I remember my first monsoon...

[rivermobster]

Crazy Horse. Camping there. We were trying to get skin cancer kicking back on the beach, with my buddy's flat anchored in the water. We were maybe 16-17? I think I was still in High School. 74-75 or so...

All of a sudden, my buddies dad yells "get the boat out of the water".

Huh?

NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't wanna hear that voice again, so i jumped in my truck and my bud took the boat to the launch ramp. About the time we had the boat on the trailer, all sorts of hell broke loose!!!!

Everyone was heading for the launch ramp, boats on the water, trucks/trailers in camp, it was a major cluster fuck and the wind is now kicking up GOOD!!!! We get back to camp, get outa my truck and i dive underneath it!!! I'm layin there on the ground watching everything not bolted down blow by. Ice chests, chairs, ezups, towels galore, tents...

I'm praying my truck or the boat don't get hit.

In a few minutes, it's all over. Beach is now perfectly clean! lol

I go to get out from under my truck and catch my shoulder on the license plate frame, or something on the rear bumper, and rip a nice hole in my skin! I'm standing there bleeding, and my buddies dad walks over, looks at it, and pours some whiskey on it and says "you'll be fine".

I still have a nice scar there.

Do you remember your first time??





P.S. @Wheeler Keith was driving the boat and JB was doing the yelling and fixin up my shoulder!

 

[DWC]

First time boating in it was on Mead in our Nautique. Had the wife and our 3 kids on the trip. At some point, someone volunteered us to take another family back to camp. Half way back with the 9 of us it hit. Holy shit, that water gets big for a 21’ Ski boat.

We were at Nautical for Monster Bash 8-10 years ago. Boat was in the Cove for the night. About 2am we hear yelling/screaming. Shit hit the fan quick. The few boats that decided to anchor in the middle of the cove busted loose. Everyone on shore started pinching their boats together to make room. Hell of a way to get be pulled out of bed. Didn’t get a ton of sleep that night.

 

[Wheeler]

Crazy Horse. Camping there. We were trying to get skin cancer kicking back on the beach, with my buddy's flat anchored in the water. We were maybe 16-17? I think I was still in High School. 74-75 or so...

All of a sudden, my buddies dad yells "get the boat out of the water".

Huh?

NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't wanna hear that voice again, so i jumped in my truck and my bud took the boat to the launch ramp. About the time we had the boat on the trailer, all sorts of hell broke loose!!!!

Everyone was heading for the launch ramp, boats on the water, trucks/trailers in camp, it was a major cluster fuck and the wind is now kicking up GOOD!!!! We get back to camp, get outa my truck and i dive underneath it!!! I'm layin there on the ground watching everything not bolted down blow by. Ice chests, chairs, ezups, towels galore, tents...

I'm praying my truck or the boat don't get hit.

In a few minutes, it's all over. Beach is now perfectly clean! lol

I go to get out from under my truck and catch my shoulder on the license plate frame, or something on the rear bumper, and rip a nice hole in my skin! I'm standing there bleeding, and my buddies dad walks over, looks at it, and pours some whiskey on it and says "you'll be fine".

I still have a nice scar there.

Do you remember your first time??





P.S. @Wheeler Keith was driving the boat and JB was doing the yelling and fixin up my shoulder!

And you doubted the defectiveness of the Bennett rain dance.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

What "truck" was this that pulled the boat out?

 

[rivergames]

Not my first monsoon, but one I'll never forget.

I was about 10 or 11.

Its midnight and the lightening and thunder woke everyone up in the house. We pulled our boat and parked it under a palm tree next door.

There were 3 storms that came together that night right above Parker. Supposedly, one from the North, the West and the South. Now all breaking over Parker at the same time.

As I am watching out the window, I see the bolt come down from the sky. It wasn't a normal color lighting bolt, this one was RED!

