Lake Powell Houseboating Report and Review
Spring Break 1997

Detailed Daily Journal
Last modified: 18 April 1997

Index for this page:

Day 0 (Saturday 29 March 97)

Flew from SFO to LAS (United Shuttle) and rented a car (National Car Rental) Left LAS about noon and drove about 6 hours (275 miles) to Page AZ. En route we drove through Zion National Park which is very scenic, but slow going due to switch backs and tunnels; took alternate faster but less scenic route on return drive. Arrived in Page about 7PM and check in at the Best Western at Lake Powell; rooms here were very nice and they offer a full breakfast for an extra charge. We decided not to dine out and grabbed a sandwich from a nearby sandwich shop and some fruit from the Safeway next door.

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Day 1 (Easter Sunday 30 March 97)

At the Motel

The early morning scene at the Best Western at Lake Powell, and other Page motels as far as I can tell, is more like an international bazaar than a 'normal' motel morning. Page survives in part, and especially during the off season, on tour bus traffic. There were large groups (bus loads) of Japanese, French, and Germans. The breakfast line was always about 15-20 people long as everyone in a tour group arrives within a few minutes of each other to maintain their tour bus schedule. Augie sleeps in rather late and for once this worked to our advantage as we were the last two to be served breakfast, 15 minutes after the official end of the breakfast service but at the end of the now much shortened breakfast line.

Boat Check-Out

Arrived at the Wahweap Marina, run by ARAMARK for the National Park Service, at about 10AM. The boat rental area is on the Utah portion of the marina complex, so head for the north end. There were about 6 groups of people ahead of us at the boat rental area; most were foreign tourists asking about daily rentals of powerboats. The check-in attendant (Amy ?) was very efficient and helpful. I had to ask about the cell phone rental and linen (bedding) package. I wanted the cell phone to check in on my Father who was in the hospital (but I never did use the phone) and the smaller houseboats do not include bedding. I was surprised that ARAMARK does not instruct their rental agents to offer houseboaters a list of other rental items, They especially should mention that bedding is not provided, else I am sure people leave the marina and do not think about bedding until they are ready to settle in for the night.

Boat Introduction & Operation

We proceeded to the dock and Larry our houseboat instructor. I had reviewed the 10 minute video provided free (if you return it when you rent the houseboat) by ARAMARK, so knew a bit about what to expect during the introduction to the houseboat. Larry started at the important end of the houseboat, the twin 60 horsepower Mercury outboard engines. He showed us how to tilt them out of the water to check the propellers and when we were anchored for the night in an area where the propellers might be damaged by motion of the houseboat during the night. At least one of the motors was brand new, so I was told, and was a bit difficult to start, so a mechanic was called and arrived in a few minutes to pronounce all well just that a bit more throttle was need to get this engine started then usual. Larry showed us how best to use the marine toilet and the propane powered appliances: stove with four burners, oven, refrigerator with freezer, hot water heater, and bar-b-que grill. These are powered by two propane bottles located on the stern.

Overall I was favorable impressed with this aspect of the service at the time. In retrospect a few things needed to be covered that were omitted or glossed over:

  1. instructions for changing the propeller are in the Operator's Manual; this was not mentioned although in fairness the manual should be read from cover to cover and preferably before leaving. My particular copy of the Operator's manual did not include this page (Page 18) as it was missing pages 17 and 18 and had duplicates of pages 15 and 16.
  2. more explanation on where (especially) and how to beach and anchor the houseboat, especially considering there was a known weather front approaching, is needed. We were told to anchor the boat with both anchors at 45 degree angles tied to the rear of the boat, but we were not told that a sandy beach anchorage was best, especially if strong winds or bad weather was approaching or expected. Also no indication of how hard we should beach the bow of the houseboat was provided. Our only experience with the houseboat was docking at the loading dock and there you obviously approach the dock as gently as possible, but when beaching apparently more momentum can be carried onto a sandy beach.
  3. no mention was made that the short cut route around Castle Rock into the main channel was closed due to low water; most maps show the lake at the high water level and then the short cut is available.

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Food Stocking Service

I had arranged to have our food provided by The Butler Did It! which is a houseboat stocking service I found on the Lake Powell houseboating web page. The food I had ordered was on board and stored as well as possible in the limited but adequate storage areas. [See separate documents for comments on this service,and daily menus and shopping list I prepared in advance of our trip.]

