Big Duck Goes Back to Lake Powell 2015

Being a septerian this trip required some 'improvements' so I could reduce the need for muscle power. I can get along OK for short spells, however my wife Suzy now requires more help getting around - she uses a walker up to a couple hundred feet and needs a wheelchair beyond that. This can be taxing at a Rest Area especially since the trailer parking can be a quarter mile (sometimes uphill) to the restroom. We usually stop for one meal a day and take either the walker or wheelchair depending on the distance to the restaurant. Also, she's now unable to negotiate the steps up to the boat while Wallydocking (overnighting in Walmart parking lots). It's nice to be able to offer that we've totally adjusted to these challenges. Here's what I did to get ready.

I found a little step to help Suzy get in and out of the van - it is quite a ways up.

Nice little collapsible step to help Suzy get up into the van

 Then for those times when the facilities were too far from parking at the Rest Area.

A steadying rail around the porta-potty for those 'unfriendly' Rest Areas.

For quick access to the walker and wheelchair, I mounted them on the front of the van.

And to get Suzy up the steps at the back of the boat I made a Suzcalator.

Suzy uses the walker to get to the back of Big Duck

I get the Suzcalator ready.

I help Suzy on to the step and crank her up so all she has to do is step sideways onto the deck.

With these additions we were ready to hit the road - and we did, via I40 west.

I don't like having a schedule, but in this case I'd promised my daughter, son-in-law and two grand-kids (2 and 5)  that we'd meet them at the Bullfrog ramp at Lake Powell on May 16th. This meant we'd have 8 days to drive 2,000 miles by leaving on the 9th - that's 250 miles/day and easily accomplished, but I wanted to allow a day for the unexpected and an arrival late on the 15th - now we were looking at about 350 miles/day which is still quite manageable.

We overnighted in Wallmart parking lots every night. This gave us the opportunity to buy the food/supplies we'd need on the lake and also to pick up stuff that we forgot to pack before we left.

An Android app called "RV Parky" let us know which Walmarts were overnight friendly.

Before we hit the road, I replaced and repacked all the trailer wheel bearings and checked the trailer tires. I also gave the van tires a once over noticing that the wear bands would be evident soon, I figured maybe another 5,000 miles on the van tires...enough to get to Powell and back. Every evening on the road I checked all the tires again to be sure we weren't calling it too close, especially on the van.

The 2,000 miles to Lake Powell was fun and uneventful.

We settled in the lot planning for a night there and were soon met by "Merlin" and crew. These folks had driven up from St. George Utah to share some time on the water with us. The boat Merlin (named after our dog) is a ComboCruiser - a little smaller than Big Duck and a lot cuter.

Both boats/crews spent the night aboard in the lot.

The next afternoon, after the family arrived.

Suzy, Packy & Sara showing it's a long way from the water to the parking lot.

The boat ramp there is over a 1/4 mile long.

Merlin greeting Melanie as she comes aboard with Trey

 We splashed a few hours later with Trey doing all the work. There was no way I would have considered this adventure if Trey wasn't going to be part of the crew. He did all the muscle work, prepared all the meals (including baking a cake aboard) and too many other things to mention - all of which made the experience a joy for me instead of a challenge.

Big Duck went in first, then Merlin.  Merlin got off the trailer OK but couldn't get the motor running right.

Not enough volts to lite her up!

 My crew was anxious to get underway, but Merlin's motor was being stubborn.

Cmon - let's untie this thing and head out!

Packy and Merlin wondering how long we'll be at the dock

After about an hour of selfishly tying up the ramp dock, we finally got Merlin's motor running. Off we both went, heading to a place I thought was ideal for our first night on the water...only in my excitement it wasn't the destination I'd really planned for both of us to spend the night. With Merlin following, we snaked our way up into the wrong shallow canyon. By the time I realized this wasn't the place I had in mind, we ran out of water. I drove Big Duck up onto what I thought was a sand beach -- but it was rocks. I signaled Merlin to head away from where I was. We fumbled for a while trying to get Big Duck into a more advantageous position and finally gave up. Merlin drifted slowly beam to a rock wall. We both decided we would worry about things tomorrow and actually ended up having an rather uneventful night with easy exodus the next morning.