All of a sudden, it hits the top of the palm tree that our boat is parker under. Exploded the top of the tree and lit the tree in fire half way down to the ground.

Firey embers are dropping on the wet boat cover. My dad screams at me, "SON, GET OUT HERE! WE NEED TO MOVE FUCKING THE BOAT!!!!"

I run out and help him drag the boat out from under the tree as firey palms are dropping on us! We were soaking wet and maybe that's why we didn't burn.

Fire Departments comes within minutes and extinguishes the flames.

Luckily the wet boat cover didn't burn and the boat was OK!

THE END

 

[Ziggy]

What "truck" was this that pulled the boat out?

F100

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

This was a good one

The McMonsoon

Chapter 1 It all started on a warm Wednesday night in July of 2015. The buyer of my boat had just left the house after agreeing to purchase it on Saturday, after we used it to attend an annual gathering called, The McRaftup. We left around noon on Thursday heading down the 15 to the 40 on...

www.riverdavesplace.com

 

[Rajobigguy]

I remember the first time I got caught in one.
We had a 21’ ski Sanger at the time.
We had been playing around up by needles and I saw the clouds forming to the north.
I told everyone that we should start heading back and call it a day .
We got back to Windsor just as the wind was starting to pick up a little and a bit of light rain was starting to fall. The ramp was crowded so told the wife to drop me at the beach and I would get the car, get into the line up and call her when I was at the ramp. She dropped me about 20’ offshore and I started wading my way to the beach when suddenly all hell broke loose.
What was moderately breezy turned into a 60-70 mph gail and the sky opened up.
I turned and started screaming at the wife to get the boat turned around and point it into the wind but wind and waves were forcing her further up towards the rocks. Then this 3’ wave came rolling over the transom and I watched as the boat dropped a few inches lower.
I started screaming at her to turn the pumps on when another wave rolled over the back, this one was large enough to engulf the boat as it rolled over . The force of it knocked the kids and the dog out of the boat and blew out the windshield.
The boat was now sitting very low in the water and a subsequent wave sent it down. The ass end hit bottom with the bow pointing toward the sky. Then it was over as quickly as is came. The wife was still seated clinging to the steering wheel, shoulder deep in water. She finally releases her death grip on the wades around to the front of the boat , sticks a finger in the bow eye and proclaims “we’re okay, I’ve got it” .
I asked her what she doing and she said that she was holding the boat. I told her that the boat isn’t going anywhere, it’s sunk and the transom is buried in the mud . She refused to acknowledge that the boat was sunk because the bow was still afloat.
Meanwhile the kids are swimming about trying to rescue boat cushions, towels, ice chest and all the other stuff that got blown out of the boat.
It was day to remember.

 

[hallett21]

Probably not the first, but my first “oh shit time.”

I was 9-11. We entered the mouth of the river/lake headed towards Windsor.

Mom, dad, me and little brother all wearing life vests (I’ve never seen my parents wear a vest in a boat lol). Mom and little brother hiding under the deck while dad and I are being water boarded. The way the wind was blowing my dad figured we would be better off at the jet ski ramp. Several others had the same idea. Including 28+ ft boats.

Some random guy went and took my mom and brother to the suburban and brought the truck back. Meanwhile everyone is doing their best to hold their boats on the docks and down that little side sea wall.

The cool part was everyone rallied together (hammered now that I think about it lol). Being shallow with such big waves 10-14 people would load one boat at a time. No one left until all of the boats were loaded.

Meanwhile a “fun time rentals” pontoon came full speed at the beach/rocks like they were storming Normandy. Guy literally left the boat in gear, got his friends off and they just marched through the bushes. Someone climbed in and shut it down. The boat was destroyed within 30 mins.

There was easily six boats tucked in here

 

[Mikes56]

We were staying at the Nautical for my Timeshare week. We were in the bar at night, with my Nordic Rage parked in the cove. This was before you had to pay to park there. A big guy comes running into the bar yelling, “ Who’s red and white Nordic is in the cove?” Well shit what happened, I’m thinking. The big guy says my team is all holding it, a monsoon came in. When I go running outside there’s 4 big guys all holding my boat from slamming into the shore in the crazy waves.

