Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Navigating the river

  1. #1
    bohica
    I've always been taught that when going up river from Havasu towards Moabi, to stay to the right and pass on the left, just like you would in a car on the highway. Samething when coming down river in the opposite direction.
    On a few of the past weekends, they have been flowing a lot of water a creating 2 big areas of concern to me. First is the turn right before the sand bar and the 2nd right before the 40 bridge. The big flow of water is causing the brown water to flow out a lot further than normal, almost to the middle of the river. I see so many boats heading up river hugging the left side of the river, making for a very dangerous situation with boats coming downriver.
    Although the brown water looks very intimidating, my take is that the water level is still deep enough for a boat on plane to navigate safely through. It's the high flow of water causing the brown color and not the shallowness.
    What are your thoughts and how do you navigate those sections of the river when you see all the brown water?

  2. #2
    rivercrazy
    Tell people to stop crapping in the water!
    I think part of the brown water your seeing coming out of golden shores marina is due to a very large storm that hit the area a few weeks ago. It rained like 3.5 inches in about 45 minutes. As this higher water makes its way through the marsh, its taken a lot of sediment with it. Couple this with the slightly higher flows and you have that ugly water extending almost all the way to the CA side of the river.
    However, the sandbar right before the 40 bridge coming up river, has been getting more shallow over the past few years.
    Upriver, there are many flood channels that now extend almost 1/2 way across the river from all the debris that came down with all that rain.......

  3. #3
    Not So Fast
    I've always been taught that when going up river from Havasu towards Moabi, to stay to the right and pass on the left, just like you would in a car on the highway. Samething when coming down river in the opposite direction.
    On a few of the past weekends, they have been flowing a lot of water a creating 2 big areas of concern to me. First is the turn right before the sand bar and the 2nd right before the 40 bridge. The big flow of water is causing the brown water to flow out a lot further than normal, almost to the middle of the river. I see so many boats heading up river hugging the left side of the river, making for a very dangerous situation with boats coming downriver.
    Although the brown water looks very intimidating, my take is that the water level is still deep enough for a boat on plane to navigate safely through. It's the high flow of water causing the brown color and not the shallowness.
    What are your thoughts and how do you navigate those sections of the river when you see all the brown water?
    With someone who is unfamilar with the river it is easy to assume that the brownish water indicates shallow because it usually does so to move away is natural. When they raise the levels like they have in the last 2 weeks or so then everything laying on the shoreline now becomes river fodder so beware the bigger branches
    On navigation I always use "rules of the road", I wish everyone would use them but unfortunately they dont so dont count on it !!!! I also try to respect other boaters who are rafted up or even sitting on a beach and try not to get to close for my wake to disturb them, odd as it may seem NSF

  4. #4
    havaduner
    The water has been getting a bit shallower on that turn south of the 40. The brown water is sediment coming out of the outlet at Topock. Water is still deep enough when on plane, but I wouldnt want to pull off any evasive manuevers toward the "inside" of that turn, or come off plane too close to shore.
    The turn just down from the Sandbar is still OK, but their has been a guy there the last couple weekends anchored right in the middle of the river, I have seen him there in the mornings, as well as the late afternoon. I have seen a few people not sure how to get around him, not sure that is a place I would want to be on a Saturday afternoon.

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 2
    Last Post: 07-17-2007, 09:29 AM
  2. big river
    By tx-19 in forum Jet Boats
    Replies: 25
    Last Post: 07-03-2007, 03:27 PM
  3. Who goes to Big River?
    By goneboatin in forum Sandbar
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 06-01-2006, 06:24 PM
  4. Off to the river :)
    By SHOCKWAVETOM in forum Sandbar
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 09-02-2004, 03:40 PM
  5. Big River
    By RLW in forum Sandbar
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 08-19-2002, 04:04 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •