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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Finally--After 7 year wait-Folsom lake

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budd
1st Mate

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USA
45 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/11/2006 : 17:10:27

Just returned from Folsom after paying for a slip rental for the coming season. I have been on the wait list for seven years and my name came up. I wont be able to use "My slip" until about Nov. for my boat is on the Hood Canal in Washington state, so I had to pay the full price (1230.00) and they will sublease it for me. If i did not pay for the slip now I would have to go to the bottom of the list and wait another 10 years. just hope they can sublease.
Bud

Edited by - on

Ben - FL
Admiral

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880 Posts

Response Posted - 04/11/2006 : 18:11:20

That is what I call perseverance! Anything worth having is worth waiting for.

Edited by - on

johnsonp
Admiral

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USA
606 Posts

Response Posted - 04/11/2006 : 18:38:26

Well for those or us who have sailed at Folsom lake for years.....I don't think there will be a water shortage......so at least you can have your boat in a slip most of the year.

paulj C250 WK #719

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 04/12/2006 : 07:51:13

Wow, a seven year wait!

I was bummed one year when I had to wait 4 weeks.

Anyway, congratulations!

Edited by - dlucier on 04/12/2006 07:51:52

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 04/12/2006 : 10:02:29

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by dlucier
 Wow, a seven year wait!

I was bummed one year when I had to wait 4 weeks.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
In the club I used to be in, the wait for a 25-footer was up to 15 years. (I got Passage right in because I was giving up a smaller slip and had 21 years membership seniority.)

Congrats, Bud--with a waitlist like that, I can't imagine that someone wouldn't want to sublet. And yes, it sounds from here as if you won't be short of water for a while!

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 04/12/2006 10:04:27

lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 04/14/2006 : 23:15:34

The problem at Folsom Lake Marina is population growth. In the 40 years (more or less) since the marina was built, the population of the 5-county Sacramento Metro Area has at least quadrupled, but the marina operator has not been allowed to add even one slip, with the inevitable result being the steady lengthening of the waiting lists. Folsom Lake's "politics" are pretty complicated, due to different government agencies being in charge of different functions, with mutually incompatible agendas. The dam itself, and the water imponded behind it, is owned by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation. The shoreline 500' back from the high water mark, including all shoreside facilities like launch ramps and parking lots, is California State Parks. The marina itself is a State Park facility, but is operated by a private concessionaire, much like many of the hotels and tourist facilities in the National Parks are run by Curry Company. Law Enforcement and Safety is run by the El Dorado County Sherrifs department and State Park Rangers. The marina concession operator has tried repeatedly to get permission to install another set of docks, parking lots, and another launch ramp on the south side of the marina basin opposite the currently existing 650 slips, but has been shot down by all of the Government bureaucrats. State Parks and the Sherrifs department don't want more boaters as that would increase the load on Law Enforcement and require investment of facility construction money that is simply not available - State Parks gets so little operating money from the State budget that it's a wonder they can operate at all. The Federal Government (BuRec & EPA) doesn't want more boaters as that would increase the pollution load on the lake from bottom paint, motor oil, gasoline fumes, and carbon monoxide.
As for the current marina, there are several different sizes of slips, from the "small" 16', to the "largest" 24' x 10'. These last, which are required for Catalina 25's, 250's and similar sized boats are, of course, the fewest in number and have the longest wait list - currently about 14 years. I have been on the list since about 1998 and don't expect to get a slip sooner than about 2012, by which time I will be getting ready to retire and will probably want to keep the boat in SF Bay, not Folsom Lake. On the other hand, the way gas prices have started spiraling up again - 37 cents in the last 10 days here in Sacramento - gas will probably be $15/gallon by then and I will no longer have a vehicle capable of towing a Catalina 25.

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johnsonp
Admiral

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USA
606 Posts

Response Posted - 04/15/2006 : 16:03:50

Larry
Good background preamble.
Maybe you could explain overniters,weekends at the Marina and on the lake with a Catalina.
Don't forget the pump out.

