Holiday Weekend Chaos

Ok, its time again for us to share our stories of the crazy chaos that can happen on a lake when you get hundreds of boaters out there at the same time. And we all know that these weekends bring out those "once a summer" boaters that can always provide us with entertainment, pure fear, or complete and total frustration.

POWER TURNERS ALL OVER THE DELTA!!!!!!!!!!!

Got on our lake at 6:30 to get first water. Picked up a few friends at their houses and the fog was so thick we couldn't see 100 feet in any direction. Our lake is only 1 mile long 1/2 mile wide and we couldn't see shore. And to our amazement, a deck boat takes off pulling a rider and doesn't have a spotter. I have no idea how he didn't kill any of us waiting for the fog to lift.

Sunday afternoon on vics was the best. No boats,all glass and a great boat driver. What more can we ask for

Ok, here's the reason I started this thread.

While waiting for a spot to take out at this crazy busy ramp, there was this women warming up her boat after her husband had just dropped them in. She had about 6 girls with her, ranging from about 10 to 15. The oldest looking girl, probably her daughter, was trying to hold the boat near the dock, while they were waiting for the father to park the truck/trailer. Well, she was only holding the front with a rope, so the back end started to kick out a bit. So, moms cranking down on the throttle, thinking my hubby is going to be so proud that I got it started and warmed up for him. BUT, from what I guess, she brought the throttle back up, clicked it into gear and thought it needed one more good crank to warm it up. Since she was at that angle, the boat shot up onto the dock. She pulled an unbelievable frontside boat slide on the dock. The daughter holding the rope was totally freaking out. And the gutsy little girl did not let go of the rope, so it is tugging her along as she is screaming at her mom. Eventually the boat slid off back into the water. We all know how mouthy young teens can be, and she was just letting her mom have it. The mother could not say anything, as the little girl just reamed her in front of about 100 people. But, the best was when the father comes strolling back down, completely unaware of what happened. The look on his face after his daughter tattled on the mom was absolutely priceless. "YOU DID WHAT" the father shouted.
Luckily no one was hurt, so it's ok to go ahead and laugh. I just wish I had my video camera to catch that awesome FS boat slide.

We keep getting told by our ramp attendant that we should spend a Sunday afternoon at the ramp with a video camera on a tripod. She said that some of the things that go on are unbeleavable. Hey, might even get some footage to send to AFV - $10,000 prize would sure buy some sick gear for the boat.

Yah once at the ramp I saw a guy try to turn his PWC around by using thorttle instead of ust turning it around with a rope, and keep in mind that we were in tight quarters here. So the guy guns hard left and ends bringing his craft on to the concrete ramp, but this idiot kept on going like nothing had happened because I think he was too embarassed.

Last year, on Gun Lake, MI - An old Glastron Carlson jet drive was being launched. The starter solenoid or something did not work, so the owner (who had the hair, beard, tatoos, and breath of an esteemed red-neck of the finest Hollywood stereotype) was starting it with a screwdriver across the contacts under the engine hatch. The wife was parking the ratty, old pickup truck.

His youngest daughter (3-4), the older one being about 8-9 in the passenger seat, was in the driver's seat playing. She had moved the throttle from neutral to full and the steering wheel to full left lock. When the boat started, it roared to life as only a big block chevy can, and ejected the father from the rear hatch taking the hatch cover with him. The boat came back over him while the older daughter struggled for the steering wheel. The boat slammed into two other boats knocking over several people and pinching one between the boat and the dock (as to why a person would put themselves between a two ton boat and an immovable object is beyond me, but I digress) and cracking two ribs. The boat then went for NASCAR lap 3 and the daughter managed to take one revolution from the hard left lock. The boat opened up a bit and bounced off another boat's bow that had just been launched and was backing up furiously. After that bounce the boat then went hard left into the shoreline and landed on its side and bow up in a tree. The motor seized from excessive rpm without any water in the pump. Neither girl, dad, or other bystander was injured. I am not aware of all the injuries inflicted upon dad when mom showed up, but the language was at least colorful.

