Reply With Quotei learned my lesson after the second motor mount broke.. no more havi for me..
The first time I did Havasu, I was 18 and my girlfriend and I hauled out my parents sea-doo's. Getting to the sand bar was quite an adventure. Once we got there we motored right up to the center of the bar and anchored. Great time.
I have since been on Havasu in larger boats and had a blast, but my memories of traversing the lake at water level has kept me and my 18 away.
i learned my lesson after the second motor mount broke.. no more havi for me..
TAKEN IN HAVASU, LAST MEMORIAL DAY.
http://www.dv-clips.com/images/rough_seas.jpg
Thats havasu alright, Have to replace my moulding every time out. I must enjoy the abuse I find myself there time & time again.
My parents live there and I have spent some time on the water. My dad has a 22' Howard. I would not go out on the water in anything smaller. The scarry thing about Havasu is the water can be beautiful (very rarely) and before you know it you are getting beat to hell heading for the marina with everyone else that dos'nt want to go swimming.
here ya go. Let 396 sum it up for ya.
396 venting (http://www.***boat.com/forums/showth...=havasu+choppy)
How did you know about that thread? Wow, that was an old oneLEt me sum that up for everyone, I came home with a 2 foot crack on one of my strakes :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
So you are saying that Havasu has a 2 foot chop... Hey I have never taking my jet there, but I also have never seen a 2 foot chop at Havasu
On a big weekend I would stay as far away from Havasu as possible. If the wind picks up you absolutely do not want to be there. Your boat will sink. Not a question of if...but when. Go out early, then go hang out on the river.
"Did you have your eyes open when you went?"
That is THE bottom line...no matter where you boat.
I've boated the River, Mead, Powell, Havasu and many lakes and rivers across the US. Most of my boating on deep water lakes like Mead and Powell in a low freeboard jet...
http://members.cox.net/lvjetboy/TempleWorshipOne.jpg
If boating Lakes or reservoirs with low freeboard was a problem I'd be dead by now. Someone posted I should've won the "Low freeboard" award at the first FBC if I remember...that on the river.
Deep water lakes like Powell or Mead can sink your boat in a heartbeat. That's a fact. Havasu's got nothing on that. That's also why some say the river's better. But consider. I fought TS waves from a cove near Callville Bay (Mead) back to the marina in the low freeboard Dragn with the divertor full up, at night. I survived because I payed attention to the weather and moved closer to the marina as the conditions got worse. With the jet I'm very sensitive to weather forecast and my distance from safe harbor.
Now consider this boat...
http://members.cox.net/lvjetboy/Cruiser2.jpg
A 27' Sea Ray...a bit more free board. I can tell you, the scariest time I've ever experienced in 30+ years of boating is with this cruiser. Beached in Reflection Canyon Lake Powell for the night. Wind calm and mild spring temperature. Perfect evening of food and spirits. Latter, I tuned in VHF only to hear, "There's a dangerous winter storm headed to southern Utah with winds in excess of 50 mph, eta 12 pm" Karen says, "should we go back?" I say, no we've been drinking, it's late, dark and over 60 miles back to Wahweap and maybe not enough fuel." I'm also thinking we're ok 'cause we're in this cove protected from wind and anchored.
I was wrong. At midnight I woke to a sound like bass hitting from a loud stereo, plus an erie spooky sound. I thought who's party boat is playing a loud stereo this time of night? That sound was wind through the deck rails.
Then all hell broke loose.
Our "protected" cove acted like a wind tunnel and funneled. Even though the surface water in the cove only rippled, waves not a problem, the wind blew the Sea Ray sidewards, tipping it on end and forcing the outdrive towards the rocks. The wind was so strong it sucked water off the top of the lake and funneled into mini cyclones misting up and over the surface. I've NEVER seen or experienced anything like that. And hope never to again.
I put out transom lines and anchors. Clouds streamed overhead and the surronding rocks only added to the unreal crazy feeling in pre-dawn darkness. Rain pelleted us. I got GPS coordinates and life vests just in case. I fought the anchor lines all night to keep the boat in place. Every gust tipped our boat sidewards staining the lines. Early morning the cruiser finally broke loose when I was on shore checking mooring then holding the bow with Karen on deck. No time for me to jump on deck. I yelled to Karen start and give her throttle. She said, "What about the bildge blower?" I said START IT NOW!, give it throttle and forget about the blower!!" I'm glad she did that saved our boat.
Finally with dawn I cut lines during a lull in the storm and headed for the main channel. We drove south to Dangling Rope marina for fuel only to find their fuel dock was destroyed in the storm so there was no fuel.
My point is, for most of my life I've boated Powell, Mead and others with my FBC jet and never experienced that. I've also boated the river in the jet and felt uncomfortable compared to the lake. Parker strip, Big Water, etc. The river has it's own hazards like rock bars and current. Low freeboard means I have to worry about wake boarders and jet skiers on both river and lake. At FBC I had to startup to avoid wake boats and jet skiers waves more than I've ever had to startup on Mead or Powell. At the strip you never knew what 100 mph cat was head-on just around the corner. At least the weather and water in some cases is a bit more predictable.
All that said, adapting boating behavior to the dangers of where you boat is better than settling for only lakes or only rivers. Low freeboard on a big lake? You need a good wind/wx forecast. Speed and direction as well as trends and wildcards...like thunderstorms. You need to know those conditions and time your boating so you don't sink.
If you live far away from a lake and plan a trip with a sketchy long-range wx forecast, then you gotta be willing to cancel or modify those plans when you have better weather info. I'm rambling here but my point is, lakes can work for low freeboard. Even Havasu, and in some ways lakes are maybe safer than a river. My jet's survived big lakes for many years. And it's home IS big lakes.
One last thought. Place diverters a recent thread topic. Race vs. lake. Bending vs. fixed so on.
Top end speed and et one thing. Rough water ride another. But nozzle trim can also help you stay afloat on the lake when all h*ll breaks loose. If you trim full up off-plane, you can take on waves 2' or maybe higher without water over the bow compared to a fixed nozzle. That's a huge plus to a lake boat (not race boat) yet rarely mentioned.
I took more than one wave over the bow before I learned, big water means full up PD and plow.
jer
i've never taken my boat out on havasu...just the river...and i've never seen any other hot rod boats like ours on the lake...how do all of yours hold up in the windy chop? does anyone take it out there?...thanx for the info...
I had a 72 kona and took it there and that was the first and last time I went.I was out for about 10min and put the boat back on the trailer. But I'll tell you one thing the view was great if you know what I mean
I just hate when I crush my NUTS :220v: in rough water or after jumping wakes
Havasu is a great place to party. If you are in anything smaller than I would say a 23 ft boat and the wind picks up you are screwed. I think Havasu as a lake is concerned is a piece of shit.
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