calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

[sam60]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

What is with the wind? Let's hope we've used up our quota soon.

 

[jjacobs007]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

I was at the science fair here in vegas at cashmen field and the ndow was there in full force,as well as red rock and even ******** lost city.I talked to a lot of great people about native fish and the zebra musslels.Seems to me that lake mead was last on there mind and havasu was there focul point though. I even asked about lake las vegas and they said the wash runs straight into it and then lake mead.no wonder the water dropped rapidly in mead, when they were building it.someone told me they made a tunnel under it and made no affected on mead at all when it was being made,as i sat in my boat and watched the runoff from the wash gradually thin off.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

What is with the wind?

No Kidding! I was down at Willow Thursday night when it was supposed to be 10MPH winds and it was blowin' like a hurricane. Nice when I left at midnight though...

 

[jjacobs007]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

just added a humminbird bow mount fish finder to my rig.the fish have to be getting a little scared by now. I see you!! jig coming down.

 

[12vMan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

I just picked up a 10' Zodiac RIB with an '05 6hp 4 stroke Merc for my 12yo son to mess around with. I had read a post in Dockside Chat about a month ago about an old inflatable that was handed down in a family from the grandfather and just had to get this thing started. That's all part of why we're here right?

As of next week he will officially be done with elementary school and going into Junior High. He always puts out the effort and has maintained GATE honor roll throughout the years, so I told him I had something really cool for him. Man is he excited. He took the official AZ boating cert online class last week(which took 4 nights!) and got an 87. He has driven our boat occasionally and I always teach safety. I'm so looking forward to him making some really cool memories on Mead as I have, and continue to.

Happy boating!

 

[sam60]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

I just picked up a 10' Zodiac RIB with an '05 6hp 4 stroke Merc for my 12yo son to mess around with. I had read a post in Dockside Chat about a month ago about an old inflatable that was handed down in a family from the grandfather and just had to get this thing started. That's all part of why we're here right?

As of next week he will officially be done with elementary school and going into Junior High. He always puts out the effort and has maintained GATE honor roll throughout the years, so I told him I had something really cool for him. Man is he excited. He took the official AZ boating cert online class last week(which took 4 nights!) and got an 87. He has driven our boat occasionally and I always teach safety. I'm so looking forward to him making some really cool memories on Mead as I have, and continue to.

Happy boating!

That's Really Cool! Nice reward for hard work...that's how it's done!

 

[jjacobs007]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

Thats one seriously fun fishing machine,May he be safe and honor the course and graduate from swab to mate.Maybe he will even post here about his first adventures. Congrats!!!!!!!

 

[Skiya]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

Well done and congratulations to the new "captain in training".

 

[12vMan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

Thanks all for the kind words.
We inflated it last night for the second time so he could 'go through the moves' and get a little used to the set up. It came with some cool accessories for such a little dingy. It has a tiller extension, 'U' shaped gas tank that wraps around the motor, nav lights, an auto inflation pump (that also happens to run on 12v ) , anchor, marker buoy and fenders.
The guy that had it kept it on his 45' Hunter sailboat in San Diego and was planning on sailing to Hawaii until health issues got the best of him. It was a real bummer because he sold the sailboat and the new owner sailed it to Hawaii.

We still haven't quite worked out the launching logistics. The boat folds up and stores nicely in a bag, so I'm thinking the easiest way would be to tie it down to the swim platform and inflate it on the beach, but I really don't want to carry the motor in my boat. I'm pretty sure the motor would fit in the ski locker if I line it with something like a moving pad because it's in such pristine shape I don't want to take a chance on getting it scuffed up or dinged. The other option would be to inflate it up at the trailer and set it up at the ramp, but with no trailer of it's own I still have to get everything there. We also have a Gator I could haul it down with and set it up on the side of the ramp. I'm really leaning with hauling it to the beach for simplicity's sake.

We're looking forward to the maiden voyage next Friday. I wish we could leave earlier but as long as we hit the highway before noon we should be OK. After that will be a nightmare with the Holiday I'm sure. I'm glad T-Bar isn't that crowded on the holidays. We're really looking forward to partying with everyone we haven't seen since last season. My neighbor that I did the kitchen for is throwing a fish BBQ Sat night for everyone that helped with his remodel.