I saw this from my wipe down area, having vacated the bay they put in at. I pulled the two girls from the boat and checked for injuries. The guy with the cracked ribs was a Chicago trial attorney with loads of TV ads. Of course the guy could be sued, but what would you get? A '73 Carlson, a '69 Chevy truck, and a mobile home - maybe.

You know, after that incident that I saw happened, they just went on about their business also. I think the husband was still trying to figure out if it was as serious as the daughter had made it out to be. If he would have seen it, he would have been pulling his boat out, to check for cracks. At least thats what I would have done

no complaints here. We rode out of Isleton. I think we saw 2 other wakeboard boats all day. Saturday, I had three long sets on pure glass and even got a couple new moves. It was an awesome day.

I guess I'll start by complaining about people pulling up riders right in front of me...and then proceeding down the slough at 15 miles per hour forcing me to drop my rider. Ug! OK, when the driver hears "hit it", maybe he should figure that the rider is thinking about riding not boat traffic...Drivers, look around first, and then hit it. Jeez!
Next: Tailgaters. Once, I was being followed by this one 25 foot v-hull so closely, when I slowed for the very obvious 5 mph zone at the entrance to Disco, I nearly took it right up the old shaft.
Nobody was hurt and no damage done but those kind of things take some of the fun out of the day.

no chaos where we were...it was like 1998 at the delta all over again!

the one day one the boat for me, I didnt even try wakeboarding, just hung out with friends... it was a lot of fun...

Awsum start of a day-very few boats on the local lake,most are out of town-untli some idiot decides to let wifey drive(who has never driven boat) pull him,jet boat nonetheless. Were cruising along, my partners on the rope and idiot wife nails it and cuts left without looking first. I almost took out her boarder. Like someone else said earlier in this thread, the once a summer idiots come out.

Joe- SHHHHH!!!!! You sound like you are getting ready to let the cat out of the bag.

no way, dude. i would never reveal the name of the slough!

Joe we found a little stretch of paradise all to ourselves on Saturday too. I will post some pics tonight. You got to love a plcae that you can be alone even on Labor Day weekend!!

But I did read this today, my prayers to all involved.

NEEDLES — Divers scoured the murky waters of the Colorado River today searching for two passengers missing after a fatal jet boat accident, authorities said.
Two other passengers were killed and three injured when the boat crashed into a cement bridge support early Monday.

About two dozen rescue workers combed the area searching for Rory McMahan and Dale Baldwin, whose ages and hometowns were not immediately known, said San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokesman Chip Patterson.

"The biggest challenge is finding the bodies in that kind of deep, murky water," Patterson said. The water was at least 18 feet deep in some areas.

The driver of the boat, 31-year-old Scott Eickhoff of Anaheim Hills, was arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter and felony boating under the influence, Patterson said.

Eickhoff was being held on $100,000 bail awaiting arraignment.

Eickhoff was operating a 1993 Renegade Jet Boat about 3:30 a.m. Monday when it struck the Topock Bridge along a stretch of Interstate 40 that intersects the California-Arizona border, authorities said. The boat was traveling about 35 to 40 mph.

The bodies of Jennifer Knight, 24, of Corona, and Ryan McMahan, 27, of Needles, were recovered by divers.

Three other passengers were taken to nearby Colorado River Medical Center for treatment, two with major injuries and one with minor injuries. No further details were provided.

Damn!!What where they doin on the water at 3:30am?

Jet boat accident on the Columbia in Washington by the Gorge. Boat exploded when it hit a wake at 40-45MPH. Two people presumed drowned. One survived with minor injuries. Those jet boats aren't the best thing to be in on Labor day when the water is rough. I can't imagine why 5 people would be on a jet boat at 3:30 AM.

Yeah going 35 to 40 on the river at night is asking for it BIG TIME. Though I have never been on it at night, I know that bridge is pretty damn big and hard to miss. I would guess the driver was sloshed too and the big reason he did not notice the bridge. Probably heading back from either Havasu from a night of partying or maybe the AVI casino or even Laughlin. 4 lives wasted and one a waste!

