Lake Mead Boaters??

1stSeaRay

1stSeaRay

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Aug 25, 2008
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Lake Lanier, GA
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Seems like the East Coast boys are pretty chummy, and I think some of the NW guys get together occasionally, but are there any Lake Mead boaters that would be interested in a CSR raft-up?

I know there are at least of few of you out there....so please speak up, and lets arrange a get together for the Spring.
 
My wife and I are on Lake Mead at least every other weekend from March - Oct. We're usually at Sandy Beach from Friday night until Sunday early afternoon. This year were going to try Swallows Cove and maybe hang out with the Las Vegas Yacht Club at least once. We launch from Calville Bay so keep in touch.
 
Sandy Beach being just East of Calville? (Sandy Cove on the map below)

lakemead.jpg


We spent most of our time last year in Swallow Bay, there are some great spots in there. I prefer the deeper water at Calville, but it turns into an absolute zoo after Memorial Day so we usually launch out of Boulder Harbor unless its during the week.

Did you see my post on the Catalina Island trip? Think you might have any interest in that?

Look forward to seeing you on the water!
 
Your map is calling it Sandy Cove. We haven't tried Swallows Bay yet, I've heard the water can get a little stale in mid summer, is that true?
 
If you get back into some of the coves far enough, the water can be a bit funky with weeds, etc....but there are some nice beach areas in there.

Quiet Cove is a popular spot (the park service installed floating restrooms) and can get crowded during the summer, but if you are used to Sandy Cove/Beach I don't think this would be much different. There were some nice beaches on the West side of Swallow Bay, but most of these are inaccessible at the current water level. My favorite beach is on the SW tip of Swallow Bay. Nice beach, sand instead of muck or rocks on the bottom, and a nice gradual slope instead of the usual drop-off..... but its only for calm days as it faces the dam, and when the wind picks up this is NOT the spot you want to be in (ask me how I know)
 
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The weather has been terrific the last couple of days.....Looks like we may get out on the lake by the second week of March.
 
You're right about the weather - it's been great, we're aiming for our first trip the third week of March ourselves.

Still trying to find a nice sandy beach on Lake Mead that is sheltered from the predominate and many times nasty South wind though.

Have you found any spots like that?

Also, when you enjoy the beach, do you run the bow onto a sandy beach or drop the bow anchor and back-in until the drives are clear of the bottom by a couple of feet?
 
One of our favorite spots is a small cove in Swallow Bay that opens North. Its well protected from a southerly blow....in fact we spent a 3 day weekend sheltered here while the winds were howling 30+ knots across the main body of the lake. I'll be interested to see what happens with the water level considering the amount of rain we got last month. A 13' drop between the two previous years meant we had to find all new spots last season, I'm hoping that we at least stabilize if not make-up some of that 13' this year.

There have been a few times when I've nosed her onto the beach, mostly when wind conditions made it impossible to do otherwise. Typical set-up is to anchor bow out, but as you know the water gets deep quick so you've got to carry plenty of rode. I have 300' and find myself with 200'+ out on a regular basis. I also carry a spare anchor and use this to keep us lined up with the beach. I'll usually set the main anchor, and tie it off with about 4' of water under the keel. Then I walk/swim the stern anchor to the beach. Once it is set, I manually pull the boat to the beach until the drive clears the bottom by about 12".
 
I used to back in all the time like you, but a Sept storm last year changed my mind. You probably heard about that one.

I was at Sandy Cove when 60+ MPH winds came up around 9:30 PM. My front anchor didn't hold and backed the props into sand, at that point it was over. Ended up pushing me into a rock jetty and causing $1200 damage to the hull.

Now I go bow in whenever possible figuring the worst that can happen is that I'll need a push off the beach after a big storm. Of course the beach has to be smooth with nothing larger than small pebbles.

Since I'm still fairly new at this, is there some advantages I'm missing when backing in? Or disadvantages of beaching bow in?

Love to hear your advice - Thanks
 
I saw your thread about getting caught in that storm. That sucks, and I've been in a similar situation. Fortunately my anchor held, but it was definitely white knuckle wondering if it would. This was a day trip and we were in that unprotected cove I mentioned above.

Just curious what type of ground tackle are you using? How much rode do you have and is any of it chain? I'm using a 7lb Fortress (spec for 28'-32' boat) and 12' of chain on 300' of 1/2" line and have been very happy using this setup. The only time I've had it fail to set was when I dropped it on a big bed of weeds. It held OK until it got windy, then it ripped the weeds off the bottom (hauling it in with 200lbs of weeds on it was fun too!) When its in sand/mud the thing can bury itself pretty deep...

There are 2 things I don't like about being bow in. The first is access to the beach, and all the sand that gets tracked in when people are climbing on to the bow directly from the shore. The second is I've seen the damage first hand that can be caused by repeated beaching. My last boat had a spot 18" long on the keel where the gel coat had been worn down to bare fiberglass. There were some pretty good gouges as well from unseen rocks just below the surface. All courtesy of the previous owner. Any motion at all and its the equivalent to using 40 grit on the hull.
 
I have to laugh or maybe cry -I've had the experience at Powell. You can always count-on/prepare for a mid afternoon winds to kick up. When and how hard is a guess. I have gotten use to listening to the warnings coming out of the national park service and getting into a cove that I know the anchor locations pretty well. Twice last year I have woken up with the low water alarm going off..Trying to reset anchor at 300am sucks. So many times last year you listen to the distress calls coming in to the NPS with people either blown into rocks or sinking.

