Video of Western Lake Opening to Gulf

[Grayton Girl]

OK, if this works, I will have totally impressed myself.

I got "the call" yesterday that the Pass at Grayton was open and son#2 and I rushed down to experience it. I took some video then and took more this morning and then I got really ambitious and thought I would share it with everyone on Sowal.

The learning curve was steep, I must admit, but I think I got it. Hope y'all enjoy:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIZA6L44qcQ"]YouTube - Western Lake Pass Opening, December 2008[/ame]

 

[Miss Kitty]

GG...I am so impressed with your talent! Thanks a million for sharing this awesomeness! I am amazed at the amount of lake water rushing out. Was that you waving at us?

 

[Grayton Girl]

Yes, Ms. Kitty! That was me waving at you! I was wondering if anyone would see it. Now you will recognize me when you see me.

 

[joho]

now that was groovy!

nice job grayton girl!

 

[Will B]

Very cool...

I'll admit to busting a few lakes (Draper) when I was kid. Man, there was nothing more fun than riding a class three rapid into the gulf!

Put that on my "things I did as a kid and survived but would never be allowed to do today" list!

 

[Kurt]

Thanks for posting GG! 50 posts to you.

The opening is a bit farther west into the State Park. Looks like it was dug with heavy equipment. I wonder why.

 

[DuneLaker]

Good video and congratulations on learning how to post. Too bad this massive ditch is such an environmental travesty and waste of money, imo. The upside is that nature will come back in at some point and rework the beach and outlet just like it wants. There is no stopping or changing storm surges. A good 12, 15, or 20 foot storm surge won't care where the outfall is or was. Ocean levels have increased somewhat. Raising or moving their houses from flooding in storms, if they are really that low, or keeping their septic systems out of the gulf and lake by permanent removal, might be a better use of time and money and less environmentally invasive.

 

[Beach Runner]

Thanks, GG! Good job.

It does look dug by heavy equipment. Maybe it was necessary to avoid damage to the bridge on 30A over Western Lake? When we drove over the it on Sunday, the water was up to the bridge level.

 

[DuneLaker]

Very cool...

I'll admit to busting a few lakes (Draper) when I was kid. Man, there was nothing more fun than riding a class three rapid into the gulf!

Put that on my "things I did as a kid and survived but would never be allowed to do today" list!

When you were a kid SC ( a long, long time ago!) you didn't know you were digging out a globally rare coastal dune lake. Now we do. You probably also did just a short little digout near where the lake was trying to open naturally, not some huge ditch with a backhoe. It still is great fun to ride the rapids out to the gulf, with all due precautions, of course. The digouts occuring now involve numerous local and state personnel, sometimes numerous pieces of equipment, and a tremendous cost. While the local economy was in hyperdrive and the dollars were rolling in, the tremendous cost factor didn't stop this practice from escalating. Now with the money brakes on, one has to wonder how long it will persist.

 

[Will B]

They always started with a trickle through a hand dug trench maybe a foot wide and would end up as big as the video above. I can remember rooster tails at least 8 - 10 feet high! We would get launched on our tubes...

Funny how we wound up enjoying the lake more and would fill in any attempts to drain the lake...