Day 1 on powell....

[riverroyal]

No pics yet. But....
We were in antelope canyon, way deep.
Monsoon popped up.
Seriuosly the craziest scariest 1 hour of boating in my life
Had to be 70mph sideways rain.
Life jackets on, freezing, driving by gps at 10 mph.

Place is beautiful though .
Pics soon

 

[Your ad here]

We got a bit of the storm in Padre Bay. Beached for 20 minutes while it passed.

 

[JD D05]

No pics yet. But....
We were in antelope canyon, way deep.
Monsoon popped up.
Seriuosly the craziest scariest 1 hour of boating in my life
Had to be 70mph sideways rain.
Life jackets on, freezing, driving by gps at 10 mph.

Place is beautiful though .
Pics soon

It happens lol. Have fun

 

[wallnutz]

Ahh monsoon season on Powell. We’ve had storms come rolling over the tops of canyon walls with little or no warning. Violent for a few minutes, then boom gone and beautiful weather again.

 

[JB in so cal]

Big baby!

 

[Happy Smitty]

I went right through the center of the storm coming back from oak canyon just out of dangling rope to camelrock. You know it's bad when the water horizon is blurry. Wind, rain, lighting, thunder, sideways rain, Whitecaps and swells. Even the fish took cover.

 

[riverroyal]

Ive seen 20 plus years of havasu monsoons. Times that by 10.
It was for real scary.
The pontoon pulled through great
Drove right in to the wind! Crapping my board shorts and shaking it was so cold

 

[riverroyal]

 

[riverroyal]

Dinner view

 

[snafu]

Was up there last week with Havasu 5150. Coming back from Rainbow Bridge wind, choppy water, and some rain around bouy 22. I was navigating couldn't get a visual on another bouy, got a little disoriented, at that point that lake will make you feel small. Got through it, had a great four days and some spectacular scenery.

 

[J DUNN]

I just got home from my fourth trip this season. It was just a long weekend trip, stayed with friends on their boat in Friendship Cove. Pulled the Cobalt out at 9am this morning and put it in storage at Big Water then drove and saw that weather heading your way. Glad you were safe. Those are scary but really when you're in the moment and break it down, you know your safe. Scary to be in, yes, but you know boat will still float and you're not gonna die. Usually pretty amazing skies after those big storms too.

 

[throttle]

Have a great time! We want to see more as the week adventure continues. [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Marios Metalworks]

So jealous! Enjoy in for more pics and stories

 

[JD D05]

Ive seen 20 plus years of havasu monsoons. Times that by 10.
It was for real scary.
The pontoon pulled through great
Drove right in to the wind! Crapping my board shorts and shaking it was so cold

Probably sounds weird but those storms are part of what I love about the lake. Maybe a respect thing or just blasting past all the wake board boats getting the fuck kicked out of them at 60.

 

[Happy Smitty]

I grew up on the ocean and coming out to Powell. Storm are an exciting experience. It's a thrill that you have to carefully judge between fun and when it becomes dangerous. And that is the exciting part.

 

[Ziggy]

Ive seen 20 plus years of havasu monsoons. Times that by 10.
It was for real scary.
The pontoon pulled through great
Drove right in to the wind! Crapping my board shorts and shaking it was so cold

Didn't you pack your Depends?

 

[ONE-A-DAY]

In the distance is my 26 daytona, sponsons pointing up, full of water, thought I could out run the storm. Idiot.

 

[Angler]

Meanwhile at Lone Rock Beach at Sunrise.

OK, this was 3 years ago!

 

[Sleek-Jet]

You learn pretty quick not to mess around with Thunderstorms on Powell. Best advise is I find a canyon and ride them out. Been there, done that, have the boat scars to prove it.

 

[mswasey]

If you happen to get up to Mountain Sheep Canyon, check them out.

