Soliciting advice/suggestions for late June houseboat trip to Bullfrog

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I think if I were to attempt what you’re asking my method would be the following

First, have everything you’re going to use to secure the boat out and ready on the deck of the houseboat. Ropes already tied to the back cleats of houseboat, and strung forward to the bow, being careful to make sure you don’t have any knots.

Find a “beach” with boulders positioned close enough that you have enough rode to reach, and at an angle that’s appropriate for mooring.

Have one person take both waverunners to shore and secure them on shore 60’ + (if possible) from where the houseboat will be.

Person on shore stands at the spot your aiming to put the houseboat in.

Bring boat in slowly, hand the windward side rope to person on shore and secure to a boulder on that side while pilot of houseboat keeps boat pinned.

Once the windward side is secured you both can work a rope on the leeward side.

We use a minimum of 5 anchor points for the houseboat. Two out each side, one out the front so the bow is less likely to walk.

In june you need to check and take the slack out of the ropes at least once a day. Twice if the water is really coming up from runoff.

The suggestion mentioned of leaving the skis to drift behind the houseboat while anchoring is very troubling to me, and not a tactic I’d use. Too much to go wrong.

If you can’t find a spot to leave the skis on shore while securing the houseboat I’d secure one to each side of the houseboat. The main danger to this is if the boat gets sideways on shore when your trying to moor, the ski will be between the boat and shore.

Really watch the wind forecast in June. In a week trip you will have at least one storm come through and that.is when the fun really begins.

Adding a photo of one of our campsites so you can see the anchor configuration.

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Suggestion on getting to shore. I have found that your best bet is to not have anything attached to the H/B when setting the anchors. Most of the time you have the motors at a idle in gear to keep the H/B on the shore and straight. If you have anything attached to the boat you can suck up the tow ropes in the H/B engines. I detach everything and put them on shore first. Then put the H/B on shore and start the tie down. Have your H/B ropes per attached to the side of the H/B. If you have any wind secure the windward side first to the shore. The rental 48 ft H/B have two 60 horse engines and they will move at best 8 to 9 miles an hour no worries about clamping the water lines on the ski's. Hope this helps.
 
With that 46-foot houseboat and the canyons you mention, I’d say Forgotten will have a few spots, especially toward the end, but it’s somewhat popular (meaning busy) because of Defiance House ruin, which is about a mile hike beyond water’s end. There’s also one great one behind the bathroom near the mouth of the canyon. Not my favorite camping choice.

Hansen is mostly wide open with a few decent but unprotected campsites, plus one very nice site, usually taken.

Crystal has at least a couple of very nice sites almost at the end…

As Bart said, Smith Fork is very limited, but it’s a cool canyon.

Other options not far to the north include Knowles (many options, maybe too many neighbors) and Cedar, plus if you’re lucky a few inlets near the mouth of Cedar or Warm Spring…
 
Ryan said:
I think if I were to attempt what you’re asking my method would be the following

First, have everything you’re going to use to secure the boat out and ready on the deck of the houseboat. Ropes already tied to the back cleats of houseboat, and strung forward to the bow, being careful to make sure you don’t have any knots.

Find a “beach” with boulders positioned close enough that you have enough rode to reach, and at an angle that’s appropriate for mooring.

Have one person take both waverunners to shore and secure them on shore 60’ + (if possible) from where the houseboat will be.

Person on shore stands at the spot your aiming to put the houseboat in.

Bring boat in slowly, hand the windward side rope to person on shore and secure to a boulder on that side while pilot of houseboat keeps boat pinned.

Once the windward side is secured you both can work a rope on the leeward side.

We use a minimum of 5 anchor points for the houseboat. Two out each side, one out the front so the bow is less likely to walk.

In june you need to check and take the slack out of the ropes at least once a day. Twice if the water is really coming up from runoff.

The suggestion mentioned of leaving the skis to drift behind the houseboat while anchoring is very troubling to me, and not a tactic I’d use. Too much to go wrong.

If you can’t find a spot to leave the skis on shore while securing the houseboat I’d secure one to each side of the houseboat. The main danger to this is if the boat gets sideways on shore when your trying to moor, the ski will be between the boat and shore.

Really watch the wind forecast in June. In a week trip you will have at least one storm come through and that.is when the fun really begins.

Adding a photo of one of our campsites so you can see the anchor configuration.

View attachment 31628
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Ryan. What are the two ropes for that go out almost perpendicular on both sides?
 
FishnFly said:
Ryan. What are the two ropes for that go out almost perpendicular on both sides?
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I was going to ask the same question. Mostly, I just wanted to get sole clarification as I’ve never seen that done, but liked the though. I’d assume it just really helps with any side to side play. More ropes never hurt, but would love to hear the experiences of using those perpendicular ropes.
 
Tying off your houseboat is almost as personal a taste as food. Some guys swear by crossing your ropes or by a fifth anchor and others love boulders. For the guy asking the questions I'd beach both jet skis onto the beach with your other crew member there to help guide you in. (tow 2nd one) The 4 anchors on your rental should suffice but install them right and keep your lines tight. Personally, once I'm on the beach, I like using the motors to turn away from one side which slacks the opposite side; then I run back and tighten the slack side and cut the motors. Helpful tip for June, if we're lucky you'll need to tighten up slack twice a day. 🤞
 
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Thank you all for your comments and good advice. Even though we have rented the 46' HB from Wahweap before, we are still Northern lake newbies.

