North Lake Launch Guidance

fishmanlee

fishmanlee

Active Member
Hello Team. I'm wondering what people are doing right now who are renting houseboats yet have their own personal boats to launch as you cant do both from either Halls or Bullfrog (at least that's what Aardvark is telling me).

Right now, because of lack of intel, my plan is to send the family to Halls via roadway so they can load the houseboat and I will drive to, launch my 20 foot Lund, and park all my stuff at Bullfrog. Then I will taxi all my gear over to the rendezvous at Halls. Is there a better way? I'm not keen on separating from my Powell 1st timers (kids and grandkids) for them to make the haul to Halls alone for their 1st time in the region. I guess it may be time to pull the plug and trust a little bit but I'd rather not have to deal with problems that I can't fix because communication between the separated parties will most likely not be possible. Anyway, have any of you seen it done differently this year?
 
I would not separate the first timers, I’d be reluctant to separate the group in general. Just ferry everything from Bullfrog to Halls via your boat. Even before Halls ramp was closed we used to launch at Bullfrog and take everything to Halls by boat. Aramark is running a ferry, fist come first serve that could also be used to help move tour gear across
 
Here’s a thread that offers pros and cons.
Ryan

Thread 'Logic Check - Halls/Bullfrog'

I’m trying to figure out the best logistics for our trip that starts next week.

Our houseboat has been moved to Halls. This is an 11 day trip with 11 people, 2 boats, 4 vehicles.

I can’t come up with a GOOD plan of how to get everyone and every thing to the boat, but here’s my thoughts.

Right now there still isn’t access to the Bullfrog slips at Halls. And the “shuttle service” for gear and people sounds like it’s from Bullfrog from the old marina site over to Halls, nothing offered to move your gear on the halls side to your boat?

For this trip we have enough people and gear that...
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Personally, I’d go with your stated plan. Especially if you are renting a boat.

Send part of the group to Halls and send them with the bulky and heavy gear. They can park very close to the rentals and you can have a porter load the gear from your vehicle into the rental houseboat.

Take one person with you who is capable of helping you unload the boat onto the water.
 
PowellBride said:
I would not separate the first timers, I’d be reluctant to separate the group in general. Just ferry everything from Bullfrog to Halls via your boat. Even before Halls ramp was closed we used to launch at Bullfrog and take everything to Halls by boat. Aramark is running a ferry, fist come first serve that could also be used to help move tour gear across
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That's what I'd prefer, and my kids as well. My boat would require 4 -6 back and forth trips from BF to Halls but that would keep us together. I wonder if the rental houseboats are are in a slip at Halls? I would think that they are because Aramark is getting the prepared for launch.
 
Ryan said:
Personally, I’d go with your stated plan. Especially if you are renting a boat.

Send part of the group to Halls and send them with the bulky and heavy gear. They can park very close to the rentals and you can have a porter load the gear from your vehicle into the rental houseboat.

Take one person with you who is capable of helping you unload the boat onto the water.
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Pain in butt but I can load/unload solo. Problem is the long distances between lake and parking.
 
dallas massie said:
The taxi service is going out of what use to be the Bullfrog rental dock , and the primitive ramp at the main ramp might be launching boats., and they are running pontoon boats .
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This is what I'm hoping for, I think, but Aramark rentals told me straight up that they weren't running anything like this from BF to Halls. You think it's just poor training and the person has no idea? It seems like every time I call I get a different opinion on things and no one seems to have real command or authority.
 
fishmanlee said:
That's what I'd prefer, and my kids as well. My boat would require 4 -6 back and forth trips from BF to Halls but that would keep us together. I wonder if the rental houseboats are are in a slip at Halls? I would think that they are because Aramark is getting the prepared for launch.
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No one says the load in the boat has to be pretty 😝. We have stuffed stacked to the heavens, leaving barely enough room for passengers. Be sure to get dock lines, fenders and life vests out before you start stacking. It’s pretty much idle speed all the way, so being a bit overloaded isn’t that big of a deal. You may have to split passengers into 2 groups that way you have help to load/unload on both sides. We cram every nook and cranny in the boat with smaller items like soda or water. To facilitate the transport by boat, clothes and sleeping bags are all in dry bags that can get stacked on the bow and wet without issue. Everything else is stored in rectangular rubbermaids (all the same size) to make stacking easy. No plastic grocery bags, no hard case suitcases. A few bucks on Amazon for dry bags is well worth it.

If you are picking up a second load at the courtesy dock, please ask your group to keep everything stacked in a small contained space that allows others to use the courtesy dock while you’re in transit.

The rental boats are all in slips near the old Halls launch ramp. The whole rental boats operation was moved over to Halls.
 
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fishmanlee said:
This is what I'm hoping for, I think, but Aramark rentals told me straight up that they weren't running anything like this from BF to Halls. You think it's just poor training and the person has no idea? It seems like every time I call I get a different opinion on things and no one seems to have real command or authority.
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My best guess is the taxi service is just for the Bullfrog slip holders as there is no land access from the shore at Halls to the slips. The rentals on the other hand do have land access from the base of the Halls launch ramp.
 
fishmanlee said:
Pain in butt but I can load/unload solo. Problem is the long distances between lake and parking.
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Which is the main reason I suggested two people. Even if one person is only there to pull the truck and trailer out of the water and up to the parking lot.