Merlin pinned to the wall.

 The next day Merlin followed The Duck to a more accommodating canyon. Merlin stopped at a very nice sand beach where it would be easy to get the kayaks in the water.

Big Duck kept on going for a short spell and found a tidy little natural slip to tie up in.

 The next day Merlin's crew showed up in their kayaks.

 The plan for the following day was to head to a canyon a ways upstream and snake our way about 5 miles inland to see some petroglyphs, then spend the night there. The day after that we'd head downstream to Rainbow Bridge which would be a couple days run.

As we approached the main channel from the anchorage, we were advised by VHF that Merlin probably couldn't make the petroglyph trip AND the run it to Rainbow Bridge without getting fuel. Merlin would just head back to Bullfrog to fuel up while we made our way toward the pertoglyphs -- they'd catch up with us on our way back down to Rainbow.

I got about 3 miles into the canyon to see the petroglyphs and it dawned on me that if Big Duck were to have a problem we'd be ship out of luck - there was no VHF or cell phone coverage in that area and we had a 2 year old and 5 year old aboard. I decided to turn around (when the canyon became wide enough) and head down to Rainbow. The main channel waters were well traveled and cell/vhf coverage was available in case there was trouble.

As we approached Bullfrog, I remembered a beach I thought would be a good place to overnight. As I approached the beach the wind started kicking up. I decided the beach was too exposed and ran the coast to find a better alternative. The charts showed a small canyon nearby that was upwind. We made our way into that canyon up to a huge wall that protected us from the oncoming wind. Trey graciously secured anchors from both sides of the stern to the beach - he buried those anchors deep into the sand.

I was patting myself on the back for snaking up a small canyon with a wall in front of us and ending up with zero fetch. Both anchors were physically buried and we were sitting on the aft deck in 30 - 40 mph winds; I opened a beer in celebration. I told Trey how comfortable I was  - we weren't moving an inch. Then a good gust swung the bow off to the lee taking out the starboard anchor. Trey jumped off the bow to try and reset it as I scoped out but it wouldn't catch. We were now only hooked by one anchor off the stern with the bow still barely on the beach. Then a super gust hit us broadside. Trey said the boat rolled so far the chine came out if the water and he could see daylight all the way to the stern under the boat. This jerked out the remaining anchor and off we went down the narrow canyon with Trey just making it aboard in time.

Trey suggested we light up the engine right away and as I did I asked him if he could get both anchors back aboard. While he was working on the anchors I pinballed the Duck away from shallows on one side then the other. With both anchors aboard we finally made it back into the open bay. The wind was still howling so we decided to head into the mooring field amidst the 'parked' houseboats and find an empty ball to tie up to. By the time we were secure on a mooring the wind quit. We 'rested' on the mooring for about a half hour, then headed toward Rainbow Bridge. It would have been nice to have some pictures of the 'excitement', but no one had the inclination to grab a camera/phone while hanging on and wondering if we'd get back to safety on our own. On our way back into the main channel the Merlin crew advised us that the (estimated) 80 mile/hr gust had inspired them to trailer up Merlin and regroup before their next Lake Powell adventure in August.

We easily made the anchorage about 1/2 way to Rainbow before dusk. There were a couple other houseboats there but we found a really nice spot between them.

We experienced a very nice sunset.

We were in no hurry to leave the next day because Rainbow was only a few hours away. A fellow approached us late morning in a skiff asking if our radio worked. We told him it did and he asked if we'd call the marina to tell them his rented houseboat had been blown up into the shallows in the storm yesterday but he couldn't raise the marina. We tried to contact the marina but were unsuccessful and we radioed him back to say we weren't much help. We later heard that in his exchange with us via VHF confirming where he was stranded, he was heard by the marina and he was eventually 'rescued'.

