Mercer Lake - Windsor

Mercer Lake
( 40.26783, -74.64423 )

  1. Mercer Lake - Hamilton ( 40.26561, -74.64191 )
  2. Mercer Lake - West Windsor ( 40.26960, -74.64114 )

Mercer Lake is actually a big gravel pit that was dug out for highway fill. In 1975, someone got the bright idea of damming it off, and it turned into one of the nicest lakes in the state. The lake fills from a creek to the east, and the water is very clean. Mercer county turned the whole area into a beautiful park, great for all sorts of other activities as well.

The launch at the south shore is a concrete boat ramp. I think it is free, I have never had to pay. Directly across is another launch site on the north shore. You could call this a 'two-day' lake - from either of these central locations you can explore east or west - one side is enough of a paddle for me. To the east, you can go up the creek, but not very far, as it is blocked by fallen trees. To the west, you can go to the dam.

Boat traffic is mostly sailboats, and the Olympic crew team, which has their main training facility here. They have courses marked out with buoys, and at any time there may be several shells out rowing around, so stay out of their way. The middle of the big lake isn't that interesting anyway.

Mercer Lake - West Windsor
( 40.26960, -74.64114 )

  1. Mercer Lake - West Windsor ( 40.26960, -74.64114 )

Mercer Lake - Hamilton
( 40.26561, -74.64191 )

  1. Mercer Lake - Hamilton ( 40.26561, -74.64191 )

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This is a cable-lock I made, about 12 feet long. It is just 3/16" coated steel cable from the hardware store, with crimp ferrules, and a big steel ring in one end. The ferrules fit through the scupper holes on the boat, but the steel ring does not. Together with any padlock, this will secure the boat (or several) to your truck, roof rack, a tree, or anything else that is handy. You can take this cable with you, it will give you peace of mind if you leave the boat unattended to go exploring on land.

The object is not to stop a determined thief - you can't do that. It is to stop someone from casually taking your boat with their bare hands. Don't lock the boat by the handles - they are easily cut with a pocket knife and cheap to replace. Run the cable through a scupper hole, and a thief would have to destroy the boat to steal it. If your boat doesn't have scupper holes, you can probably find someplace to thread the cable though, or make a suitable hole in the seat.

You can find a cable like this all set to go on Amazon for under 20 bucks. Where I used a steel ring, you could use a second padlock.