Re: Small boat vs Lake Powell
The 16 footer will be adequate... BUT ONLY on two conditions...<br />ONE: As suggested earlier, do your "traveling", in the earliy hours. From daylight until 9:30-10am is usually "OK". After approx. 10-11am, the traffic picks up, and there are a couple of "narrows", in the main channel, (One of the "worst" is just NE of Antelope Island), and a few more narrows just NE of the Dangling Rope Marina. Any time after 11 am, ESPECIALLY in the main channel anywhere South and West of the Rainbow Bridge area, I would advise you to ONLY go out, lightly loaded, and NOT loaded to the hilt with a weeks worth of gear, as this is where the largest concentration of people are, and where the "chop" from larger boats and heavy traffic, can get a tad intense for a 16 ft boat.<br /><br />Condition #2: I would caution you that Summer storms can whip up pretty quickly on this lake, with VERY stomg winds, creating white-caps, and swells which can EASILY take a 16 footer to an early demise. Two years ago, I witnessed a 59ft V-bottom houseboat taking a HUGE amount of water over the bow, get swamped, and go down, during one of these storms. After many trips during the past dozen (plus) years on this lake, and having water over the bow for the 2nd time (the 2nd time ALMOST took it down, as the bilge pump could NOT keep up... The only thing that saved it, was I was close enough to a sandy shore, that I was able to beach it until the bilge caught up). I did NOT need anyone to tell me it was time to move up in size, as we go regularily. For this reason alone, I sold my 18.5 ft fish/ski runnabout, and replaced it with a 23 ft Mako, that has enough foam between the hulls, to keep it afloat, even should it swamp.<br /><br />IF a storm whips up, find your way into a Lee Canyon, preferably one with a cove and a sandy beach, and WAIT IT OUT !!!<br /><br />AND beach camping is THE ONLY way to see the lake's beauty properly. Hve done both... Houseboated it, and beach camped... And for my $0.02, beach camping is THE only way.<br /><br />As far as the comment earlier made regarding toilets. Because of the history with fecal contamination problems (e-coli bacteria levels,e specially in the summer can get WAY high), You are now required by law to have a self-contained toilet on your boat, when operating on Lake Powell. Not only is it a fineable offense to NOT have one, it is for our own good. I know I sure don't want to go swimming in water that has a bloom of e-coli in it, because someone is too lazy to carry a toilet. There are plenty of dump stations, where you can clean it out too. Walmart (and most camping outfitters) carry inexpensive camping toilets that are legal.<br /><br />Sorry for the longish post, but I LOVE this place... It is one of the few remaining PRISTINE areas, which we can go to fish, relax, water-ski in the early morning "glass-like" conditions, and just tour around to see natural wonders and sights that are NOT available ANYWHERE else.<br /><br />I'd be happy to help you with any more questions you might have... See you there !!<br /><br />Obiwan Jeeper
<br /> <br />A shade canopy is a MUST. Anything in your coolers (and you) will melt in one or two days if you dont have a bit of protection from the sun. We have really been impressed with the new Coleman line of Extreme coolers. We use dri-ice for all meat products, which will last us four or five days easy. Cubed ice for drinks, but we hit a marina daily to restock them. I have never had a problem with critters. Maybe they just know better. We gladly invite the lizards and kangaroo mice in for snacks, scorpions and snakes seem to keep their distance.<br /><br />If the ladies are going and are a 'bit frilly', rent a houseboat. This place is pretty primitive, and very hot, and you will need just a few of the amenities to keep them civil. The porta-potti rules here are strict, but understood. They actually had a problem there several years ago with water contamination from all of the human feces on the shoreline. So the rules are just and fair. There are several sites where they now have floating facilities, which if you have the determination your stops can be scheduled. If you need relief at 8:00 AM, prior to the cowboy coffee being done, you had better make provisions on your own. <br /> <br /><br />We are used to carrying all of our supplies on our backs, so we are pretty good at running light. We have artfully adapted the backpacking style to our boat camping. That said, we haul in primo filets, several bottles of good wine, box or two of Habanos, and enough grub to eat well for the duration. But we all own backpacking tents, ultra light canopies, cool micro stoves, and we use many of the Alpine Kitchen/Mountain House freeze dried add-ons for our meals. We still manage to jam the cuddy from tip to firewall with gear, which requires a bit of foresight and packing savvy to get it all in there without damage to the boat and occupants. <br /><br />I just love camping at this lake. I just dont seem to have the energy anymore to walk up 14,000 foot trails, but I can still stear my way into the wilderness in my 20' Chap and save my energy for slalom cuts in glassy water in the evenings. I am not ready to give up the backcountry ambiance just yet, and the boat camping thing really works for me at Powell. Sorry this has gotten so windy, hope it helps with your trip. 