I hope everyone has a good, safe Memorial weekend. Here's to flip flops and tank tops

12v

 

[12vMan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

Alright, who pulled the plug

 

[sam60]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

Alright, who pulled the plug

View attachment 146989

The statement matches my wallet and the image matches my monthly diesel fuel costs for daily commutes and job site visits.

It sucks that the western slopes had a dryer year and whatever else goes on with the allocations for water releases.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

I just picked up a 10' Zodiac RIB with an '05 6hp 4 stroke Merc for my 12yo son to mess around with.

He always puts out the effort and has maintained GATE honor roll throughout the years, so I told him I had something really cool for him.

That Zodiac is going is going to be a blast for your son, cool to see he earned his boating certificate! Sounds like he's going to have a good summer.

My son has been in GATE for several years too (weird coincidence) and I've been thinking of letting him be capt on a limited basis, other than driving the big boat at idle when no one is around. He has to get his feet wet sometime and I wanted to break him in with the little jon boat, less stuff to get messed up and the repairs will be cheaper. I need to follow what you did and have him complete the online boaters safety course, though I wanted to do the USCG classes with him, father/son type thing. I've never done a USCG class and probably could learn a thing or 2...

For transporting the Zodiac, I'd blow it up on the beach like you are thinking of. I have a blower that I extended 20' with some speaker wire (14 or 16ga?), works nice for air mattresses, probably a Zodiac too. I'd be concerned about transporting the outboard, not only banging up the outboard, but your boat too. A pad would work well to protect the outboard, but wouldn't help protect your boat if the OB was dropped or banged against the boat. How about making a padded carry bag for it, maybe line a big duffel bag with some padding (blue WalMart foam exercise pad)? Oh yeah, make sure to run the OB out of fuel before trying to store it, or it might spill fuel when laid down. My little OB will spill fuel if I lay it down, or even if I trailer it home without running it out of fuel, big nasty fuel mess all over the place...

Here's a thought, maybe good, maybe bad, maybe ridiculous for your boat. How about mounting a kicker bracket to your swim platform, if it's strong enough to support that type of force. Not only would you have a place to store the OB, but would have another form of propulsion if the main engine dies. 5HP won't be much on that big of a boat, but better than nothing. I've limped back to the marina on a trolling motor before, something is better than nothing..... (I would be concerned if the swim platform is strong enough for a kicker bracket though, and it would detract from the looks of the boat)

 

[12vMan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

That Zodiac is going is going to be a blast for your son, cool to see he earned his boating certificate! Sounds like he's going to have a good summer.

I think the Zodiac will really add a new dimension to activities out there. The kids have gone through stages, first kneeboarding then wakeboarding then tubing. They still wakeboard but prefer tri-tubing with a boat load of other kids.

Cool your son is doing good scholastically too. How old is he? I started my son driving the boat occasionally a few years ago. That gives them good hands on experience. I started both my son and daughter very early off-road on quads also. My son hadn't even turned 2 yet when he first rode a little 50cc with the smallest helmet I could find. It was black and looked huge on him, like Darth Vader's helmet. These days they are both practically experts, and they both keep up with me wherever I go with makes my rides more fun.

Thanks for the ideas on the set-up. I am going to set it up on the beach. The inflater came with a long power cord, and I moor the boat nose-out so it should work out perfect. I thought about mounting a kicker bracket on the swim platform but I will need to engineer something like a rectangular receiver tube under the platform that can accept the bracket that holds the motor so I can remove it and keep the platform clear and unobstructed with all the activity that goes on there.

When we ran the Merc I let it run itself out of fuel because I know all about that mess Thanks for your transporting ideas. I'm thinking now just wrap the motor up in a blanky and tie it down with the boat on the platform. Bringing it up in the boat would be risking damage to it and/or the boat, and besides, I like simple

 

[fishrdan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

My son has been in GATE for 3 years now and really likes it, he'd probably be bored with school if it wasn't for GATE challenging him. They had a extra curricular project called American Pride where they had to remember a bunch of things, states and capitols, presidents in order, Star Spangled Banner, Gettysburg Address (and one other thing?) to complete the project. Then we found all the kids who completed the project were invited down to City Hall to get an award, kind of "icing on the cake" for all his hard work. They have done other thing through GATE that other kids don't get to do, Sea Camp and Astro Camp, so he knows his efforts are worth it. He's going into Jr high like your son, though he's 11 and going into 6th grade, 6th grade is Jr high out here.

