Stashed boats=garbage?

[l'oiseau]

You carry out full beer cans? C'mon now... they ain't the same as when they went in

[Brookie hunter]

My opinion is leave the boats there if people want to use them they can do it at their own risk. I would also suggest start removing things from old lumbering camps and hunting camps fist as most of that stuff is useless where some of the boats can still be used

[albert]

Originally Posted by ADKpikebuster

I've come across plenty of old vehicles, camp remains, old soda bottles, car batteries, tires, a smoker, even a coke machine.....it'd take an concerned citizen like yourself years to haul all of it out, you should start there first then work on hiking boats out of ponds

This is true I would say this stuff is much more of an eyesore than stashed boats that can still be used, this other junk has no use

[Glen]

Originally Posted by kyle

My opinion is leave the boats there if people want to use them they can do it at their own risk. I would also suggest start removing things from old lumbering camps and hunting camps fist as most of that stuff is useless where some of the boats can still be used

Kyle,

There are two separate issues that evolved over this lengthy thread. When I originally posted, I felt the amount of decrepit, unsafe and abandoned boats should be considered trash and removed. Then others expanded the topic to state pros and cons of the boats remaining that might still be functional. A large group seems to think this is Adirondack tradition and that it is ok as long as they are not chained up for others to use. Another group feels that it is no different than littering and if you carry it in, then carry it out. No ones mind ever gets changed on these forums but I was surprised by how much interest (and passion) the topic generated.

[Brookie hunter]

My point was that for those people who are worried about eyesore theirs alot more then boats to be removed so start somewhere where they are not going to get so much public opposition such as old camps.

[Glen]

Originally Posted by kyle

My point was that for those people who are worried about eyesore theirs alot more then boats to be removed so start somewhere where they are not going to get so much public opposition such as old camps.

A lot of us do carry out more than we carry in, but lugging a few beer bottles is different than a rotting boat.

[Brookie hunter]

I agree with that so leave the boats alone

[Crokit]

I hope one is still there for my trip this week.

[Lucky13]

Originally Posted by runslikeajohndeere

How exactly would we haul the boats off the bottom? if we did want to clean up a pond/lake?

Why are there so many boats with holes in them? I've never ruined any of my boats over the years to this extent. Is it malicious?

A lot of the sunk boats are sunk intentionally, with a rope to shore so they can be pulled in, emptied, and used again. Or someone swims out and raises the boat that way. Water acts as a preservative, iron based parts will not oxidize as rapidly if they are not in the air. Check out the guitars being made from rescued logs, old wood that did not rot because it was not exposed to the air.

Then you have people who think it is OK to shoot signs, a boat is similar. OR guys from Vermont who just like to destroy boats because they find them offensive, and then wonder why some of us are down on out of staters. ; )

[Lucky13]

I camp in the Moose River Plains, and as I'm mainly interested in fishing a couple of ponds, generally one per trip, I cart in and leave the boat for the duration of the trip. I do not camp back in because I think it potentially does more damage than using the road side sites, and one of my favorite ponds has an accessible site now, so I technically can't use it. A few years ago, the ranger stopped to talk to me, and I mentioned that I had left the boat back in to cut down on the wear and tear to the trail (and my aging body), and she told me that she was on her way out to get a pair of bolt cutters to cut the chain. I explained that I had never chained a boat and considered it part of my camping gear, which I read the law as allowing me to keep on state land while I am camping, but that others at the pond warned me that I could be held liable if someone used the boat and was injured, so I chained it . I am of the opinion that a lot of the hoopla about stored boats originated with lawyers in Albany who see a lawsuit against the state behind every tree, and decided the "abandoned" boats would make the state liable if someone were injured using one. I left it unchained for the duration of my 4 days, and we got along fine after that. She told me also that the more remote ponds have boats on them that the state has left for people to use, although I have to say that in scooting around Squaw Lake a fair distance in both directions from the trailhead I have not found one (did find an inflatable raft stashed in a hole in the rocks), and did not find one on either Mitchell Pond. But I appreciate finding a boat on a pond. I always carry a paddle, and tie a PFD around the packbasket, paddles and oars get chewed up by the Porky's so you will likely never find one. An onion bag and a length of rope makes a great anchor, once you put some rocks in the bag.