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On the River

The skies were clear with little or no wind and the temperature was near 70 as it was comfortable to be out with only a t-shirt. Our first day goal was to reach Dungeon Canyon (Marker 38). After a short excursion around part of Castle Rock in the Wahweap Bay, we headed up the main river channel without incident until Gregory Butte (Marker 27). At this point Last Chance Canyon enters the main channel and we made the novice mistake of assuming the larger of the two 'canyons' was the main channel. After about 40 minutes of travel and not seeing any marked buoys we started to wonder if we took a wrong turn. The lack of numbered buoys should be the main tip off for novices, also the fact that we were traveling more north than east (river runs from east to west in this portion of the Colorado) was finally enough to get us turned around and back to the main channel. Having a pair of binoculars onboard was very valuable for spotting and reading the numbers on buoys as you do not always pass close enough to buoys to easily read the numbers.

We arrived at Dungeon Canyon (Marker 38) at about 4:30PM and two boats were already anchored on what looked to us to be the best sandy beaches on the east side of the canyon; Dungeon is a wide canyon, especially near the inlet, north to south running and looks more like a small bay then most of the up river canyons. Our first attempted beaching was on a rocky beach near the south end of the canyon. We hit the rock a bit hard, so at least I thought then, and the slope there seemed to gradual as the bow was a few feet from the dry shore. The motors alone were adequate to back us off this rocky ledge, so Augie jumped out and helped push us back into deeper water. We maneuvered around the inlet again seeking other 'suitable' site that were not too close to the two boats already anchored. The western side of the inlet appeared too shallow or rocky, but mostly we really did not know what we should be looking for as an overnight anchorage. We finally found a large and rapidly sloping rock out cropping on the east side of the canyon as far up canyon as I dared take the houseboat. We anchored by placing the anchors behind some of the rocks on the shore. There was no sand here and no convenient rocks at 45 degrees either. But the spot was isolated from the other boats and seemed ideal. We settled in, started dinner preparations, and relaxed. The skies remained clear with no wind. We had a great view of the comet Hale-Bopp from the stern of the houseboat just over the top of the western mesa. About 8PM we ate dinner, cleaned up and went to bed by about 9PM. Augie was recovering from a cold and still coughed up a lot of phlegm and used numerous tissues to blow his nose, so he needed the rest and so did I.

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Day 2 (Monday 31 March 97)

Started out as a very nice day with continuing warm temperatures (still comfortable to be outside in only a t-shirt) and clear skies with a very light breeze from the south. While waiting for Augie to awake I reviewed the maps and reference books I had brought and read through the houseboat operator's manual. This is when I discovered we should have anchored on a sandy beach, as recommended in the manual, and that the manual was missing pages 17 and 18. I wondered what was on those pages because almost every page I read provided me with new and useful information, e.g. not to operate the motors over 4000 RPM to avoid excessive fuel consumption and possible overheating which had not been mentioned in our houseboat introduction.

During breakfast the southerly breeze pushing on the side of the houseboat was enough to dislodge one of our anchors wedged behind a pair of rocks. We hastily scrambled off the breeze blown houseboat with the intent of keeping it from drifting into deeper water, with only one secured anchor, and worrying about damaging a propeller if it drifted into the rocky shore. The sliding anchor entered the water and lodged below the surface so that we could not pull it towards us. Fortunately, Augie thought to wrap the anchor line around another nearby rock as I pulled the drifting boat back towards the shore -- here after dubbed 'Lucky Rock'!

With the houseboat now re-secured and breakfast over, we decided to take a short hike along the eastern shoreline to see if the other two boats in Dungeon Canyon were still anchored. The small power boat that had anchored nearest us was packing up and preparing to leave and the large houseboat had that been anchored nearer the inlet was already gone. During our walk we found some flotsam including a golf ball that Augie kept and several pieces of fishing gear; could be fishing in Dungeon Canyon is good?