Those guys helped me put it on the trailer at the Nautical launch ramp. I bought them all drinks that night. They were all football players from out of town.

Mad respect for monsoons and I trailer my boat every night now.

 

[hallett21]

Lol another one I remembered. We’re staying at nautical and see the storm coming. My dad tells me to jump in the boat and he’s running to get the truck. Well I’m maybe 12 at this point and I’m trying to save the anchor. No way with those kind of waves and tiny arms lol.

I just put it in gear and ditched the anchor line.

As you can imagine the nautical ramp has 1,000 people at this point and people are missing left and right. As well as panicking and screaming at each other on the ramp.

All the sudden I see our truck and trailer launching off the beach by the rental docks lol. Dad left the trailer shallow and somehow I surfed it on to the point he could back down. Another reason for 4x4 .

A lot of boats got jacked up that day.

 

[Yldboyz]

F100

It was called the Ranger back then.

 

[2Driver]

We were in our 20’s. We were driving in our lifted CJ5 no doors or top towing our 19’ Riviera Jet from Havasu down to Moonridge by the dam.

It was dark and horizontal lighting was running the entire length of the lake. I was hanging onto the CJ in the wind hoping to beat the rain as the 35’s on the CJ would trash the boat with spew. Made it to Bill Williams river and it started to pour.

 

[Badchoices03]

My first big one was back in like 2001 or so....we had both our boats out, a Calabria ski/wakeboard boat and our 34' Magic Sorcerer....we were beached in the channel, and people just started boogying out of there all around us...then the rain and wind started to hit hard...we were staying at Black Meadows, and my brother tried to head back in the Magic and I stayed back in the channel with the Calabria to wait it out...about 20 or so minutes later, he comes back into the channel, everyone on the boat looked scared, he said the waves were breaking over the bow of the Magic and it had like a foot of water in it...about 20 minutes after that it was sunny and calm and we had most the channel to ourselves....lol

 

[Wheeler]

Crazy Horse. Camping there.

Keith was driving the boat and JB was doing the yelling and fixin up my shoulder!

As I said before gotta watch them Bennett's and their rain dance. Their dance of the whisky is even scarier!

 

[81Sprint]

Not my first or last, but spent the night out at Mead with some friends. Nasty lil storm rolled in about midnight, wind howling, waves got real big on the shore. I had a 21' Spectra at the time that was anchored nose out but the box anchor wasn't holding it. I spent the next couple hours out in the water holding the boat, probably not the smartest decision but i had just put it back together and it was our 2nd trip out in it. I remember getting so exhausted that I could barely lifts my arms, and no one could see me out in the water it was a pitch black night. Closest I ever felt like I might not make it out of this, will definitely never do that again!

 

[Wheeler]

Not my first monsoon, but one I'll never forget.

I was about 10 or 11.

Its midnight and the lightening and thunder woke everyone up in the house. We pulled our boat and parked it under a palm tree next door.

There were 3 storms that came together that night right above Parker. Supposedly, one from the North, the West and the South. Now all breaking over Parker at the same time.

As I am watching out the window, I see the bolt come down from the sky. It wasn't a normal color lighting bolt, this one was RED!

All of a sudden, it hits the top of the palm tree that our boat is parker under. Exploded the top of the tree and lit the tree in fire half way down to the ground.

Firey embers are dropping on the wet boat cover. My dad screams at me, "SON, GET OUT HERE! WE NEED TO MOVE FUCKING THE BOAT!!!!"

I run out and help him drag the boat out from under the tree as firey palms are dropping on us! We were soaking wet and maybe that's why we didn't burn.

Fire Departments comes within minutes and extinguishes the flames.