During our time on the beach that morning I discovered an abandoned anchor set deeply into the sand. Only a few inches of the shank was visible with some poly line attached. My daughter decided to dig it up. It took about an hour and a half but she was finally successful and we have added a nice genuine Danforth to Big Duck's ground tackle.

Then it was on to Dangling Rope Marina. Dangling rope is only accessible by water. It's a great place to refuel, buy basic supplies and souvenirs. The kids remember it best by the ice cream they have.

Big Duck at the Dangling Rope fuel dock.

Dogs aren't allowed on the dock but the help couldn't resist Merlin.

The whole crew happily licking ice cream.

From Dangling Rope we ran the canyon up to the Rainbow Bridge dock. A few years earlier Sara, Trey and Packy had made the trek up to the bridge - Sara wanted Melanie to experience the same adventure.

Melanie, Sara and Packy at Rainbow Bridge 2015

Sara, Trey and Packy on the Rainbow Bridge Dock 2012

Sara, Packy, Trey & Melanie on the Rainbow Bridge Dock 2015

Suzy and I at Rainbow Bridge 2007 only by the hand of Richard Cook who helped me drag Suzy's wheelchair over 1/2 mile up rocky trails.

 After the bridge, we leisurely headed back up the lake toward Bullfrog. We found a very cozy place to beach the boat that night with plenty of daylight left to enjoy the beach, water and just being aboard. 

 

 

As the pics above suggest, there was no hurry to get going the next morning and in fact it was late afternoon before we got underway. We got back to Bullfrog thinking about spending the night on the beach nearby, but decided to put Bid Duck back on the trailer and take in a meal at the resort restaurant.

The food was nothing to write home about but at least Trey didn't have to cook.

Not waiting to put the boat on the trailer until the last day allowed us all to get our sea legs back before returning to real life. The kids could get a good nights sleep before they hit the road for 300 mile drive to the Salt Lake City airport. I could put the boat back together for the 2,000 mile run home. Before calling it a day, I inquired of the ranger at the ramp about the suggested exodus inspection and he hinted that the inspection was mandatory - you couldn't leave the park without one.

So, we did get the boat inspected. They walked around the trailer, confirmed that the drain plug was out, made me drop the outdrive and inquired if I had any water aboard that came from the lake such as a livewell. When they were convinced I wasn't harboring any mussels they put a wire seal between the trailer and the bow eye which would break loose when I launched the next time. This way I would be free to launch anywhere there might be an inspection required.

When we brought Big Duck home from Lake Mead about 5 years ago we were told that due to mussel infestation of Mead that we'd need to have our boat 'cleared' before we could put her back in the water anywhere else -- unless the boat wasn't going to be used for 3 weeks...so we didn't need to get her cleared then but we were presented with an intimidating sign that warned us to be inspected.

When we were at Powell 3 years ago there was a strict inspection of the boat and trailer prior to launch to make sure Big Duck wasn't carrying mussels from another lake.

This year (2015) there was an official at the Powell ramp who advised that we'd need to get inspected after leaving Powell to make sure we weren't carrying any mussels. Powell had become infested a year ago. They hinted that without an inspection we could be stopped on the highway and would have to comply with an inspection by any state requiring one.

Bottom line - if you're splashing at a lake that is not infested, you may be required to be inspected before you splash. If you're boating at a lake that is infested, you will be encouraged to be inspected after you're back on the trailer.

The kids left in their rental car for the trip to the airport.

They had 300 miles to drive - I didn't envy them with kids that had just been hyped up by their week on the lake.

 I decided we'd do I70 back - there was no hurry and the scenery would be different, but before we hit the road I'd need to empty the holding tank, fill the water tank,check the oil and give all the tires a good going over.

