Houseboat Adventures

Day 38, miles 7,049, states 14

Hey, George here again after a break in internet access.  From where I left off, we continued our drive to Lake Powell through Capitol Reef National Park, which gave us our first real taste of the geologic wonders we would see in eastern Utah.

Driving Through Capitol Reef National Park

Kirk and Alex on the top deck

I was hoping that our 3-day houseboat adventure on Lake Powell would be one of the highlights of our trip and give us a little respite from the RV.  The houseboat was 46' long and had a full-size kitchen, and living room, an outdoor grill, and an upper sun deck with a slide for the kids to splash into the lake.  We got to the rental place in the late morning and after getting a 10-minute block of instruction from a 19-year-old kid who didn't know port from starboard, we finally got underway a little after lunch.  I looked at the chart of the lake and headed for one of the canyons near the marina.  After about an hour of


Entering a canyon on Lake Powell

motoring along, we entered the canyon and started looking for a place to anchor the houseboat.  We saw other houseboats anchored in some peaceful appearing coves and decided to give that a try.  The idea is to put the bow of the boat against the shore and, with the anchor lines tied off at the stern, secure the anchors to something on the beach that will hold the vessel in place.  This sounded pretty easy, but with an inexperienced skipper and crew, it was a near disaster.  The site we picked was too steep and rocky, and the wakes from the many passing speed boats (who didn't slow a bit) rocked the lumbering houseboat all over.  When Kirk slipped into the water while trying to secure one of the anchors and nearly went under the boat, we decided we'd had enough.  We left the canyon and found a cove with a more gentle slope on the bay.  This made "beaching" the boat much easier (but still challenging for novices).

Our Houseboat is finally "Beached" in a cove

Alex and dogs enjoy a swim

The kids quickly made use of the slide, and we all cooled off in the lake for a little while.  Even the dogs had a good swim.  We cooked some burgers on the grill and had a nice dinner before calling it a night.  I'd had problems starting both the houseboat generator and the main engine, so we decided to try the first night without the generator since the air-conditioner was pretty anemic anyway.  But there was no relief from the heat at night.  Opening all of the windows and doors didn't do much to cool off the boat.  The only place that offered any relief was the top deck, where there was a nice breeze.  None of us slept much the first night.  In the morning I found that the wind had pushed us closer to the the shore. I was worried that we would get stuck, so we moved the boat to a nearby shore with fewer rocks.  But the engine starter was giving me fits, and we could not start the generator at all.  We were out of cell phone range, and I didn't have much faith in the shipboard radio.  So we decided to call it quits while we still could make it back.  I was able to get the boat started, but had quite a time dislodging it from the beach.  When we finally got out of the cove and motored the five miles back toward the marina, a thunderstorm rolled in.  The refuel station shut down due to lightning, and the rental company would not send a pilot out to take the boat in (their pilots normally take the boats in and out of the slips).  They told me that I could wait the storm out in the bay or try to bring the boat in myself.  Well, I sure as heck was not eager to test that fine ship's qualities in a storm, so I motored in to the marina in the 40-knot gusts and made it into the slip with some help from the rental company crew on the dock.  After some gentle "persuasion" from Natalie, we managed to get a partial refund on the houseboat rental fee, and a free night's stay at the RV park.  Even Kirk was glad to get back in the RV.

Our RV on the Ferry

The next morning, we drove the RV to the ferry landing and took the ferry across Lake Powell for our drive up to Moab.  This was another scenic delight, and we found a funny tourist trap called the "Hole in the Rock" just south of Moab--a 5,000 sqaure foot home that a man and his wife had carved in to the sandstone in the late 1940's and 1950's.  It was a fun little diversion.  We arrived in Moab early enough to restock at the grocery store and have dinner at a local pasta place before setting up camp at an RV park.