Turns out they were with a group of 3 boats tied up drifting down river and drinking. They were heading back when it happened. The driver climbed up the embackment to the HWY 40 and found a parked truck. He banged on the door and they finally opened up after being scared about a histerical guy banging on their door at 4 AM and called for help.

He was the only one not hurt in the accident. The boat sunk and was later slavaged by divers. Two of the dead or missing are brothers.

These bridges do have lights on them green ones for where it's safe to go under and red where it's NOT safe.

Here's an &sshole story for you.
Get up on Sat. morn for a dawn patrol at the local YAHOO lake. Dawn patrol is about the only time this lake has any good water. Get about 2.5 hours of good water and then the boats start coming.
Okay we can deal with this for another 1/2 hour and pull out, no prob. My buddy is behind the boat and we're coming up to area where there are a couple of boats, one of which is just sitting there. This particular boat sees us coming and literally starts doing S-turns in front of me. Since he's only doing about 15, I finally catch up to him and give him the "you're number 1" gesture only to be returned by 2 - "you're number one" gestures. We felt really special to be blessed with his ignorance to only ruin what little bit of water was left. This particular individual must of thought that getting out on the local YAHOO lake at 9:30 in the morning that he should have been given special privileges and everyone pull out because he was blessing us with his presents.
Needless to say, we werent' impressed and my buddy even gave him an earful as he passed.

Chris
Get the Grip you Deserve
www.wakejunky.com

Personally, I spent Saturday on a beautiful Sanger (thanks Scott!!) as balast. Torn ACL keeps me down for awhile now. Sunday and Monday were spent at work... Oh Joy!!

There seems to be a lot of needless happenings down by Needles/Havasu this last weekend. One of my friends down there witnessed his long time college buddy jump off the rocks in Gasoline Alley, break his neck upon hitting the water at a 40 degree angle, and sink right before his eyes. He dived in about 20 seconds after him, and his friend was always 2-5' beyond his reach... The divers recovered him at 48'. Drinking and water play really don't mix...

(Message edited by ivyrider on September 07, 2004)

Havasu and the river has a massive hotboat culture. I really have nothing against them, they are very curteous when we are riding and throw very small wakes at speed. Sadly, there are some people who really don't understand what they have underneath them in terms of power. We stay off that lake after noon and hang at the beach or the canal and pull in the early evening to avoid the mess at the launches. I also see countless rent-a-rats out in the middle of the lake in chop, recipe for disaster.

I have seen 40 footers doing 40-50 mph up the river, it just seems insane to me. The whole stretch between the bridge where the accident happened and the lake is very isolated. I can't even begin to imagine flying through there at night. If anything happened you are hours away from help.

We saw several ambulances at the launches, and a big time response at about 8:00 PM on Sunday. There was also a head on collision between a pontoon boat and a bayliner, luckily nobody died on that one. Havasu claims lives on every big weekend, and it's a shame. We do our best to stay away from those situations, we just want to ride and hang.

On a lighter note, as I was about to back in on Monday morning to pull the boat, I spied some lunatic with his jet ski trailer behind me. The guy had backed up to fast and OOC, his trailer had jacknifed and flipped up on one wheel, he was confused and surprised. Watched another group try to load a boat on a trailer only about half way into the water, guy kept gunning it to get it up on while his buddies yelled and screamed, thought he was gonna catch air and line on his truck bed.

Use your head, stay safe.

Props to all who braved the treacherous waters this weekend....no sad stories here... i ditto the thoughts of flux, *use your head, stay safe*. the delta was pretty smooth and you could find glass all day on monday if you knew where to look. JUST A WORD TO THE UNWISE...STOPPPPPP POWER TURNING AND CABIN CRUISERS NEED TO STAY MOORED.

Always sucks to hear about needlesss tragedy anywhere. Been going to Needles for year, one of my favorite places.