I use three ropes all tied to shore - if I'm overnighting. I won't set anchor any more.
 
1stSeaRay said:
I saw your thread about getting caught in that storm. That sucks, and I've been in a similar situation. Fortunately my anchor held, but it was definitely white knuckle wondering if it would. This was a day trip and we were in that unprotected cove I mentioned above.

Just curious what type of ground tackle are you using? How much rode do you have and is any of it chain? I'm using a 7lb Fortress (spec for 28'-32' boat) and 12' of chain on 300' of 1/2" line and have been very happy using this setup. The only time I've had it fail to set was when I dropped it on a big bed of weeds. It held OK until it got windy, then it ripped the weeds off the bottom (hauling it in with 200lbs of weeds on it was fun too!) When its in sand/mud the thing can bury itself pretty deep...

There are 2 things I don't like about being bow in. The first is access to the beach, and all the sand that gets tracked in when people are climbing on to the bow directly from the shore. The second is I've seen the damage first hand that can be caused by repeated beaching. My last boat had a spot 18" long on the keel where the gel coat had been worn down to bare fiberglass. There were some pretty good gouges as well from unseen rocks just below the surface. All courtesy of the previous owner. Any motion at all and its the equivalent to using 40 grit on the hull.
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As far as setup I think it's what came standard - a "Bruce" style anchor with 12 feet of chain and 200' of 1/2" rope. The boat has every option except for a windlass if you can believe it. (bought the boat used)

I understand what you're saying about damage to the hull by beaching, so far I've been lucky and the boat is bottom painted. The shop that did repairs after the storm said they'll install an extra thick area of fiberglass/gellcoat ( 1/4" - 1/2")on the keel for $800 specifically to protect from beaching wear. Ever heard of this?

It would sure beat getting into 4 feet of 50 degree water in a couple of weeks. Also, to avoid the sand coming aboard we purchased a plastic storage container about 2 foot square that we fill with water on the beach, then dip our feet in it before we board. works great - no sand.
 
I can relate to the sand in the boat comment. My boat came from LV and still has the Lake Mead stickers on the hull. It even came into Australia with sand still in the carpet and the ski locker.

Unfortunately the lake where I use the boat has similar sand, and with 7 and 10 year old kids the chance of it staying clean are slim!

Cheers
 
1stSeaRay said:
Seems like the East Coast boys are pretty chummy, and I think some of the NW guys get together occasionally, but are there any Lake Mead boaters that would be interested in a CSR raft-up?

I know there are at least of few of you out there....so please speak up, and lets arrange a get together for the Spring.
Click to expand...

OK, this Bay Area guy will be in Sin City for 9 out of 11 days in the middle of May. Where do I meet up with you all to roll around the lake??????:huh::huh::huh::huh:

I think we should start a travel deal where CSR members with similar boats can trade with members in other areas. Not like someone with a 17' boat will trade with a 56SB but you know....I'll let Hampton, Skolbe or Scott use my boat while they are here and I can use there boat just trading places. Is this dumb? (probably)
 
Interesting idea Ken, but so far the only Mead boaters that have spoken up are Scotto97 and myself...Since we both have 260s I think you'd be getting the short end of the stick. We both trailer as well so if you wanna use my boat you're going to need a 3/4 ton rental car.

Are there really no other Lake Mead boaters on CSR?
 
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1stSeaRay said:
Interesting idea Ken, but so far the only Mead boaters that have spoken up are Scotto97 and myself...Since we both have 260s I think you'd be getter the short end of the stick. We both trailer as well so if you wanna use my boat you're going to need a 3/4 ton rental car.

Are there really no other Lake Mead boaters on CSR?
Click to expand...

I would swear there were more! How is the lake looking this year? We have had (and continue to get) so much rain our lakes are filling up! At least the last few weeks it rains during the week and is nice on weekends....like today!
 
We got more rain the first 3 months of this year than we have in the last 2 years combined, but we are only talking about 5 inches so its fairly insignificant in terms of lake level. Most of our water comes from snow melt in the Western Rockies. I read a report the other day that said despite record rainfall, the snow pack in that area was still well below normal....so in short, I don't think all the weather this year is going to have a positive effect on lake level. Right now we are below 1100' and it's projected to drop 15' by November.

Conveniently this will put us below the "emergency" threshold to start a pipeline project to bring groundwater to southern Nevada from another part of the State. The amount of water we pump for use in the valley vs the amount released through the dam for power generation is minuscule (700cfs vs 20,000cfs) but its all about the money, and I'm sure someone has a sweetheart of contract for the construction of that pipeline.
 
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What marina are you at?
 
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Has anybody out there heard of Temple Bar Marina-located at Lake Mead,AZ-what do you hear about it?
 
Thanks for the discussion on Lake Mead. We're in Idaho but keep our 268 Sundancer in a slip at Lake Mead Marina Oct-Apr and run down for 10 days or so a month. We love Swallow Bay and spent a couple of days at Temple Bar last winter. Temple Bar was great with nice staff but pretty much empty in Feb. Last winter was our first down there and we're considering going to Lake Havasu this winter because the weather at Mead was so bad last winter. We have no experience with anchoring overnight as we usually chicken out and stay at a marina on the lake if we're away from LMM. I plan to try anchoring this year and really appreciate you all sharing your insights and experiences. Thanks again.
 
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