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Hazard to Navigation- Just another day on the job
By: Jack Leth Sierra Division Operations Officer
As force multiplers to the Coast Guard we occasionally get tasked to do some unusual things.
For example, last Saturday, after doing a safety patrol in conjunction with a SUP race, Auxiliary facility Yule Tide was returning to it's slip when Station Tahoe received a call of a large, partially submerged log creating a hazard to navigation.
Yule Tide was dispatched to the reported location off Sunnyside Resort on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe.
Arriving on scene they spotted this-
A log? Are you sure? It looks like an alligator! Or, maybe we've finally got a picture of "Tahoe Tessie"!
So much for our fantasies. It turned out to be a really big log. Yule Tide was directed to take it in to Sunnyside Resort. Once we had it safely next to their boat hoist area (they use a large fork lift) we got a good look at it-
That's a BIG log.
However, getting a line on it and towing it in through a buoy field and a tight marina was quite a challenge. Fortunately the Semper Paratus crew of Yule Tide was up to the challenge. Calling on their towing skills from all the two-boat towing practice they improvised and made it happen.
The Lake Tahoe basin snowpack this spring was way above normal so when it all begins to melt the rising waters pick up all sorts of logs and debris off the shoreline and it floats out in to the Lake. You can imagine how much damage this size log could do to a recreational boat that might hit it.
As force multipliers to the Coast Guard we are happy we contribute to keeping the Lake as safe as possible for all boaters.
If you'd like to be a part of this active organization get in touch; we'd love to talk to you about everything we do.
Semper Paratus
Photos by Pat Walter, Flotilla 11N-11-01