Luckily the wet boat cover didn't burn and the boat was OK!

THE END

I heard about that one. I was safe at home in the Oc. that night. I imagine this year we will have a killer monsoon season with all this global warming 'n shit goin on.

 

[rivergames]

I heard about that one. I was safe at home in the Oc. that night. I imagine this year we will have a killer monsoon season with all this global warming 'n shit goin on.

This went down in your hood! Probably the 1st or 2nd year when we moved into Marina Village

 

[Wheeler]

This went down in your hood! Probably the 1st or 2nd year when we moved into Marina Village

Yes I remember hearing about it and seeing the tree but you guys were on the front row in @DRIVE BYE 's house. Thats when the place was called GamesVille which was once known as CarverVille.

The Totem Pole was stolen so Keith now has to smoke his Peyote on the Traeger!

 

[traquer]

I was like 10, dad had a small 17 foot Sea Ray, trying to get back to Black Meadows from campgrounds, water was big but we made it! Dad's buddy got all his stuff washed off his pontoon, luckily not his toddlers! He didn't come back for years after that lol understandable. I remember my dad scraped some docks real good due to the wind but the boat was ok

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Wasn’t Havasu but Mohave.

Was out at ski beach camping on the shore with my brother and dad. I’m like 12 and my brother is like 8. We had the 21 jet boat and two stand up Kawi’s. We see it getting dark and stormy off to the north and it’s getting closer and closer, and evening is also setting in.

Suddenly the storm is on us and waves are coming over the back of the boat (nose into the beach those days). So my dad says let’s go we are getting the boat off the beach and heading for Katherine’s before the boat sinks.

We take off for Katherine’s and the wind and rain and lightning are going crazy. We get to Katherine’s some how and the Marina is somewhat quiet wind wise so we tie up and go up to the tail of the whale restaurant and wait the storm out.

Storm blows out and we head back to the beach. Everything, including the jet skis is about 10 feet higher up the beach than it was before. Tables and tents blown over, the easy up was practically in the next cove.

It was crazy being out there but I enjoyed the randomness of that lake. Still to this day I keep an eye out for developing clouds and start thinking about a run to Katherine’s or a sheltered cove.

Made me respect the lake and it’s power of wind and rain.

No idea what my dad was thinking other than oh Jeezus I hope I don’t lose a kid or something.

We came to expect these storms as the norm and respect them. I almost look forward to one good storm per trip and I usually get it.

 

[Rayson1971]

10 or so years old going across the Lake Mojave basin. In a 21 foot Tarva. When dad says put life jackets on you know it's serious shit. That you never forget.

 

[hallett21]

You know when you’re in a monsoon when your custom boat becomes a 21ft zodiac in your eyes.

You’ll see Mr/Mrs hot sauce at every stop transform into a landing craft in a flash lol.

 

[sirbob]

Oh I remember my first time…

I lost a boat and saw the look of panic in peoples faces when they thought they lost a friend who had drowned in the madness of everybody rushing around trying to save boats.

The only good news from that night was when the divers where working the shore at the Nautical looking for the body the next morning… a guy walks up on crutches / sees his buddies and asks what going on???

Apparently he was cut by a prop and ended up in the ER unbeknownst to his friends. The look of relief on their face was great to see!!!!

They truly thought they had lost a friend that night.

I had actually lost a boat though

 

[hallett21]

Oh I remember my first time…

I lost a boat and saw the look of panic in peoples faces when they thought they lost a friend who had drowned in the madness of everybody rushing around trying to save boats.

The only good news from that night was when the divers where working the shore at the Nautical looking for the body the next morning… a guy walks up on crutches / sees his buddies and asks what going on???

Apparently he was cut by a prop and ended up in the ER unbeknownst to his friends. The look of relief on their face was great to see!!!!

They truly thought they had lost a friend that night.