I know sometimes it can’t be avoided but solo launching should be discouraged especially with only one lane available to launch. It just ties up the ramp and dock too long in current conditions if it can be avoided.

I’d estimate it will take around an hour round trip per trip if you shuttle your own gear back and fourth. If you think that is 4-6 trips that is a very long load.

With the rental boats you can drive a car right down to them. And there are porters to load your gear. Honestly I think this is a no brainer. Even if you have rookies with you. Someone can get to the rentals and start the check in process while you are doing the boat.

There is no reason you shouldn’t be able to divide your group up and have individual responsibilities to make the trip easier on you.

No one person should be responsible for all the duties on a trip.
 
Are you kidding me - NPS & Aramark don’t have control of this yet…


WOW - they missed memorial weekend and then missed July 4 and now lined up to miss Labor Day…


This is a clear example of failure stacked on top of failure. What a complete CLUSTER MESS…


To be fair, if a win is had then let’s lift up the winner. If someone needs to be held accountable then let’s do that too.


How do you view the Bullfrog / Halls mess - not too much public planning, not too much public communication - not too much public leadership or much public proactive anything…


The net result of the combined efforts of NPS and Aramark appear to fall toward absolute chaos and failure with little to no public confidence.


Regardless of what the goal is, as soon as I hear that the NPS or Aramark is involved my confidence drops to near zero with a predetermined emotion that no one will deliver results, but only silence, delays and excuses. A sad opinion.


This season is about over until next memorial weekend… Do you even have confidence that by next May any of the issues at Halls / Bullfrog will be fully resolved… There it’s your answer.


So what is the plan next year - are they considering hiring a competent contractor to manage this project and deliver real results or is it the same rinse and repeat predictable failure.


If either of these teams were in the private sector the management or funding team would use words like incompetence, lack of leadership, lack of planning, lack of communication, lack of accountability, lack of progress - lack of results.


I feel everything about this Bullfrog / Halls thing has been reactionary. Sewers and launch separated from the people and the docks and slips… It is disgusting that we remain stuck with both of these teams. Do you really see a private sector contractor like Maverick performing at these low level benchmarks.


A team with leadership would have had a plan in place years ago when this trend was forming… Where is the 5 year and 10 year plan. Where is any plan.


Where are the results?

What is the expectation?

What is the goal completion date?

Where is the leadership?

Where is the efficiency?

…Wait and see, is clearly not a plan.


If the docks remain at Halls they may need a better sewer system - where is the money and the plan for that. Without an approved sewer system you are forced to continue the chaos.


Crazy - just crazy that the paying clients are bearing 100% of the perceived incompetence across Aramark and NPS.


The experience at an Aramark facility should be equal to that of AP and it is not, it is far far far below.


And the RCA for this is there is no cost of consequence. Aramark is expected to fail by all parties and it is accepted by all parties.


Hopefully May of 27 arrives with a massive runoff to bury the problem, if runoff is at new average then you can probably expect the same experience as last year just 30 feet lower, compounding the problems and closing in on imminent collapse.


Rise up and demand satisfaction for your fees.


If all fees are waived then it is fair that your experience can be zero, but if you are paying full payment then satisfaction should be expected to be full. If you are paying half then your satisfaction can be expected to be half - but if you are paying FULL RATES then you deserve to have full satisfaction and not this crappy chaotic mess.


On that note, all Aramark hotels and boat rentals see a big winter discount - why are the slips not offered the same lower rate in the offseason when so many of the services are reduced for the winter.


For 2027 I would set expectations for water level and Aramark to be even lower than now.





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The scenario you describe is exactly what we did on our recent trip. We rented a houseboat (and a powerboat) out of Halls, but one of our group had a jet ski which you'd think was launchable somewhere at Halls, but no, he had to drive his truck over to Bullfrog to launch. At Halls, we kept all his stuff and loaded on to the houseboat. He made that roadtrip to Bullfrog and brought his jet ski over to Halls before the houseboat could even take off from there. No problem, but a lot of driving for him.

On the way back at the end of the trip, since their truck was at Bullfrog, but the houseboat had all their stuff (and they only had a jet ski with no way to transport their things to Bullfrog), I followed their jet ski with the rental powerboat back to Bullfrog with all their stuff and a couple of their group. I helped unload their stuff there while they took their jet ski out of the water. Then they went home to New Mexico, and I drove the rental powerboat back to Halls. From there, the rest of our group drove home to CA (two cars).

Complicated. And when I was at Bullfrog, I met a couple of people hanging out there looking to bum a ride to Halls, since the taxi service was so slow. So I was able to do that too...
 
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I’m certainly glad I don’t pay for any services, minus the potentially ridiculous $80 or whatever it is to get my truck and boat through the gate.

We rented a houseboat last year, everything worked and was fine and I outlined how if you expect a dumpy houseboat and for things to fail you’ll be fine and we were. A great trip. But that always makes me thing, should we be expecting poor quality and for things to fail/not work? Should we expect the mid lake bathrooms to not work? Should we expect floating buoys and manmade hazards? I could go on and on and yes…now this mess.

I guess, as a guy who really doesn’t use their facilities for much, even I’m starting to get a little irked at how difficult things are…
 
On a positive note, it is reported that the newly constructed temporary launch area accessible from the South end of the main Bullfrog launch ramp is now operational. It has not been listed as an official ramp on the NPS website, but it is being used. The North launch ramp is also still usable. So, presently there are two ways to launch your boat into Bullfrog bay.
 
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