Houseboat Beach Site Recommendations

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Michael Pyle said:
finding a good spot is an art. We send a scout out on a wave runner or boat in the morning. We make sure they have cell phones, portable marine radio and garmin in reach.

My daughter is the best at finding spots that are good when people are leaving. In general people leave their spots in the morning before 10am. So if you are out and see someone cleaning up the beach you know there is a good chance they are leaving the spot soon. My daughter has no problem asking people if they are leaving. My boys wont talk to anyone so they rely more on luck. Haha

Also good idea to see how the beach is, lots of weeds=gnats. with water rising the sand will be clean and not a lot of mud. When water is going down you have to look for nasty mud spots.

So Many variables and there is always a compromise.

Mike
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In order to follow etiquette, how close is too close when there's a stretch of beach with other houseboats anchored?
 
That’s subjective.

I won’t park anywhere near another boat. But I have been pretty shocked at how close others will park to us. We try and turn up our stereo when someone looks like they are thinking of parking close. Then at least they know what they are getting into. Haha.

I really don’t care how close someone parks. Kind of depends on the circumstances also. If it’s crazy busy and nowhere to park I won’t mess with the people looking to park close.

I have seen houseboats out still floating when the sun is going down and went out and offered to have them park next to us for at least that night and we help them anchor. Sometimes you need to help people out.

Mike
 
Michael Pyle said:
That’s subjective.

I won’t park anywhere near another boat. But I have been pretty shocked at how close others will park to us. We try and turn up our stereo when someone looks like they are thinking of parking close. Then at least they know what they are getting into. Haha.

I really don’t care how close someone parks. Kind of depends on the circumstances also. If it’s crazy busy and nowhere to park I won’t mess with the people looking to park close.

I have seen houseboats out still floating when the sun is going down and went out and offered to have them park next to us for at least that night and we help them anchor. Sometimes you need to help people out.

Mike
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Our first three trips we couldn't even see another houseboat from our spots. Not thinking we'll be as lucky this time.
 
caverdan said:
When we rented a houseboat at lake Mead this year, the houseboat came with 4 1" diameter x 4' long pieces of rebar and a sledge hammer to anchor the boat with. The boat was 50' so only two ropes provided to anchor with. No anchors on board.....only rebar. You pound them in at 45 degree angles to form an X. Then you pull the rope tight from the back cleat of the boat and tie it to the rebar. The X acts like a cleat and you tie the rope the same way as you would normally use a cleat. The instructions said to drive the rebar in until about 1' was sticking up. Pulling them back out was way easier than I thought it would be and much quicker and easier than digging holes. I'm thinking of trying this next time I go to Powell.
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Sounds SO much better than digging. But - wonder how many rocks we would hit on the way down through the sand? We will probably give this a try - but will start with a fence post driver before we use a sledge.
 
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KMartin said:
Sounds SO much better than digging. But - wonder how many rocks we would hit on the way down through the sand? We will probably give this a try - but will start with a fence post driver before we use a sledge.
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I was thinking T post too......since I have plenty of them and 16' of 1" rebar sounds like an expensive alternative for anchoring a rental boat once a year. The key is pounding 3 to 4 feet of it into the sand. I also own a T post puller to go with the pounder. Worse thing that could happen is they pull out. If you can't get the t post out.......you have a shovel to dig it out. And it was SO much faster, easier, better than burying an anchor.
 
Rivergoer said:
Great call on the pre-board.

Plan on getting there in the afternoon well before 5 pm closing time. You’re gonna want to negotiate with a checkout person on the dock to get orientation and paperwork completed while you’re loading. This will save hours of lost time in the morning waiting for an available check person during the 8 am rush.

We found out the hard way without that paperwork you can’t leave before the office opens 8 am PDT. Although they tell you not to leave before 8 am, if your check person agrees to turn in your paperwork the night before, there’s no reason you can’t get out at sunrise which gets you a huge jump start up the channel before it’s churned out by boat traffic and the big tour boats.