 

[mesquito_creek]

There is a weather station available on your handheld vhf radio. Figure out how to use it before you leave and give it a listen throughout the day, its on a loop but will update as conditions change. Don't put yourself in the position where you need a couple hours of straight line boating to get back to wahweep, plan on short main channel runs but enough time to use the cove/side canyons to dodge the rain. All you need to be is off the main channel for the most part during the storms... Its pretty much going to happen daily in the afternoons this time of year. I have a couple of the "absorber" synthetic chamois for post rain boat drying activity, makes the boat cleaner than I can get it with a hose in the driveway. Your first Powell monsoon is scary, but your second and next ones should be "bring it" type events because you know the game...

 

[riverroyal]

Im not sure we did the best thing.
We were deep in Navajo canyon.
Its not real wide in there but there is no speed limits
I motored about 10mph heading out. But out was a long ways
The wind was so bad it was pushing the toon all over when we were stopped. That part scared me.
Bad thing about moving was i couldn't see much. I was watching the bread crumbs on my gps zoomed it to see where to steer.
My brother in law was watching for debris. Visibility was near zero at times.
Do you take cover and sit still, motor on to manuver wind? Or drive thru it?
One thing to note. The water turned brown from the direction the canyon ended. So we knew going deeper was not a option.

30 years on havasu and ive seen monsoons. This was not like havasu
Like walts pic.

 

[riverroyal]

Also. Im on my Avalon 25' with a 300 verado.
Its tall. 2 biminis its a sail.
No water came over the front. It was actually pretty stable. Took a good beating. Im sure a few new rattles.

Back at it in a hour!

 

[mesquito_creek]

Navajo Canyon.. so close, but yet so far.... Everyone has to make their own decisions based on the conditions on the ground, but I tend to choose to take cover over poor navigating conditions. How long did it last? Normally but the time you tuck back into the canyon and find a safeish spot, its over... Were you getting hammered like that while you where in Navajo or once you left it?

 

[2Driver]

Don’t underestimate that lake or weather, it can kick your ass

Sounds like you were prepared. LOL you are now Powell christened.

 

[mswasey]

One nice item I always have on my boat is a pair of yellow/clear lens goggles. If your boat doesn’t have a windshield, they’re good in Powell rain. And they are great in low light/evening conditions.

 

[riverroyal]

Navajo Canyon.. so close, but yet so far.... Everyone has to make their own decisions based on the conditions on the ground, but I tend to choose to take cover over poor navigating conditions. How long did it last? Normally but the time you tuck back into the canyon and find a safeish spot, its over... Were you getting hammered like that while you where in Navajo or once you left it?

It was 45 minutes of bad bad. When we go about a mile to the canyon opening it let up.
The main channel was still rough but no rain or wind.
Rough water is fine in the toon. We headed west and it got better

 

[Gramps]

I have always thought it is best to beach it and stay there and wait. With that being said I have seen some people park in a "flash flood/waterfall" area.............try to look up and make sure a flood coming over the cliffs isn't going to dump on you.

 

[riverroyal]

 

[riverroyal]

90% of boats here are wake board boats
89.9% need a class on boating courtesy.
The place is dead, doesnt matter.
I still got cut off all day.
90 mile day

 

[riverroyal]

Amazing scenery
More pics soon. I need to get them from the passengers.

 

[Riverryder]

Powell’s storms aren’t anythin compared to mead..

 

[steamin rice]

It seems like the storms there usually don't last longer than an hour or so, although I remember waiting out some pretty long storms sitting inside the cabin of a 24' Spectra as a kid.

I would probably find a canyon to shelter from the wind if I got caught in a big storm.

Also, if you haven't already figured this out, the tour boat wakes are huge and will sneak up on you if you aren't paying attention.

 

[77charger]

One nice item I always have on my boat is a pair of yellow/clear lens goggles. If your boat doesn’t have a windshield, they’re good in Powell rain. And they are great in low light/evening conditions.

any googles are good but have found that a small tarp or ez up cover is also nice too.We got caught in a monsoon years back we went into dungeon canyon found a small cove point deal with a beach it was enough to block the wind waves I threw one anchor off the back of boat used a shore spike to hold me to as i was beached.My uncle had no anchor or spike so he had to tie to me.

We used the ez up cover over the bimini as a tent kept us dry as it rained there was also a hole/cave in a nearby rock some went into there for cover once rain stopped it was nice but the wind stayed for a bit we sat for about 1.5 hours but the drive back to lonerock was nice after Saw another group of friends headed other way they prob waited it out too.