The southerly breeze continued to increase and large clouds were visible to the north. While deciding if we should remain in Dungeon Canyon for another day and go for a hike up into the canyon or travel further up river to Rainbow Bridge, the wind (no longer a breeze) started to turn our poorly anchored houseboat. Because we had anchored on a rock the houseboat's bow was not beached and was thus able to move when pushed by the wind. We decided to start the engines and did so with some minor difficulties, as this was only the second cold start for us and the first had been assisted by the Wahweap Marina mechanic, and anticipation concerning our rapidly worsening houseboat drifting and rocky shore situation. With the motors started I freed the anchor lines from the rear of the houseboat and Augie retrieved the anchors from on shore. It took three attempts of backing away from the shore and returning for Augie and the anchors in the increasing wind and narrow maneuvering room of the tiny bay where we had anchored. Also Augie had a bit of trouble freeing the submerged anchor, but was successful to my relief.

We motored around Dungeon Canyon for about an hour again looking for a anchoring site but this time with the idea of finding a sandy beach where the houseboat could face south into the wind, although it was not certain the wind would remain southerly for much longer as the clouds that had been to the north were now engulfing our location too. We settled on a nice sandy and south facing site, but it was near the wide inlet part of the canyon and did not provide much protection from the wind. The wind was increasing in speed, but there were periodic lulls that we used to our advantage to set our anchors in the sandy beach. We had a picture postcard perfect (Augie found the postcard picture later in Page and mailed it to his girlfriend) initial anchoring position: bow on a sandy shore into the wind and both anchors securely in the sand at 45 degrees from the stern of the houseboat. Unfortunately we had not beached the bow far enough up onto the sand and with a few very strong gusts of wind, I estimate the gusts we in the 30-40 MPH range, our bow moved far enough away from the shore that was afloat. As the wind gusted and changed direction, becoming more easterly, the bow drifted to the starboard and the houseboat aligned itself with the starboard anchor line. So now we were anchored in more of a 90 degree orientation. Many strong gusts of wind, including several dust devils that had very high gusts, tested our anchoring and it was working well albeit our bow was adrift, most of the time, and moved as the wind and gust changed directions. We considered undoing our present anchoring with the intent of beaching the bow better on the shore, but thought the present situation was adequate and were not sure what new problems the increasingly gusty winds would present to a new anchoring effort.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon reading on the stern of the houseboat in the warming sun that was in and out of the increasing cloud cover. Several power boats and houseboats, about 6 or 8, entered the now rapidly crowding Dungeon Canyon to seek shelter from the increasing winds and associated choppy waters near the main river channel. We had a very nice dinner of brown rice, corn and grilled salmon steaks made on the propane gas fired grill; although the wind made it difficult to start and certainly reduced the heat available to cook the fish.

About 10:30PM I was awakened by a very strong storm front moved through the area with high winds that howled through the vents in the houseboat and generated large waves that entered the inlet and rocked the boat. It was an uncomfortable, but mostly unsettling, hour and a half hoping that the anchor lines would hold the houseboat to the shore. The prospect of being adrift in the dark on the wind swept waters was not at all appealing. The winds finally ceased but the waves continued for about another 30 minutes and it seemed the houseboat was moving more than a foot up and down from the starboard to port sides. I made several trips outside with flashlight in hand to see that the anchors were still well embedded in the sand and that the anchor lines were intact, although I would have known immediately if anything had gone wrong with our anchorage. When the rocking waves finally subsided, I was able to fall asleep. Another, but much briefer and less intense, episode of wind and waves passed through at about 1:30AM, but other than dropping the temperatures about 20 degrees this second front was much milder than the predecessor storm front.

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Day 3 (Tuesday 1 April 97 - April Fool's Day)

Dawn arrived to reveal a sky that was almost solid overcast with only small hints of blue sky and a stiff breeze blowing from the east. While awaiting for Augie to awake I pondered our options of spending yet another day and night in Dungeon Canyon, but we would certainly need to re-anchor so as not to experience the boat motions if another storm was on the way, or go to Dangling Rope Marina to refuel get a weather update and then decide on a course of action. Since we had to refuel at some point, I had checked the night before and we were just about at the half full mark, it seemed reasonable to do it while the weather was at least temporarily reasonable and we could get information on the current and next day's forecasts.