Be sure to tip the porters and dock personnel generously and they’ll work hard to treat your party well.
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I 100% agree with this info. This will start your trip infinitely better!
 
andrewvbe said:
In order to follow etiquette, how close is too close when there's a stretch of beach with other houseboats anchored?
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We follow the 100 yard rule. The bigger issue is being at the entrance of a bay or creek. Boaters further in usually have NO CLUE that their wake destroys your beach. I try my best to be the furthest in so I don't have to deal with the @%@W all day.
 
andrewvbe said:
In order to follow etiquette, how close is too close when there's a stretch of beach with other houseboats anchored?
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Yes, subjective. When people need help or it’s late in the day, and there’s nothing else nearby, I understand the situation.

But in general, I try to avoid the problem by picking a very narrow “beach” that has no possibility of neighbors, and out of line of sight to other possible beaches across the canyon. Not always possible, but that’s what I aim for. I think if you find a huge and inviting beach, you can expect neighbors. I’m thinking that includes many places in Gunsight, Padre, the sand dome in Navajo, and that great low water beach in the Escalante…

In general, I think you’re too close when you can hear your neighbor’s music (or vice versa), or are able to see the faces on the other boat. To me it’s well over 100 yards, more like a thousand feet. Or it could be closer if line of sight is blocked.

That said, I know I’m asking for it when there’s a nice beach 200 feet away… unless its a fantastic beach or it’s late in the day, I will look for other spots.

It’s trickier toward the end of side canyons that have multiple beaches and are popular. I'm guessing most people who pick such places where there are other obvious beaches nearby are more tolerant of neighbors. Not my cup of tea, but I have misanthropic tendencies at Lake Powell, so I’ll go elsewhere.

I’ve only had one truly unacceptable encounter—when a flotilla of houseboats actually took over my tent campsite on the grounds that they “needed it more than I did” (that’s an actual quote). I posted about that nightmare encounter a couple of years ago. But generally, once I get past my anti-social default Powell mode, I find most neighbors are really nice people.

I’d just rather have that encounter be a mutually acceptable circumstance… and remember that your standards of acceptability may be different than your neighbor’s…
 
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We Rented the 75 foot excursion from Wahweap/Stateline and a 59 foot excursion June 8 thru the 13th. the 59 footer was newer and had no issues. The 75 footer was 2008. The engines ran great along with the generator. The remainder of the boat was well used and alot of stuff broken. The Generator switch on the circuit board was not working. In order to start the generator, one person would have to hold open the hatch door because it was broken while another climbed down into the generator hole and started it. Anchor lines have been compromised and we had one break in a 20 mph wind. The slide on the back was to unsafe to use. The gas gauges read less than what was in the tank. A plastic water line for the top deck sink broke at 4am and we lost alot of fresh water. The back deck freezer smelled like death. We made a list of everything that was wrong. When we returned the houseboat we located a manager at the rental dock. He gladly refunded us $1200, which was our gas bill. T 10 was our boat number, hope you dont get it. We were told not to go past MP 25, because their service boats would not go that far. Jacuzzi did not work. We did have to call the boat repair dock for 2 different issues, while away. They kindly helped us through the problem.

We did the early boarding on Friday night which we paid for. Got there at 5pm. Our boats were not ready. Only two employees working. Finally got to speak with a Manger. She said that she had no record of us having the early boarding. Once I was able to locate my proof that we paid, Jimmy, a deck hand went and found our boats and drove them over so we could unload. Fortunately they were ready. But the whole process took over an hour with 30 people out in the sun waiting. We left Saturday morning and made good time to our camp spot. We found a spot for the 2 boats in Padre Canyon. We were directly behind the Gunsite rock formation on the west side. Shade in the afternoon was a blessing. There must have been 30 houseboats in Padre Canyon. Crowding was never an issue. The porters and fuel dock attendants were the best. Tip the porters right away and they will stick with you until loaded/unloaded. Our porter even said she would take our trash of the boat and that we could leave it on the boat.

