Houseboating

Discussion in 'Free Zone' started by SnakeCharmer, Jun 3, 2018.


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  1. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    I couldn't find a thread to report in so I started one for the subject.

    This was our 27th consecutive year. We have been to Shasta Lake, The Delta, and Lake Mohave but most of our trips have been on Lake Mead and this year was no exception. Once again, we departed from Callville Bay, Lake Mead and headed to Hidden Cove in Swallow Bay. We have a spot in that cove that works well for beaching the bow. Last year, we were unable to remove one of the tie-up stakes (it's deep into solid rock) so we were hoping it would still be there this year and it was.

    Mother Nature treated us to great weather this year. Warm temps (95-105) but dry air and little to no wind. Lake Mead's water level is dropping dangerously fast and there is talk of limiting the amount of water released for Vegas, AZ, and some other places in a few years unless it fills a bit. The lake is currently 149' below full pool level and it was a little less than 2 feet lower than last year's trip. We also decided to do a 2 day trip instead of a 3 day trip, this year.

    We have been doing this for so long that we all know our duties and places without even discussing it anymore. My main duty is piloting the boat.

    I fished (and connected!). We soaked beers and mixers, smoked cigars, cranked music, ate like Kings, swam, float-tubed, hiked, and enjoyed the peacefulness of the desert. Like every year at Lake Mead, we had a heard of Bighorn Sheep that would pass by to drink from the lake a few times a day. We also saw a beaver this morning.

    Houseboating is fun!

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    Chevrolegs, Luis, mtbMike and 14 others like this.
  2. Rumpled

    Rumpled Well-Known Member

    Location:
    OC
    Name:
    Jim Martin
    Current Bike:
    2018 Specialized Epic Carbon C
    My crew used to go Memorial Day weekend. Went for about a dozen years post college. Usually had 25-35 people to make it cheap. We did a lot of Mead and Mohave. Wish I had a GPS and chart back then. Never knew what coves we were in.
    At Mead we would go from Echo Bay (IIRC) on the Overton arm. Apparently it is abandoned now.

    Really nice bighoen. We would see small groups often, but usually ewes and never big curls like those.
     
  3. doublewide

    doublewide iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    Mark
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Tallcan
    Looks like a damn fine time out there on the water! :thumbsup:
     
    Cyclotourist, kioti and SnakeCharmer like this.
  4. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    We used to go out of Echo Bay also, when the lake level was higher. Echo Bay is high and dry nowadays.

    Cathedral Cove was the best cove in the Overton Arm.
     
    Cyclotourist and Rumpled like this.
  5. Voodoo Tom

    Voodoo Tom MTB Addict

    Location:
    Castaic
    Name:
    Tom Kokkinakis
    Current Bike:
    Mango one, black one, Ti one
    Boating, buds, beers, fish, not working, jeez really sounds awful.:Roflmao
     
    Cyclotourist, kioti, Rumpled and 2 others like this.
  6. mtnbikej

    mtnbikej J-Zilla

    Location:
    Orange
    Name:
    J
    Current Bike:
    SC Chameleon SS, SC Hightower
    Actually it does. :gag: I just don't get it.
     
  7. Voodoo Tom

    Voodoo Tom MTB Addict

    Location:
    Castaic
    Name:
    Tom Kokkinakis
    Current Bike:
    Mango one, black one, Ti one
    Seriously I mean he makes it sound like it’s more fun than suffering up a mountain on a bicycle, wtf???
     
  8. DangerDirtyD

    DangerDirtyD iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    CA
    Name:
    Chicken Nugget
    Current Bike:
    2018 Guerrilla Gravity SMASH
    Showering and laundry and dishwashing waaaay too often. :confused:
     
    Cyclotourist and mtnbikej like this.
  9. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    Dishwashing? Yes, nobody wants to eat off of nasty, dirty dishes.

    Showering? NO! It's disallowed on our trips until the morning of departure. Just dip in the lake to "rinse off" when you need refreshing.

    Laundry? NO WAY! We generally wear the same thing the entire trip except for the morning of departure (back to the marina).

    The idea is to act like foolish pubescent college boys (who are actually in the 50s). That generally means that we keep chores down to a minimum which raises the fun factor. No women allowed. This is a true "guys trip". We rough it. No fancy lattes, no fine wine, no lobster tail and crab legs. We smoke big nasty cigars, chug jack daniels, beer bong cases of beer, curse, fart, burp and eat man food like hamburgers and steaks. We leave the foo-foo crap at home. This trip is meant to be a release from reality and you can bet that after 27 years of doing this, we've got it wired.
     
    Rumpled, kioti, LLPoolJ and 4 others like this.
  10. LLPoolJ

    LLPoolJ iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Moreno Valley
    Name:
    James Johnson
    Current Bike:
    Specy Epic, Stumpu and Enduro
    I have a similar trip to June lake every October. We rent a house for a week.
     
  11. mtbMike

    mtbMike iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    PRESCOTT!!!
    Name:
    Mike
    Current Bike:
    Ibis HD5, Ripley & Mojo 4
    Been houseboating at Lake Powell since 1989. We used to go every other year but other activities took over. Now I'm only been twice in the last 10 years. One of my friends has became super successful in life and actually owns 1/7th of a mega houseboat on Powell. It's super nice but he likes to go waayyyyy up the river which kills a whole day going up and back which means your week is actually shorter. I like going a few hours out of Wawheap and bogging down adjacent to Padre Bay. Spending a week on a houseboat at Lake Powell is something everybody should do one. I'd like to try it up at Shasta as well now that the water is back up.
     
  12. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    Agreed on the "not travel too far from port" idea.

    In the early years, it was all about adventuring for us and that we did, a lot of.

    Nowadays, we want to keep travel time down to about one hour. Houseboats move slowly and they suck gas down if you throttle them up. The bay we stay in has at least 3 good cove fingers to tie up in and we have used them all. The problem is, every year, the lake level changes so what was a good/safe location to tie up one year, may not be any good the next.
     
    herzalot, mtbMike, pperrelle and 2 others like this.
  13. Luis

    Luis iMTB Addict

    Location:
    Sylmar
    Name:
    Luis
    Current Bike:
    La Diabla
    Looks like fun but in the group picture, why is he holding the URINAL funnel? :gag:;):laugh:

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  14. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    So that we can pee "on site" no matter the location. ;)
     
    Cyclotourist and Luis like this.
  15. doublewide

    doublewide iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    Mark
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Tallcan
    I use one of those in my roof top tent.....
     
    DangerDirtyD, Luis and Cyclotourist like this.
  16. herzalot

    herzalot iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Chris
    Current Bike:
    2020 Revel Rail,Yeti SB 130 LR
    Hmmmm - rather have some ladies along for the ride.
     
    mtnbikej and MrGreedom like this.
  17. CBone

    CBone iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Antelope Valley
    Name:
    Tucker
    Current Bike:
    Intense Primer
    You mean for the dish washing? How dare you. And just when we were getting some ladies posting on here! :sneaky:
     


As a former Amazon Associate I continue to get screwed trying to stay qualified as an Amazon Affiliate. So I quit!


Want to donate to imtbtrails?