We left Dungeon Canyon at about 8AM headed east into the wind for Dangling Rope Marina. Another storm front was moving towards us from the east with low hanging clouds obscuring the tops of the mesas to our east. The waves in the main channel were high to inexperienced houseboaters. Although the houseboat is a very stable platform, and hence fear of capsizing was nil, the though of what could go wrong was worrisome. The houseboat took on some water over the bow as a few large waves caught us head on rather than at 45 degrees as we tried to maneuver across the main channel. We arrived at the Dangling Rope Marina after about an hour of slow going into the wind. My docking skills left a lot to be desired in the stiff cross wind and pulling in next to another houseboat on our lee as instructed by the attendant; he assured me he had seen much worse docking maneuvers, but I think he was being a bit kind. The attendant said the forecast was for wind and rain the remainder of the day and for tomorrow. The temperature seemed to have dropped even further, it seemed to be in the low 40's out side the houseboat cabin in the wind; I later found out the storms were part of a large cold front that had most of the western states in unseasonably cold temperatures. Faced with the forecast of yet another day and night of storms and the now much cooler temperatures, we decided to return to Wahweap Marina and get off the river. The main disappointment in making this decision was that we would not be able to see Rainbow Bridge which was about another hour up river from Dangling Rope Marina. But it is possible that the lowering clouds to our east (up river) would have obscured the view in any case and the added time delay of traveling to and from Rainbow Bridge was certain to get us back to Wahweap Marina far after the 4PM houseboat check in closing time. Our suspected lack of visibility of Rainbow Bridge was probably confirmed by the fact that we only saw one Rainbow Bridge tour boat while in the main channel; I think we saw the same boat going to Rainbow Bridge as we headed to Dangling Rope Marina and again as we approached Warm Creek Bay near Wahweap Marina.

Our trip back to Wahweap Marina was uneventful with a few light showers and diminishing winds. We saw maybe six houseboats heading up river on our journey back. Stopped at the Wahweap Lodge fuel dock at about 1:30PM to fill up and get our final fueling receipt for the houseboat check in; the houseboat refueling station had not yet opened for the season. From there we motored to the unattended loading/unloading dock near the houseboat rental docks and made a fairly nice landing as my skills had improved with the last docking for fuel and now there was almost no cross wind.

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Boat Check-In

After unloading we motored the houseboat back to the 'parking' area and sought out an attendant to begin the process of checking the houseboat back in to ARAMARK. The fellow that helped us did a very perfunctory job of checking the houseboat which mainly included looking to see we still had two motors and two propellers. I suspect he was not part of the usual check-in staff, but doing it as a favor since we had returned two days early and rather late in the day. Proceeded up to the office to obtain my final bill and credits for the damage and cell phone deposits. The staff in the center seemed fairly inexperienced, but friendly.

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Back in Page AZ

Stopped by the John Wesley Powell Museum to meet Julia Betz who had provided a wealth of information and help during the planning stages of the trip. We decided to stay the night in Page as it was raining quite heavily and somewhat late to try driving back to Las Vegas. We got a room at the Best Western Weston Inn which is across the street from the sold out Best Western at Lake Powell; and do not forget the Best Western Arizonian which is also clustered with the other two Best Westerns. I never saw three Best Westerns motels so close together. The rooms at the Best Western Weston Inn were very nice, but I'd say the Best Western at Lake Powell was slightly nicer. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant nearby called Dos Amigos where the food was good and reasonably priced.

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Epilogue - Return to Las Vegas (Wednesday 2 April 1997)

It was still raining when we left Page at about 9AM. After driving for about 20 minutes we noticed cars coming in the opposite direction had snow on them and in about another 10 minutes we knew why. It was snowing quite heavily as we headed up onto the mesa that US Highway 89 takes between Page AZ and Kanab UT. We saw tracks in the snow on the road where others had turned back, but we persisted mostly because I recalled the road was quite straight and mostly level and other vehicles were still coming from the other direction. We did see two snow plows coming in the other direction and at times I would say there was 6-8 inches of snow in the road between the ruts the tires made on the roadway. But after about 50 miles the mesa titled downward and the snow lessened with decreasing altitude and we were out of the snow storm. From Kanab UT we headed south to Fredonia AZ where we picked up state route 389 heading west. This avoids Zion National Park and is a much less scenic route to back to Hurricane UT, but probably saved about one hour travel time.

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Copyright © 1997 by L.E. Schwer