Bring ample ice. We filled the back freezer with blocks and bags. One day we got our boat in the am to beat the rush and bought ice at Antelope Marina. Ice there is $8 a bag. Once we had room in the back freezer, we froze a case of water and used the bottles in our ice chests.

Anyways hope this helps...
RiverRat68 said:
First time houseboater here…renting the 75 ft Excursion from Wahweap July 14-21. I’ll have nine adult family members and our 25 ft Yamaha jet boat with me…I’ve been planning this whole thing like a military operation for almost a year but, still don’t have intel on bestWE
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waynenelson said:
We Rented the 75 foot excursion from Wahweap/Stateline and a 59 foot excursion June 8 thru the 13th. the 59 footer was newer and had no issues. The 75 footer was 2008. The engines ran great along with the generator. The remainder of the boat was well used and alot of stuff broken. The Generator switch on the circuit board was not working. In order to start the generator, one person would have to hold open the hatch door because it was broken while another climbed down into the generator hole and started it. Anchor lines have been compromised and we had one break in a 20 mph wind. The slide on the back was to unsafe to use. The gas gauges read less than what was in the tank. A plastic water line for the top deck sink broke at 4am and we lost alot of fresh water. The back deck freezer smelled like death. We made a list of everything that was wrong. When we returned the houseboat we located a manager at the rental dock. He gladly refunded us $1200, which was our gas bill. T 10 was our boat number, hope you dont get it. We were told not to go past MP 25, because their service boats would not go that far. Jacuzzi did not work. We did have to call the boat repair dock for 2 different issues, while away. They kindly helped us through the problem.

We did the early boarding on Friday night which we paid for. Got there at 5pm. Our boats were not ready. Only two employees working. Finally got to speak with a Manger. She said that she had no record of us having the early boarding. Once I was able to locate my proof that we paid, Jimmy, a deck hand went and found our boats and drove them over so we could unload. Fortunately they were ready. But the whole process took over an hour with 30 people out in the sun waiting. We left Saturday morning and made good time to our camp spot. We found a spot for the 2 boats in Padre Canyon. We were directly behind the Gunsite rock formation on the west side. Shade in the afternoon was a blessing. There must have been 30 houseboats in Padre Canyon. Crowding was never an issue. The porters and fuel dock attendants were the best. Tip the porters right away and they will stick with you until loaded/unloaded. Our porter even said she would take our trash of the boat and that we could leave it on the boat.

Bring ample ice. We filled the back freezer with blocks and bags. One day we got our boat in the am to beat the rush and bought ice at Antelope Marina. Ice there is $8 a bag. Once we had room in the back freezer, we froze a case of water and used the bottles in our ice chests.

Anyways hope this helps...
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Yikes. Yeah I have heard these boats can have issues. Hoping we do not get T-10 but, I suspect all of them have issues of some kind. Small stuff, we won’t sweat. Gotta have all the major stuff working though. Thanks for the info.
 
Phillbo said:
Winner Winner Chicken Diner... Just the type of beach I look for in my cruiser....
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I've heard more than one horror story about choosing to anchor a houseboat in a wash like that.

A good monsoon can flush more than water down a wash at the boat. Stuff like wood, debris, mud, rocks and more. I've heard of houseboats ending up parked in a mud flat when a good "gully washer" changed the shoreline by only a few feet.

I tend to look for sandy spots to place the nose of my houseboat, between boulders that I can put my lines around. Those sort of spots keep other houseboats at a distance, but I specifically avoid anything that might end up being a wash if the weather gets mean.

I once heard a story about a rental that this happened to. The recovery involved building a dike behind the houseboat, pumping in enough lake water to refloat the boat, then starting the houseboat and taking a run at the dike at the same time the dike was breached. The rush of water eroded the temporary dike and the resulting mini flood carried the rental back into deeper water. It sounded way to expensive for me to ever want to take that chance.
 
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