There's a convenient dump station at the campground complimented by a fresh water hose; we took advantage of both. The van oil was surprisingly up to the full mark after the somewhat strenuous 2,000 miles pulling 12,000 lbs, but we were only a hair away from a wear band on one of the van tires, suggesting new tires would be in order, maybe, depending...

The run from Bullfrog to I70 is a very pleasant, scenic drive. We stopped in Hanksville to go potty and I gave the van tires a once over again knowing how close we were to the wear bands. Once we got on I70 I thought I felt a slight vibration from the van but couldn't tell where it was coming from. I played with the speed and changed lanes to see if it was a road problem and eventually decided I was imagining something. A couple hours later we stopped for a late lunch.

The vibration I'd experienced earlier haunted me in the restaurant but a close examination of both the trailer and van tires showed no probable cause. The trailer tires were golden and maybe, just maybe we could make it home before those wear bands showed up on the back of the van?

Back on the road my imagination kicked up again and I told Suzy we were going to get new tires on the van. She suggested it would only be a couple days before we got home but I told her - FIRST EXIT! We'd planned on stopping early that night at a convenient Walmart and it was only about 30 miles away. As I pulled into the lot there was no indication of an Auto Center. We circumnavigated the building and at about 270° we did find  the garage doors. It was about 5 o'clock.

I hustled to the service desk and inquired about tires for the van. They had four different "E" rated 16" tires and could install them that day before they closed at 7. I leaned over the counter to look at the screen for my choices. It looked to me like there were 5 choices, the last and cheapest being the same tires I had on my trailer. I inquired about those and the clerk said, " We don't recommend those tires - they're highway tires and don't wear as well as the others for the off-road use they get around here". I told her I was looking for 'highway' tires with only moderate wear ratings - I've found the quicker a tire wears the better it is on the wet ramp. Put the cheapies on!

I went back to the shop at about 6:45 and told them I'd like to have the best of the 4 tires to keep as a spare for the trailer. They said, "No problem. While you're here, have a look at this, it was on the passenger rear (with the wear inside)."

I don't know how I missed this with my constant attention to the tires or if it always ended up on the road when I checked or if it happened quickly. I never saw a problem and never felt a thing when I ran my hand over the tires.

Moral - never take your tires for granted.

PS - I had balance problems with this set of tries from day 1. I had them balanced 3 times without success. It wasn't until I had a Road Force balance done that things smoothed out. I'm guessing this tire was defective all along.

The van was done right a 7.

Where' the van?

Here's the van in the Walmart bay getting new tires.

 I hooked us to Big Duck and we spent the night in the WallMart lot. The next morning we were on the road again, how I love to be on the road again.

We had a lovely trip after that. Using Big Duck's stand up hot water shower and her fine culinary conveniences while meandering slowly home.

Rest Area just before the Johnson Tunnel on I70

The air is thin up at 10,551 feet.

Johnson Tunnel

We Wally docked all the way home.

We shared the lot with this fellow who was doing major work due to an ST tire blowout.

The total trip was 4,069 miles. It was 2003 miles to get back home.

Here's a few stats ...

Total van miles = 4069

Van mpg towing = 8.5

Boat miles = 170

Boat gallons 66.4

Boat mpg = 2.56

Generator hours = 70 This was for the whole 21 days and included keeping me, Suzy and Merlin comfortable in the van during restaurant stops and naps. NAPS? Yes! I indulge in what I call the 100 mile nap. Every 100 miles I get horizontal on the cot in the back of the van for 20-25 minutes. The remote start for the generator was very convenient. We could start the generator from the van using the key fob, then kick in the window unit in the back of the van.

Yellow cord brings power from the boat generator to the van window air conditioner.

BEER - For the 21 days away, I averaged a six pack a day. Of course on the road there was considerably less and on the water considerably more. At Powell, I opened a beer before I changed out of my PJ's. My wife asked, "Isn't it a little early?" I replied, "You can't drink all day unless you start before breakfast!".


Click here to read about Big Duck's first trip to Powell and what it took to get her ready