I had actually lost a boat though

Sorry about the boat but glad no one died

 

[traquer]

Wasn’t Havasu but Mohave.

Was out at ski beach camping on the shore with my brother and dad. I’m like 12 and my brother is like 8. We had the 21 jet boat and two stand up Kawi’s. We see if getting dark and stormy off to the north and it’s getting closer and closer, and evening is also setting in.

Suddenly the storm is on us and waves are coming over the back of the boat (nose into the beach those days). So my dad says let’s go we are getting the boat off the beach and heading for Katherine’s before the boat sinks.

We take off for Katherine’s and the wind and rain and lightning are going crazy. We get to Katherine’s some how and the Marina is somewhat quiet wind wise so we tie up and go up to the tail of the whale restaurant and wait the storm out.

Storm blows out and we head back to the beach. Everything, including the jet skis is about 10 feet higher up the beach than it was before. Tables and tents blown over, the easy up was practically in the next cove.

It was crazy being out there but I enjoyed the randomness of that lake. Still to this day I keep an eye out for developing clouds and start thinking about a run to Katherine’s or a sheltered cove.

Made me respect the lake and it’s power of wind and rain.

No idea what my dad was thinking other than oh Jeezus I hope I don’t lose a kid or something.

We came to expect these storms as the norm and respect them. I almost look forward to one good storm per trip and I usually get it.

Tail of the Whale, good memories!!!! When me and my buddies were like 14 or so we used to take a Jet Ski over and smoke our cigarettes in there after our Hamburger lunch lol. We pretended we were big wigs discussing big business, and of course looking at the girls walking by. You couldn't smoke indoors in CA at that time plus smoking was badass, we felt like kings! They didn't serve us booze though unfortunately but we got our hands on it from the cooler so all was well.

Thanks for the memory.

 

[DRIVE BYE]

There been quite a few for me, but the first one I remember was 1966, we were headed to the river in the Dodge Dart, out on Hwy 62 it started to Hammer Hard , my dad was able to get us to the Gas Station out there where all of the shoes are hanging. The attendant let us all get inside the building and wait it out.

 

[lbhsbz]

Had to be back in the late '80s at Big River, we'd rented a shitty little trailer from a place that came and set it up on the spot for us for the weekend. About midnight or so we woke up to some wind noise and then a big bang. I ran out to see what was going on and there's my dad running around in his underpants trying to secure whatever he could....the bang was a fold up table that got thrown against the side of the trailer, then the awning went up over the top of the trailer and ripped half the siding off. My little inflatable row boat that I'd paddle all over hell and back got popped against the tongue of another trailer. We spent the next day walking around the park looking for shit lol.

 

[Good Stuff]

I was probably 7 years old on Salton Sea in a 16’ center console with my brother, dad, and his buddy. We were all the way down south on the lake and my dads buddy decided he had to beat the storm in. My brother stuck me on the floor under the back seat where the cooler normally slid and sat on the seat holding me in with his legs. Ended up soaking wet with a huge adrenaline high. Way more traumatic that way I’m sure but right as we got close to the marina the storm stopped so we went back to fishing.

About 2 years later on Powell I learned what a real Monsoon was with my Grandpa. Small outboard 16’ish foot boat and we had just launched out of Wahweap near state line headed to Navajo Canyon. All of the sudden halfway to antelope point he just calmly said we need to go back to the ramp and we pulled up to the beach next to the ramp got out of the boat and stood holding on to the bow (pretty sure he knew he couldn’t get to the truck and back down to the ramp in time). Not 1 minute later all hell broke loose. People panicking and running their boats up the ramp at speed, trying to tie to the dock and run for their trailers and getting beat to hell. 20 minutes later it all cleared up and my grandpa asked if I still wanted to fish and we hit Ice Cream Canyon for a few hours. There were always stripers up against those cliff walls.