I know another pond half on State land and half on Private, nearly 3 miles uphill both ways in. There was a rickety canoe stored there until all the noise about confiscation, then it disappeared. A couple of years ago, we hiked into fish, and all of a sudden the old canoe came up the Lake, manned by a DEC biologist doing survey work on suckers. We asked him how he found the canoe, we'd been looking for a couple of seasons. He told us the boat belonged to the private landowners, who had left it out for people coming in via trail, but that they moved it to the private land to prevent it from being taken. He told us they had given him permission to tell anyone he met that knew about it where it was kept, and since we were the only people he had seen all spring and summer there, he let us know. I like that boat, even though it is leaky I can get to the spring holes without trespassing, and I always put it back just the way I find it, usually with a couple of extra flies under it.

[stripperguy]

Originally Posted by Lucky13

I camp in the Moose River Plains, and as I'm mainly interested in fishing a couple of ponds, generally one per trip, I cart in and leave the boat for the duration of the trip. I do not camp back in because I think it potentially does more damage than using the road side sites, and one of my favorite ponds has an accessible site now, so I technically can't use it. A few years ago, the ranger stopped to talk to me, and I mentioned that I had left the boat back in to cut down on the wear and tear to the trail (and my aging body), and she told me that she was on her way out to get a pair of bolt cutters to cut the chain. I explained that I had never chained a boat and considered it part of my camping gear, which I read the law as allowing me to keep on state land while I am camping, but that others at the pond warned me that I could be held liable if someone used the boat and was injured, so I chained it . I am of the opinion that a lot of the hoopla about stored boats originated with lawyers in Albany who see a lawsuit against the state behind every tree, and decided the "abandoned" boats would make the state liable if someone were injured using one. I left it unchained for the duration of my 4 days, and we got along fine after that. She told me also that the more remote ponds have boats on them that the state has left for people to use, although I have to say that in scooting around Squaw Lake a fair distance in both directions from the trailhead I have not found one (did find an inflatable raft stashed in a hole in the rocks), and did not find one on either Mitchell Pond. But I appreciate finding a boat on a pond. I always carry a paddle, and tie a PFD around the packbasket, paddles and oars get chewed up by the Porky's so you will likely never find one. An onion bag and a length of rope makes a great anchor, once you put some rocks in the bag.

I know another pond half on State land and half on Private, nearly 3 miles uphill both ways in. There was a rickety canoe stored there until all the noise about confiscation, then it disappeared. A couple of years ago, we hiked into fish, and all of a sudden the old canoe came up the Lake, manned by a DEC biologist doing survey work on suckers. We asked him how he found the canoe, we'd been looking for a couple of seasons. He told us the boat belonged to the private landowners, who had left it out for people coming in via trail, but that they moved it to the private land to prevent it from being taken. He told us they had given him permission to tell anyone he met that knew about it where it was kept, and since we were the only people he had seen all spring and summer there, he let us know. I like that boat, even though it is leaky I can get to the spring holes without trespassing, and I always put it back just the way I find it, usually with a couple of extra flies under it.

I found a stashed canoe on Squaw back in '08...I never understood why someone would stash a boat in a location that could only be accessed by boat. I'll not get into the stashed boat = garbage subject, my opinions are well known here...

http://adkforum.com/showthread.php?t...ighlight=squaw

[JimVroman]

It was long standing practice for a fisherman to leave his boat at the end of a carry and walk to the next lake to use a boat to use a boat that he'd left there before. Ask French Louie.
Unfortunately, that was long ago.

[Lucky13]

That was all private land back when Louie was walking it. According to Dunham, the landowners decided it was better to have Louie as an ally than an enemy, considering the remoteness of the area and the damage a few fires might cause. Now the land is public, sort of. And according to the ranger I met, the state leaves a boat on a lot of the remote ponds.