental company in Appleton Wisconsin that offers LCD projector PA public address sound system and accessories. Visit them on the web at http://www.presentationrentals.net

Boat - SeaRay Sundancer 240
Port - Slip #2A, Skipper Buds, Oshkosh, WI
Lisa

Is electrolysis (stray voltage) eating away at your outdrive?

Is electrolysis (stray voltage) eating away at your outdrive?

So this person told you that they heard of a guy who’s outdrive was ruined from stray voltage corrosion and the offending boat was another boat in the marina.

Stories like this are great at putting fear in us boaters. It has all the making of a good horror film. You can’t see the culprit, you can’t detect it and you fear your boat may be under attack right now. What can you do?

What is electrolysis?

Electrolysis is a reaction between metal and electrical current. Electrolysis occurs when electrical current comes in contact with water near the external metallic parts of your boat.

This electrical current normally comes from an improperly grounded electrical devices or an electrical device that has suffered a short or fault and now has the live or hot side of the electricity in contact with the water.

Electrolysis can cause corrosion much faster then normal galvanic corrosion.

The most expensive external metallic component of your boat is the outdrive often called “the lower unit.” As electrons flow from negative to positive or from your outdrive (the negative source) to the leak (the positive source) the electrons literally carry away the metal of your boat bit by bit.

Most insurance companies do not cover claims against marine electrolysis corrosion. Because of a debate over the very word “electrolysis” the insurance companies do not need to put this exclusion in their policies.

Here is the good news.

In this part of the country we have FRESH water not salt water. Electricity travels through salt water much easier then fresh water. Distance in fresh water maters greatly. 120 volts (a measurement of electrical pressure) in fresh water means the electricity can only travel a short distance to reach your outdrive. Stories of one boat on one pier causing electrolysis on a boat on a different pier are possible but highly unlikely in fresh water. Your own boat and the boats immediately adjacent to your slip or other electrical sources close to your slip are the sources of concern.

What can you do?

Before you hire an electrician and spend money here is how you can tell if you have a problem. This is a test that any boater that keeps their boat in a slip can and should do. Inspect your anodes on your outdrive on a regular basis. These are the silver colored metallic parts on your outdrive. If you have a Mercury Alpha I you have 6 anodes. 5 are visible and 1 is behind the propeller.

Even if you have stray current causing dramatically accelerated corrosion your anodes will function and sacrifice themselves first.

Put on a full set of new magnesium anodes. If they are 50% gone in 6 months to a year this is considered normal wear. With the short season of Wisconsin we can normally go 1 full season in a wet slip then change the anodes during the winter maintenance schedule. If you see uneven wear, say one anode on one trim shaft has had much less mass then the other you need to remove this larger anode and sand the surface area between the anode and the metal the anode touches. The anode is larger because it’s not making good contact and is not doing its job.

Anode mass loss (wear) may be less if you keep your lower unit in the full down position when you leave the boat, if you keep your boat in the water for a shorter season, if you have a very well sealed and painted outdrive or if you do not have a bottom painted boat.

Anode mass loss may be more if you have fresh bottom paint (containes copper) or have an stainless steel propeller. This is becaus stailess steel is a very nobel or low croding metal causing a increased rate of galvanic conversion to the anodes. Dual stainless steel propellers accelerate this further.

If you are seeing signs of flaking paint or corrosion on your outdrive this is a indication that someone before you (or possibly you but lets blame someone else, its more fun) painted over improperly prepared or even a corroded outdrive. You need to sand, seal, prime and paint this area. Left untreated, this will cause your anodes to dissolve much faster then normal.

If the tip of your skeg (lowest fin on the outdrive) is bare aluminum from running thru shallow areas then you need to sand, seal, prime and paint this area. Left untreated, this also will cause your anodes to dissolve much faster then normal. Also, do you have shore power? If yes, you need a galvanic isolator. With out a galvanic isolator you may be causing your own electrolysis problem.

Due to all the metallic items on a boat all boats have an electrical potential. Electrolysis is stray current escaping from the system. When this happens it will reduce the mass of the anodes at a very fast rate leaving the anode metal looking bright and shiny.

Therefore:
Shiny eroded anodes = electrolysis. This is stray voltage induced corrosion and needs to be fixed.
Dull eroded zincs = galvanism. This is dissimilar metal corrosion and will occur naturally on boats kept in a wet slip at a pace of the anode loosing about half its mass after six months. Faster then this and you need to repaint your outdive.

Lets review:
- You start the season with new anodes and they are the proper anodes for your type of water (fresh water = magnesium, salt water = zinc)
- Your outdive is properly sealed and painted. The paint looks good and you see no signs of the paint flaking or corrosion.
- If you have shore power you have a galvanic isolator.

What should you do if you think you have a electrolysis (stray voltage) issue?

If and only if all the above are true yet your anodes are still wearing at a accelerated rate meaning they are reduced to half their original mass in less then 6 months you should hire an marine electrician to check for a possible electrolysis (stray voltage) issue.

What will they do? I don’t want anyone here to do this. Leave this to a trained professional marine electrician.

Here is what they will do. They will take a voltage meter and connect one end to the ground of your shore power. They will then dip the other lead in the water and determine if the voltage is high enough to be considered stray voltage.

The electrician will check if at least 1/2 volts DC or direct current exists.

An amount of DC voltage is normal and will be absorbed with normal anode wear. A boat that has a fresh coat of copper based bottom paint can generate ¼ to 1/3 volt with no connection to shore power and the battery removed.