 

[GreenEnergy28]

First monsoon was also the first time Dad took us to Havasu. 1977 17' Hydroswift trihull... Was with Pops, my stepmom and stepsister, I was around 12 years old I think. We launched and drove out across the lake. I remember docking and going to a bait shop but can't remember where. Jump back in the boat and in 5 minutes, shit hit the fan. Pops did his best to drive us out of it so we could sit it out, but waves were pounding that little POS boat we had. Fist, and only time I've ever seen my Dad wear a life jacket while driving a boat. That was my sign that things were bad. He got us to shore and beached the boat and waited out the storm.
Been through dozens since then. Lake Mohave, Havasu, Needles. I tend to keep a lookout for clouds on the horizon. If things look questionable, I usually just pull the boat out.
I let my buddies talk me into staying on the lake last Labor Day weekend when that big ass storm blew in. I had told the boys that it looked like a storm was coming... Well... it came and we had to ride it out in the water. Makes for great stories though!

 

[NicPaus]

House boat trip on Mohave. Had to get in my boat and drive around in it so it wouldn't sink. Guys I was with refused to park in a cove. Beached the houseboats in the open part of the lake. Both house boats got thrashed. Next night monsoons again. Every one is smashed up and no cove. Loaded up and crossed the lake in pitch black. Could only see from the lightening. My truck and trailer were on other side of the basin at launch by Laughlin. First and last time going to that lake.

 

[Justsomeguy]

Damn, I'm reminded how a lot of you haven been lucky enough to do this your whole life. I've been in a few but the first oh shit one was 4 or 5 years ago in the keys.

Had my boat docked and was watching the sky. All of a sudden hell broke loose. Wind first. Put the Bimini down. Then the rain came pouring. Turned the pump on. The rest was insured. Then the power went out. Which in the keys also means no water. We enjoyed it. But the was the first big one I had been in.

Next morning, still no power And so still no water. I kid you not that place was empty by 7am. Lol

 

[chadzilla]

We were at Mead in '01 or '02. My parents and my in-laws were in my parents Hallett 270 and my wife, sister and her husband were in my Hallett Vector. It was middle of september, sunny and warm. It was slightly breezy as we took off from mead marina headed for longbeach to meet up with a group of people. as we get to the narrows I start to notice some larger boats heading back towards boulder basin. we stop and chat with the parents and my father in-law says we should keep our plans and head to the beach. Both sets of parents have been boating on Mead since the '70's so I figured no big deal. At that point in my life I had a good amount of boating experience myself also. We head out of the narrows and start making our way north and the wind is getting bad. I decide to head in to a beach and the parents follow. We get out and have some refreshments as I rearrange the boat. Everything that was up under the bow was now bouncing around all over including my tool bag which had somehow come undone. We decide to head back to the narrows and find a cove. The wind is now blowing probably 30mph. The beach we were in was protected from the wind and as we make our way around the point to head south, we are hit with breaking waves in the 5'-6' range. We go up one and the bow stuffs into the next one sending a wall of water over the bow. I immediately hit the pumps and turn back around and head back to the beach. We discuss options and I make the decision that everyone is to get into my parents boat and I will drive our boat back, life vest on, following my parents so they can break most of the waves. We decide on a heading that will have us quartering the waves most of the way, allowing us to "ride" them. My sister decides she is riding with me so I toss her a vest and I tell my wife, "glad the insurance is paid in full". Big mistake. By now the wind is probably 40mph. we make our way out and the first few waves break over the bow before we can change our heading. I have the bilge pump on and its doing ok. the next 40 minutes we make our way, slightly above idle speed. The waves were so big that we would lose sight of my parents as they went down the other side into the trough before us. Unbeknownst to my sister and I, my wife, mother and mother in-law are sobbing uncontrollably in the 270, begging my dad to pick us up and let our boat sink. After a while, I knew so long as nothing mechanically went bad that we were going to be ok. It was just a really rough, wet sob. The first few minutes were terrifying though. We finally make it back to the narrows, get on plane and find the first cove. No wind, nice and warm, and I'm thinking why in the hell did't we just stay here?? We spent a few hours there to hopefully let the wind die down which it did. As we made our way back to the marina, boulder basin was pretty bumpy. about 2' wind chop close together. The kind of water where you need to get on top. We all had vests on and I needed some throttle therapy so I told everyone to hold on. My Vector had a very mild 454 and would run low 70's fully loaded so off we went. Anybody that says a Vector can handle rough water is speaking the gospel. We ran wot all the way back to Mead marina, only throttling back when we were in the air. We beat the parents back and were having refreshments at the docks when they arrived! I'll note that by this time in my career, working for a well known performance shop in so cal, I had quite a bit of experience driving Vectors and 210's, many with big power, but never in water that rough. Needless to say, that little boat impressed me. I gave the boat a thorough going over the next weekend expecting to see some stress cracking or worse and found nothing. Did have some loose hardware though!