paulj C250WK #719

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budd
1st Mate

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USA
45 Posts

Response Posted - 04/16/2006 : 12:49:52

Larry Dont forgot that my slip is avaible for "sublet" thru the end of Sept.
Bud

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 04/16/2006 : 19:49:49

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by johnsonp
 Larry
Maybe you could explain overniters,weekends at the Marina and on the lake with a Catalina.
Don't forget the pump out.
paulj C250WK #719
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Folsom Lake is about three miles across the widest part, but running back from the main lake are two inundated river canyons, the North and South Forks of the American River. Folsom Dam was built a little downstream of the confluence of the two rivers. Both of these rivers have areas set aside for boat camping in which the speed limit is 5 mph, and they are in fact BEAUTIFUL places to spend a night or two on your boat, especially in summer when the water warms up enough for swimming (it gets to about 82ºF from early July through Labor Day, the perfect swimming temp.). When the lake is at full pond elevation (466'), North Fork is navigable for trailerable sailboats for about 10 miles back from where it enters the main lake. Unfortunately, South Fork is crossed by a county road on a low-clearance bridge, which blocks sailboats only about 4 miles back from the mouth of the canyon.
It is also possible to stay in the marina basin, either anchored out, or in a guest slip (only a few of these available, on a FCFS basis).
Slip renters can of course stay on their boats overnight in their own slips. Dry Storage renters can anchor out in the marina basin only for no extra charge. Boat Camping in the North and South Fork rivers costs $7.00/night in the off-season, $10.00/night in the peak season, which I think is May 1st through September 30th. This fee is collected by the State Park. Some other general observations and rules about Folsom Lake:
1. Both boating and shore activities are retricted to roughly the daylight hours, which are 6:00am to 10:00pm in summer, 7:00am to 7:00pm in winter. Boats on the water need to be back in their slips, hauled out, or secured at anchor in a recognized boat camping area by closing hour. The entry gates are closed and locked overnight, so no one, not even slip renters, can get in our out after closing time (this is one of the bad aspects of Folsom Lake Marina compared to "regular" marinas where slip renters aren't restricted with arbitrary time limits. You can't stay out at a late dinner and come back to your boat).
2. No glass containers are allowed into the State Park, which includes the Marina. No alcoholic beverages are allowed on shore, or on boats underway on the lake, although slip renters are not forbidden to indulge on their own boats while in their slips or at anchor. The rule forbidding glass containers appears to mean that glass-bottled wine would be forbidden to slip renters, and I don't know how this apparent conflict is resolved. Some members of our sailing club usually bring a bottle of wine to share in the evening raftups, and it looks like this is technically a violation of the glass-container rule.
3. The Boat camping areas in North Fork and South Fork each have one floating raft, called the "SS Relief" providing a two-stall chemical toilet for those boaters who don't have MSD's on their own boats or prefer to not use them if alternative facilities are available. To legally boat camp on Folsom Lake, your vessel must be "fully self contained", meaning it has to have some kind of enclosed cabin, and a USCG-approved MSD that is not plumbed for overboard discharge.
4. The boat camping areas on the lake all have good holding ground for your anchors, with depths varying from very shallow to as much as 70'. Be cautioned that there are sunken trees and boulders down there that occasionally snag someone's ground tackle too tightly to extricate short of sending down a diver in scuba gear to untangle it. Always check the "set" of your anchor before going to bed; there are some places where your anchor might land on rock and not really dig in.
5. Folsom Lake in the summer months is heavily used by powerboaters of all kinds (msinly waterskiers, jetskiers, and fishermen), and traffic can get thick in the narrower parts of the river forks. It can get intimidating to try and sail a series of upwind tacks in there with waterskiers zooming around, paying more attention to what's behind them than what's ahead of them - which might be you. I've never been hit myself at Folsom Lake, but I've heard of it happening. Once you pass the buoy line into the "protected" areas, those zones where boat camping is allowed, the speed limit is 5 mph and is generally observed, except by those occasional inconsiderate skippers who are either ignorant of the rules, can't read English, or don't think rules apply to them, or are just plain stupid.
6. There are no grocery stores at the lake, and as I said above the gate is closed at 10:00 pm, so be sure to provision before you arrive. Folsom Lake Marina has a gas dock that sells regular gas only (TAKE NOTE-NO DIESEL FUEL), and they have a few basic supplies like bagged ice, soft drinks, some ice cream, motor oil, and a battery charger if you find your boat battery is depleted. There is also a pumpout on the east side of the marina office, and two porta-pottie dump stations (large outdoor sinks with extra-big drain holes) at the restrooms on shore. You need to register and pay the boat camping fee at the Marina office, which is the small octogonal shaped building on the floating dock at the foot of the Brown's Ravine launch ramp.
7. The Marina has 655 slips and about 100 dry storage spaces. The wait list for slips is about 7 to 14 years, depending on the size slip you need (the biggest 24' x 10' slips are the longest wait time, and those are the only ones that will take a Catalina 25 or 250), and about 5 years wait list for dry storage. There are 2 launch ramps, one for high water, and another lower down for low water. The lake fluctuates seasonally from full pond elevation, 466', down to as low as 375' in drought years (or even lower in the really bad years). The marina has to close and haul out boats when the water drops to about 412', as the docks start to go high and dry at 405'. All boats have to be trailerable and all slip renters have to own trailers for their boats, so that the boat can be hauled out on 24 hours notice in a low-water situation. In years where precipitation in the American River Watershed is below normal, the Marina docks might go high and dry on the mud by mid-July, requiring the entire marina to be evacuated of boats only 12~14 weeks after the April 1 opening date. This last happened in 2004, and on average about every 6 years the marina has to shut down prematurely due to low water. The marina concessionaire does not give refunds of the slip fee when this happens, but they do provide a space for your boat on it's trailer up in the ramp parking lot. If your trailer is not boxed in too tightly, you could in theory continue to use your boat by launching and retrieving it, but for most of the parking lot this is impractical for Catalina 25's - they are packed too tightly together to be easily pulled in and out except with the marina tractor which has a very small turning radius.
The annual slip fee for the 24' x 10' slip is $1260 this year, and dry storage is $750 (this is what I have). The slips do not have electric power or water, but there is a hose bibb at the courtesy dock from which you can fill your water tanks (recommend you do this early in the morning before it gets busy). There is also a power outlet from which you could run a battery charger for a limited time (limited in the sense that it would be frowned on if you were hogging the courtesy dock all day).
8. To any Catalina owners with trailers in Central California, Folsom Lake is a nice place to bring your boat anytime from late spring through autumn. The water gets warm enough for swimming, that's 76ºF for me, around Memorial Day, and stays at least that warm through late September. Our club, Catalina 22 Fleet 4, would love to have you join us for a cruise and raft up, which we have at least once a month from the third week in March through Halloween weekend at the end of October. Send me an e-mail through the Forum and I'll forward it to our club Cruise Director who can send you more information.

Edited by - lcharlot on 04/16/2006 20:17:07

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