If you have ¼ to 1/3 volts DC you do not have a problem. If you have ½ volts DC you likely have a problem. If you get to 1 volt DC you have a significant problem. 10 volts and your anodes will be reduced in mass and ineffective in as little as 2 weeks.

If the electrician finds at least ½ volt present the electrician will have one person keep an eye on the meter as another person unplugs your boat. If the meter drops the problem is from your own boat. They will repeat this unplugging your battery cables. In fresh water if there is a stray voltage problem this is the most typical case.

If after unplugging your boat the voltage remains they next will, with the permission of the marina, unplug one boat then the next then anything else in the general area. When something is unplugged and the voltage meter drops the electrical leak source has been found.

Finally, if the electrician determines your slip in the marina is hot, meaning it contains stray voltage and the source is not from your boat but you just can not find or stop the source you need to move to another slip or marina.

The above information was prepared by Presentation Rentals a audiovisual equipment rental company in Appleton Wisconsin that offers LCD projector PA public address sound system and accessories. Visit them on the web at http://www.presentationrentals.net

Boat - SeaRay Sundancer 240
Port - Slip #2A, Skipper Buds, Oshkosh, WI
Lisa

Wisconsin History – the Winnebago War of 1827

In 1827 the Stockbridge Indian tribe on Lake Winnebago lived in peace and harmony until early English colonists decided to rid the area of the Indians who fished the lake and were often in the way of the “cruisers” of the day, the speedy schooners.

The American Calvary, overwhelmingly favored to win the battle, threatened to cut a certain body part off of all captured Indian soldiers so that they could never fight again. The Indians won in a major upset and waved the body part in question at the Calvary in defiance. What was this body part?

The resistance, known as the Winnebago War of 1827 was led by chief Red Bird. Using this threat of having the body part cut off by the American Calvary to his advantage chief Red Bird convinced the Brothertown Indian tribe, the Ho-Chunk Indian tribe and many other smaller Indian tribes to unite in battle. When the American Calvary in their schooners encountered the united Indian armada they immediately retreated. With the armada in pursuit the Calvary retreated through Oshkosh, Winneconne and headed up the Wolf River to Fremont.

With superior knowledge of the local area chief Red Bird took a select group of warriors and headed on shore to a high bank just beyond Fremont. When the Calvary arrived they found the deep keels on their schooners were more then what could clear the shallow water at this spot of the river. At this point the Calvary could continue no more and were easy targets for the Indians perched high above on the river banks. This shallow wide area, later named “Red Banks” in the chiefs honor was not dredged until almost 100 years later.

With the Calvary unable to go forward they reversed course back to Fremont until they reached the awaiting Indian warrior armada. Scared and facing certain death the Calvary set fire to their own vessels and retreated up the west river banks slipping away from the battle. This very spot became known as “Slip knot.” Defeated and scared the American Calvary ran and did not stop until they reached Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

Victorious in battle chief Red Bird ordered the Indian warriors to wave the very body part that the Calvary had so arrogantly threatened to cut off. The body part the American Calvary threatened to cut off of the Indian warriors was the middle finger, without which it is impossible to draw the renowned longbow, favored by the Indians. The act of drawing this long stiff bow made from wood from the yew tree was known as "plucking yew." The victorious Indian warriors shouted to the retreating American Calvary as they ran up the river banks "See, we can still pluck yew! PLUCK YEW!"



Embarrassed by the humiliating defeat President John Quincy Adams, in Nov. 1828 ordered all official records of the battle to be rewritten in favor of a union victory however the story of the battle of Winnebago continues by being passed on generation to generation.

Over the years some 'folk etymologies' have grown up around this symbolic gesture. Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say (like "mother plucker", which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on the arrows), the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental’s fricative 'f', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the defiant gesture are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter. In honor of the victory lead by Red Bird, the Indian chief, the symbolic gesture has become known as "giving the bird".

Today a statue displayed at High Cliff state park commemorates the battle between the Indians and the Americans. To honor this revered leader, a 12 foot statue was erected in High Cliff State Park. Historical revisionists and citizens for decency have forced the officials to have the statue modified from its original historically accurate portrayal as seen in this original photo below to adding an extended pointer, ring and pinky finger next to the middle finger. However if you visit this statue today at High Cliff state park on the north east corner of Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin and you get on someone’s shoulders to take a close look you can see the other fingers are not a perfect match.

The original Statue of chief Red Bird at at High Cliff state park


You can read more about this infamous chief at and this historic battle by visiting the High Cliff General Store Museum. The High Cliff General Store Museum shares the history of the park in one of the original buildings from Sherwood's past. Additionally, visitors can purchase ice cream, candy and other items while examining the items in the museum. The High Cliff General Store Museum is open Friday through Sunday from Memorial Day through Labor Day from noon to 5 p.m.

Native American history is abundant in Calumet County. There are several memorials, preserved burial grounds, and effigy mounds to go back in time and tap one’s desire to experience and learn more. From the Brothertown Indian Memorial at the intersection of Highways 151 and 55, to the Chief Red Bird Memorial in High Cliff State Park, the historic gems you will discover will awe you.

History is not lost on today's residents of Calumet County. Indeed, it is celebrated to this day by keeping the historic traditions alive, specifically by the fisherman of Lake Winnebago.

Now that you know the history you can do your part to keep the storied tradition alive and help repair the rift that divides between cruisers and fishermen through this day.

When you are out on your cruiser and you come across an anchored fisherman rather then avoiding their general vicinity alter your course to take you close to their side. As you pass them hold up your right arm with your middle finger extended and shout “Pluck yew!” If they return with the same geniture and reply “Pluck you too!” you can be proud that you are doing your part to repair this long standing divide between fishermen and cruisers.