 

[Moabifam5]

Back in the late 60's I was 7 or 8 and we were camped at the Cove Campground which is Crazy Horse today. Skys looking across the lake were very dark and remember my Dad commenting on it. Around 7 pm, my brother and I were in our 15 Scotsman trailer with my parents next door in a friends Motor Home. Wind and rain started when the trailer felt like it was moving. Dad comes busting through the door to get us out. Wind had picked up the trailer and moved it. Next day, several trailers were turned over, many boats sunk in the Marina and campgournd looked like a trash field. Spent the morning picking up stuff for our group and groups of friends. From that day, I have always had a healthy respect for those storms..

 

[stephenkatsea]

Undoubtedly, most damage and injuries occur at launch ramps when a monsoon passes thru. 90% of the time a monsoon can be seen building up way in advance of them striking. Sure, if you have ample time, take your boat out of the water. Other wise, put everything away and tie stuff down, remove the tops of EZ Ups, lower Bimini tops, if your bow is securely on the beach, run out a stern anchor with lots of scope. If your on a houseboat, make sure all lines are out of the water, particularly near the stern, start the engines, if the passing storm causes your houseboat to go off kilter to the beach, simply put either or both engines in gear, at idle, and let the engines hold the boat square to the beach.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

About 2 years ago we returned to Mohave for the annual family pilgrimage at the end of July. We got there, dropped all the boats in and went scouting to find the beach we’d try and use for the week. We find one, we setup and we hang out.

As if on cue, right at the end of the day the storm shows up with a really strong wind. So we decide to bail and head for Katherine’s after securing the beach. I have the 30’ Eagle, my cousin has her Ultra 21 jet and my other cousin has his 16’ Rayson Craft. The other two boats left first. I got the last people and stuff off the beach and follow.

The other two boats are having a hell of a time in the wind blown swell and whitecaps. The 30 isn’t even phased, but I pass the Rayson Craft and get in front of him and then slow down, put the trim tabs full down and do my best to give him a smooth spot behind me which we do all the way to Katherine’s. The 21 Ultra also got in on that. Was a nice little boat parade back but everyone made it fine and we tied up in Katherine’s where it was calm.

Once we got to Katherine’s the big fat rain drops and lightning started coming in and everyone ran for their cars.

Either you find shelter on the lake and wait the storm out or you know it’s coming and get off the lake before it arrives. The last thing you should do is try to travel while it’s in full blow, that’s where most of the trouble starts and shit goes wrong.