Hopefully we will make it out to the lake next weekend, too much going on this weekend. Is there anything special happening out at Tbar next weekend, I though you mentioned some type of celebration going on out there. Tbar is kind of a drive for a 1-2 day trip, but I might do it...

 

[12vMan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

Is there anything special happening out at Tbar next weekend, I though you mentioned some type of celebration going on out there. Tbar is kind of a drive for a 1-2 day trip, but I might do it...

Temple Bar Days is next weekend. Different sorts of activities going on Sat., but we'll be on the lake by Mushroom. Trash pick up on Sunday. PM me if you're thinking you'll make it. I'll add you to the list.

We're getting there Friday afternoon and may or may not launch. I still need to do a little pm on my boat, and with everyone showing up it's party time followed by a hopefully mild hanger Sat morn

 

[sam60]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

Had to go to a Jobsite in Mountain Pass, CA this afternoon and saw alot of boats being towed northbound on I-15 toward Vegas. Looks like some boaters from SoCal planned their vacation into the Holiday next weekend. Didn't see any peel of at the Nipton turn-off!

 

[12vMan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

The statement matches my wallet and the image matches my monthly diesel fuel costs for daily commutes and job site visits.

I hear you loud and clear, brother. Weird thing is about fuel costs here is that I keep hearing about avg. fuel costs dropping across the country - even as recent as yesterday - yet they've gone up here about 30 -40 cents in the last couple of weeks! The station right here next to my shop is $4.42 for regular ..and it's tough to tell a customer after the fact that you need to tack on extra fuel costs.
I had an '06 F350 4WD that I sold because of fuel costs skyrocketing the last time around. I called my wife up one time and said 'you're not gonna believe this.. I just had to pay $5.25/gal for diesel' That was the last straw. I really miss that truck too. I think that was in '08.

 

[sam60]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

I hear you loud and clear, brother. Weird thing is about fuel costs here is that I keep hearing about avg. fuel costs dropping across the country - even as recent as yesterday - yet they've gone up here about 30 -40 cents in the last couple of weeks! The station right here next to my shop is $4.42 for regular ..and it's tough to tell a customer after the fact that you need to tack on extra fuel costs.
I had an '06 F350 4WD that I sold because of fuel costs skyrocketing the last time around. I called my wife up one time and said 'you're not gonna believe this.. I just had to pay $5.25/gal for diesel' That was the last straw. I really miss that truck too. I think that was in '08.

Yes, it is crazy here too. I see diesel in Vegas for $4.29 yesterday and paid $3.78 last night in my home burg across a county line....TAXE$.

 

[12vMan]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

Had to go to a Jobsite in Mountain Pass, CA this afternoon and saw alot of boats being towed northbound on I-15 toward Vegas. Looks like some boaters from SoCal planned their vacation into the Holiday next weekend. Didn't see any peel of at the Nipton turn-off!

Are you doing some work for the company that's running that rare earth mine there? I can't believe how much it's grown the last couple of years.

Does anyone know what the 3 towers are north of that? Looks like maybe some kind of new tech solar plant but I haven't figured it out.

 

[sam60]

Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada

Are you doing some work for the company that's running that rare earth mine there? I can't believe how much it's grown the last couple of years. I work with many of the subs on Molycorp. No labor, just Seismic Bracing and various other materials, mostly MP&E. There are 1,500 to 2,000 workers on that site any given weekday and many on weekends. It's a very cool Industrial site. My OSHA 30 certs weren't enough to get onsite to just walk the job. Had to get MSHA surface miner training also, Three 8 hours days onsite.

Does anyone know what the 3 towers are north of that? Looks like maybe some kind of new tech solar plant but I haven't figured it out.

Brine Solar. Glass in field controlled by astrological software beams light to a global focal point and boils brine to run steam generator, which feeds back to the grid. I was told that there are two that you can't see over the mountain to the west but I don't trust the source.