 

[Boat 405]

Yeah, the storms are rowdy. I always just take cover and wait them out. It will be over in an hour more or less. We always try to find a spot where we are not facing open water for much distance in any direction. If you have a side that is open to open water or main channel the wind and waves will always come from that direction it seems. Smallest fetch the better. Be careful at the end of any canyons, flash floods can wipe out entire beaches at the end of canyons and make any campsite a pool in minutes.

 

[Kahunajuice]

No pics yet. But....
We were in antelope canyon, way deep.
Monsoon popped up.
Seriuosly the craziest scariest 1 hour of boating in my life
Had to be 70mph sideways rain.
Life jackets on, freezing, driving by gps at 10 mph.

Place is beautiful though .
Pics soon

Stay safe and enjoy my friend.

 

[Boat 405]

In the distance is my 26 daytona, sponsons pointing up, full of water, thought I could out run the storm. Idiot.
View attachment 903475

Looks like you had your hands full. Those microbursts can be a bitch.

 

[Kahunajuice]

Amazing scenery
More pics soon. I need to get them from the passengers.

Thank you so much for sharing. I look forward to seeing more.

 

[riverroyal]

Day 4. Hot today.
Went thru the cut. Up to warm water bay. Down to navajo canyon
Bunch of people with their shit spread 100 yards wide on the only beach and giving that look as we idled by.
By the dam now. Nice samd beach in the no wake zone. Which only half the people slow down in.
Ive never seen so many rule breakers on a lake.. also habe not seen 1 cop.

This place goes from glass to bad havasu chop in a turn of a corner.

Tubes and wake boarders, everywhere. No give a fucks from any. You really need to watch their moves because they dont.

Not one dcb or magic in 4 days.
Lots of kids on like lice.
Tough place to anchor and float. Its too deep.

Powell resort is more 2 star than 3. Room are beat up.
Restaurant is very good with great service.

Amazing scenery.

 

[riverroyal]

 

[riverroyal]

250 miles in 4 days. Not bad. Never went past rainbow bridge.
Amazing creation. Hiked sucked

 

[Mandelon]

This thread needs more pics of your wife.

Looks amazing! Stay safe.

 

[mesquito_creek]

Now you know why people bury themselves deep in house boats and cruiser as far away from wahweep as possible...

 

[2Driver]

Now you know why people bury themselves deep in house boats and cruiser as far away from wahweep as possible...

ha, One of these days I’m going to make it to back of San Juan for 2 weeks. I’m just not sure how to pull it off.

 

[franky]

It seems like the storms there usually don't last longer than an hour or so, although I remember waiting out some pretty long storms sitting inside the cabin of a 24' Spectra as a kid.

I would probably find a canyon to shelter from the wind if I got caught in a big storm.

Also, if you haven't already figured this out, the tour boat wakes are huge and will sneak up on you if you aren't paying attention.

Tour boats are not running now

 

[franky]

Now you know why people bury themselves deep in house boats and cruiser as far away from wahweep as possible...

We always go up past Dangling Rope, thats usually the turnaround point for most. You see a lot less people

 

[stephenkatsea]

When on a houseboat bury your 4 anchors well, each anchor line should lead forward. Start your engines when you see a storm approaching. If the wind blows you off of square to the beach just use your engines, at idle as needed, to keep you square to the beach. Do not mess with your anchors or their lines. Have someone watch your stern anchor lines to watch for excessive slack which could allow the line to be sucked into your prop. Do not take the line off the stern cleats until the storm passes. After storm passes retie the lines as needed.

 

[franky]

This^^^^^

 

[JB in so cal]

This^^^^^

What does he know...

 

[mesquito_creek]

ha, One of these days I’m going to make it to back of San Juan for 2 weeks. I’m just not sure how to pull it off.

my wife and I were just planning 8 days in September on our cruiser where we do San Juan for most of the trip... we plan on a 300 dollar Fuel mid week reprovision run back at antelope with a Walmart run... unfortunately the downside of a cruiser is lack of food storage long term... I can’t haul enough beer for 8 days!