We had another thought about getting us, the HB, and the 2 jet skis to the campsite destination. We thought about taking both jet skis and scouting out a spot. We could leave one jet ski there to "claim" it. Then we would return to the marina, and just tow one ski back to that spot.

Do we need to leave a person with that jet ski? How much concern should we have about leaving a jet ski unattended for maybe up to 4 hours?

Have you ever had or heard of theft issues at LP? Do you ever go off exploring/boating and leave your HB unattended? Any concerns about that?
 
That can certainly work. It burns up a lot of your first day. Depending on how far you go, you'll probably want to refuel the jet ski back at the marina before heading out with the houseboat. If possible, I generally like to get to camp with all vessels full of fuel - with the exception of the houseboat that towed everything there. Otherwise, fuel management becomes a larger issue than I want it to be when I'm relaxing.

As for leaving the houseboat unattended, everyone I know takes day trips away from the houseboat. I've never heard of a problem, but there's always a first time. We lock things up the best we can and head out to play.
 
I have never worried about theft when leaving the boat unattended. It’s possible I guess, but it has never happened to me.

On the other hand, I once left my small beach where I had my tent set up to go hiking for the day. When I returned, two houseboats (same group) had converged on my beach and took it over. Unbelievable. As if I wasn’t there. When I asked why they thought they could just take my beach when it was obvious someone was camped there, one guy wanted to fight me while another said they thought they “needed” the beach more than I did. 20 of them, 1 of me.

Flabbergasting. I calmly asked what sort of example they thought they were setting for their kids, right in front of their kids. No response. The wives were much more reasonable, and forced an forced an apology from her husband. Which he did.

There was no fight.

But they didn’t leave.

Charitably described, this was extremely poor etiquette at best, and the closest thing to outright theft I’ve experienced at Lake Powell. I felt bad for their kids.
 
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The worst theft I’ve encounter at the lake is when ravens invade an unattended and improperly secured boat and raid anything that’s left out. Once we had them inside when they opened a screen door. We’re much more careful about that now.

In response to your question about going uplake and leaving a ski in a spot I think the downside to that is you will lose the better part of the day on the houseboat and more importantly will be trying to anchor later in the afternoon when the storms/wind are more likely.

We try to be moored as early in the day as possible. Especially important with smaller groups.
 
JFRCalifornia said:
I have never worried about theft when leaving the boat unattended. It’s possible I guess, but it has never happened to me.

On the other hand, I once left my small beach where I had my tent set up to go hiking for the day. When I returned, two houseboats (same group) had converged on my beach and took it over. Unbelievable. As if I wasn’t there. When I asked why they thought they could just take my beach when it was obvious someone was camped there, one guy wanted to fight me while another said they thought they “needed” the beach more than I did. 20 of them, 1 of me.

Flabbergasting. I calmly asked what sort of example they thought they were setting for their kids, right in front of their kids. No response. The wives were much more reasonable, and forced an forced an apology from her husband. Which he did.

There was no fight.

But they didn’t leave.

Charitably described, this was extremely poor etiquette at best, and the closest thing to outright theft I’ve experienced at Lake Powell. I felt bad for their kids.
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I share your pain, A houseboat full of folks took over my campsight in Oak Bay some 30 years ago. Upon my return I complained very vehemently and to my surprise they moved.

I never worry about theft either out on the lake, most thieves aren't that industrious. To steal and haul it off of the Lake is just something I don't see happening. At the Marinas folks abandon lots of nice things from top flight camping and cooking gear, good BBQ's, premium flat screen TV's/stereos rather than haul them out up the long steep hills; The thieves wouldn't want to do it either. Once up the hill you still have to haul it hundreds of miles home.

At wahweap we call the climb out Heart Attack Hill, with the low water levels it's quite a hike. Add in a 108 degree day in the shade and a lot of folks will just leave things they are done with by the marina dumpsters with a free sign on it, having too much stuff at powell is a liability in many ways.

I'm with JFR, the thing I'd worry more about is theft or invasion of your beach.
 
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After doing houseboats for 30+ years we have learned that the bow is very important to tie down. If the wind catches the bow and turns the boat sideways it will spin 90 degrees and end up with it's side along the mooring site and perhaps one outdrive in the sand.,,,unusable. So we always use the very front cleats to tie the bow so it wont move. If a heavy wind comes up I will crank both engines, place both engines in idle forward to hold the nose in place. C
 
JFRCalifornia said:
I have never worried about theft when leaving the boat unattended. It’s possible I guess, but it has never happened to me.

On the other hand, I once left my small beach where I had my tent set up to go hiking for the day. When I returned, two houseboats (same group) had converged on my beach and took it over. Unbelievable. As if I wasn’t there. When I asked why they thought they could just take my beach when it was obvious someone was camped there, one guy wanted to fight me while another said they thought they “needed” the beach more than I did. 20 of them, 1 of me.

Flabbergasting. I calmly asked what sort of example they thought they were setting for their kids, right in front of their kids. No response. The wives were much more reasonable, and forced an forced an apology from her husband. Which he did.

There was no fight.

But they didn’t leave.

Charitably described, this was extremely poor etiquette at best, and the closest thing to outright theft I’ve experienced at Lake Powell. I felt bad for their kids.
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Wow! What a “dick” move. What kind of surf boat did that guy who wanted to fight you own? 🤣
 
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