 

[chadzilla]

Just thought of another good story. This was in '21. We now live in washington state and spent labor day weekend on a houseboat on Lake Roosevelt. The night before we have to leave, we get a weather report on the vhf informing us that a storm is moving in tomorrow morning with strong winds expected by noon. We had another couple on the boat with us so we all sat down and made a plan. One thing we did't think about when we chose our cove is that it is a little tight to turn a houseboat around in if the wind picks up. My friend and I decide that if the wind is too strong, I will have to drive the houseboat out in reverse and he will use his boat to assist me by pulling. We get everything packed up and go to bed. Middle of the night I wake up to a slight breeze. Go out and check on everything and all is good. Just a slight breeze. Next morning the wind has picked up considerably. I radio in to the marina where we have to take the houseboat and inform them we will get in asap. We also have our Hallett 300 to deal with also. I'm not concerned at this time as the wife is very competent at handling it. She will put most men to shame. I go out and get the Hallett ready as she makes final preps inside. My friend Randall is getting his boat ready with the tow line. Suddenly the wind gusts and starts to pull the land lines loose. This is bad for obvious reasons, one of which is both of our boats are tethered to the back of the houseboat in addition to sand spikes on the beach. I run inside, fire up the puny V6 powering this barge, put it into fwd and counter steer to lessen the wind. Get the wife and kids into the 300, undo all tether lines, get them off the beach, pull the land anchors and lines and pull the houseboat off the beach. Randall and I had previously discussed exactly what we had to do and had a plan. Hindsight being what it is, we probably should have just left the houseboat on the beach but it all ended well and I take ownership of things under my control and wasn't about to let the houseboat get beat to hell on the beach. We barely got that damn houseboat out of the cove! I would add that Randall did go out before and evaluate the conditions on the main lake which weren't good but totally doable. Whew! We are making our way to a rendevous point so the marina can drop a guy off on the boat to bring it in. Pretty damn rough out but everything is going good until I get a call from the wife. She has gone in to the marina and decided she can't dock the boat. Shit, now what? I decide that when the houseboat captain gets onboard I will have her pull up close to the boat, put on 2 life vests and swim to her. When the captain gets on he says be careful as the marina is getting hit hard. I jump off, swim to our boat and off we go. The sight we see as we pull into the marina is just unreal. Entire canopys were ripped from the docks sailing through the marina. Chairs, tarps, dock carts and everything imaginable was flying around in the marina. We manage to get the boat out without any issues. The captain gets the houseboat docked and we unload. I asked him if they needed any help and his reply was this. Of the 6 houseboats they had, only 2 were going to make it in today. Us and one other. 2 had already sunk, one was out of gas adrift on the main lake and the other had anchor line wrapped around the prop and was also adrift. They had already sent out teams to rescue the people. Our drive home, about 1 1/2 hrs, was eventful as well. The wind had blown down some powerlines and started a wheat field on fire which required we change our route. We hit a dust storm that was so bad I almost had to come to a complete stop as I could only see about 20' past the hood of the truck. We made it home unscathed and full of new stories to tell!

 

[FROGMAN524]

About 2 years ago we returned to Mohave for the annual family pilgrimage at the end of July. We got there, dropped all the boats in and went scouting to find the beach we’d try and use for the week. We find one, we setup and we hang out.

As if on cue, right at the end of the day the storm shows up with a really strong wind. So we decide to bail and head for Katherine’s after securing the beach. I have the 30’ Eagle, my cousin has her Ultra 21 jet and my other cousin has his 16’ Rayson Craft. The other two boats left first. I got the last people and stuff off the beach and follow.

The other two boats are having a hell of a time in the wind blown swell and whitecaps. The 30 isn’t even phased, but I pass the Rayson Craft and get in front of him and then slow down, put the trim tabs full down and do my best to give him a smooth spot behind me which we do all the way to Katherine’s. The 21 Ultra also got in on that. Was a nice little boat parade back but everyone made it fine and we tied up in Katherine’s where it was calm.

Once we got to Katherine’s the big fat rain drops and lightning started coming in and everyone ran for their cars.

Either you find shelter on the lake and wait the storm out or you know it’s coming and get off the lake before it arrives. The last thing you should do is try to travel while it’s in full blow, that’s where most of the trouble starts and shit goes wrong.

Gotta love a big V in the big stuff.