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Lake Mead - Pics & Blog Added

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Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/14/2008 : 20:16:46

I am planning a trip to Lake Mead the first week of June, and would appreciate any advice, tips, suggestions, etc on sailing there. I'll be sailing out of Overton Arm (I understand this has to be Echo Marina).

I have gathered some info from Rich Malone - the guy representing Trailer Sailing for the Lake Mead Sailing Club. I'll post that here as a starting point. (Thanks Rich!!)

General Information:
Lake Mead is down about 100 feet from its highest level (May 2008). Here is a web site to see a graph of the lake levels. http://www.arachnoid.com/NaturalResources/

Contrary to what one hears on the news, there is lots of water in the lake. Looking at your Fish-n-Map (if it’s the same edition as mine) the chart shows the Lake Mead at a water elevation of 1210 feet above sea level. On the chart follow the 80 to 100 foot contour lines; you will see the lake as it is today. Places with a fast drop off have not changed much. Places with a slow drop off have changed considerably.

The latest information on the lake levels is the lake is expected to raise about 10 feet this spring. This is good news because the park service has improved many of the boat launches this winter, so when the lake raises 10 feet we will have great boat launch sites to use. I guess I am rambling on a bit; here are my suggestions on your trip.

Sailing Lake Mead
Overton Marina and boat launch has been closed due to low water levels. Overton Marina has been moved; ½ to Echo Bay and ½ to Temple Bar. From SLC, I would still take the Overton exit to the lake. The next exit is through the Valley of Fire, you will have to pay to drive through the park.

Echo Bay had a good launch area; I have not been there in a couple of years. Call the marina before you drive down. There is a campground, restaurant, hotel at Echo Bay. From Echo Bay it is a ten mile sail to Middle Point. Middle Point is a good area for anchoring. The anchorage is between Middle Point and Middle Point Islands. Due to low water level, Middle Point Islands will be connected to the mainland.

From Middle Point you have two choices, go through the narrows into the Boulder Basin, its about a 12 mile sail to Callville Bay or sail into the Temple Basin about 12 miles to Temple Bar. Note: Bonelli Bay in the south end of the Virgin Basin is dry. In the area of East Point, winds are usually strong due to the merge of the three basins. You will find each basin has its own winds.

Boulder Basin
Sailing to Boulder Basin you will travel through the Narrows, the Narrows have cliffs that are about 850 feet straight up; it’s an amazing place to see. If you sail the Narrows, have your engine idling, as it is very narrow and there can be wind shifts. West of Narrows are a couple of good anchorages, my favorite cove is Rufus Cove, near mile marker 14. Just beyond Rufus is Sandy Cove, it has a good beach and an OK anchorage. If the wind is blowing hard you will get a lot of sand on you boat. Sandy Cove is a popular place with the power boaters. Other places to anchor are Canyon Point Cove and Sidewinder Cove.
At the west end of the narrows is Callville Bay. Callville Marina is very nice; it has a boat launch, campground, restaurant and store. The boat launch is somewhat steep which is good for a deep keel boat.

Lots of fishermen launch at Callville. Most power boats stay in the Boulder Basin.

Further to the west is Las Vegas Bay, due to low water, the marina has been moved to Horsepower Cove near the south end of Bolder Basin. Lake Mead Marina near Saddle Island has also been moved to Horsepower Cove. A good area to anchor in the Bolder Basin is Castle Cove/ Reef area. Swallow Bay may have some good anchorages; I have not been there for a while. In Swallow Bay, beware of open anchorages to the south. Winds in the Bolder Basin the winds are usually from the southwest; waves can build in Swallow Bay. If there is a cold front the winds will be from the north.

Temple Basin
Sailing to the east from Middle Point is Temple Basin which has Temple Bar Marina. It has a campground, boat launch, store and restaurant. There are hot showers to the left of the trailer homes; bring quarters. Temple Bar has a shuttle bus to and from the beach. Good anchorages in the Temple Basin may be found on either side of the Head or the coves around Temple Bar Marina. A favorite anchorage east of Temple Bar is Burro Bay. Past Burro Bay is the Virgin Canyon; it narrow but can be fun to sail.

Gregg Basin
In Gregg Basin is Sandy Point, I have not been up there is several years; it use to have some great anchorages on the north side of Sandy Point. Beyond Sandy Point is Iceberg Canyon, the last I heard there was not enough water to pass into Iceberg and beyond.

General Anchoring Information

All marinas have courtesy docks; unless you stay overnight there is not a charge for the courtesy docks. Temple Bar has a courtesy dock that is between the marina docks and the boat launch dock. One can overnight at this courtesy dock.

On Lake Mead we usually look for a cove that is deep up to a sandy shore, a stern anchor is dropped and set about three boat lengths from shore, a bow line is tied to shore using a rock, anchor or a 3 foot long stake. The stakes are available from Home Depot; the rectangular ones work the best as they are easier to wiggle side to side to remove the next day.

The park service has a floating heads on the lake. The floating heads are about 25 feet per side; if they do not smell, we sometimes we use them to tie up to overnight. Arrive at dusk. Most of the power boaters leave before it is dark.

Set your anchors well, some places have short trees on the bottom, they are still standing but do not hold anchors very well. If you get your anchor stuck in one snub up the anchor line and power out with your motor, they come up roots and all.

Bring firewood, its great to have a fire on the beach in the evening. All of the marinas sell firewood. Check with the park service to see if there are fire restrictions.

--Skipper of the Unsinkable2
http://blog.unsinkable2.com
1977 Catalina 25 SK/SR #246 "Unsinkable 2"
1964 Lido 14 #1878 "Tomato Sloop"

Edited by - Unsinkable2 on 09/03/2008 12:33:47

Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 09/03/2008 : 12:31:27

2 months later, but hey, at least I got it done! Click here to see the pics and read the blog of our trip (4 posts)
http://blog.unsinkable2.com/2008/06/sailing-lake-mead.html

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Edited by - Unsinkable2 on 09/04/2008 18:54:54

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 09/03/2008 : 15:04:51

Nice write up! I miss going to desert lakes, Mead, Powell, even Shasta, and camping along the Colorado near the Mexican border. Those were great days. We spent two weeks on Lake Powell when I was about 16-17, what a great trip.

What turned out to be wrong with the outboard, just an impeller?

Edited by - on

Unsinkable2
Captain

Members Avatar

USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 09/03/2008 : 15:45:22

Yeah, it was the impeller. it was a real pain to replace thought because the motor (a Honda B100) was apparently an early production run. So Honda had mixed parts from the BF100 and BF75. Took me quite a few trips to the Honda dealer til I got the right parts.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

Members Avatar

USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 09/03/2008 : 18:47:35

Hopefully you bought two so you don't have to search next time? I keep spare impellers for my engines in my spare parts box along with pre-gapped spark plugs.

Edited by - on

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.