I am confused about one thing: The article called the water "murky". anyone who has ever been there can tell you that murky is the exact opposite of what that water is. Crystal clear all the way to the bottom.

Yeah Jeff I could not figure that one out either. The water there is clearest I have seen.

I got a lot of my information on the hotboats site. That is the place to go whenever you want river gosip. They said the poor guy who died cliff diving was reluctant to jump and was peer pressured into going for it. Got somewhat inverted, they are not sure if he was going for a flip or not. Then hit at the worst possible angle. They have his picture posted on there too. Very sad. You're right, though I don't know if alcohol played a part in this incident. But it seems when you mix it with water bad things can happen.

(Message edited by rock_n_boardin on September 07, 2004)

Columbia Gorge... Quillomene Bay

2004 Ski Centurion... 20 ft down

Kirk now that is something I have never seen before. Do you know how it happened?

no chaos for us - here is Lake Shasta at 1pm on labor day in the middle of the Sac arm as we are heading to the marina.

Lance,
The wind picked up in the afternoon. The Centurion was headed into the swells, took a roller over the bow, flooded the boat, turned sideways and took another over the side. The pictures are from the following day. No one was hurt luckily...
While I was taking these shots, a patrol boat was coming along side of us to talk. A guy on a jet ski came flying up to us and yelled " Emergency! Follow me". The cop took off to the other side of the river following the jet ski. We followed behind a ways to see what was up. We came up to a huge debris field with seat cushions, life jackets, pieces of boat, etc. floating in the water. A 20' jet boat running on aviation fuel and nitrous had disinigrated. One guy was pulled from the water and two were missing. They had not found the bodies as of yesterday.

Not much boating happened in Florida this Labor Day. It will be remembered for a nasty little slow moving hurricane that lasted a good part of the three day weekend.
Many of our lakes have unsafe bacteria levels and if I even try to ride on mine I'll be throwing a wake over many of my neighbors docks, through their sheds and into there back yards. However, for some of them I suppose that is the least of their worries.

Dave-

How is shasta? I will be there in 3 weeks for a housboat trip and was just curious. The water level seems higher than when we were there last year and I thought everybody was saying it is low this year. Temps stuff like that would be apreciated. Your pic alone is getting me pretty stoked.

Shasta is at about 90 feet low now, but still plenty of water. However trees are sticking up everywhere in the Pit and Sac arms. Temps are still hot up there. Labor day weekend was not that bad as I thought it would be. Next time you are at Shasta let me know Chad and we can hook up. I will be up there every weekend now. Shasta is my new home on the weekends.

Kirk, that is sad about that boat. By any chance did they have weight in the boat? Did they get hit by another boater? I hope everyone is alright.

"that is sad about that boat. By any chance did they have weight in the boat?"

I would like to know as well. I have seen that happen before but once the boat filled up to the edge is stop sinking. It just floated with the tower out of the water.

Kimmy - any tips on buying a houseboat? I have been looking. We looked at a couple this weekend. I have a friend that wants me to go in halves on his, but I'm not sure about that and it's still a bunch of money.

May I ask about how much you bought yours for? It looks like the perfect size. I talked to someone about selling a 6th, but that only leaves 2-3 weekends in the summer months.

Thanks - Dave

Thanks for the follow up Kirk. That is definitely a neat picture.

Dave, I will send you an email with my number and we can chat via phone. We were searching for a houseboat for months and did lots of homework.

Kimmy-

We will be launching out of Silverthorn on the 1st and staying untill the 4th so it is a good possibility. I would actually prefer the trees to be sticking up as opposed to last year when they weren't visible but just under the water line waiting to destroy my prop. Fortunately we didn't hit a one. I have also thought about purchasing a houseboat maybe we will be able to talk when we are up there.. Also how is the pizza pub at silverthorn we were planning on eating dinner there on the first night.

Chad

Chad, Have not tried the pub yet at Silverthorn, but hope to real soon. We will be there that weekend too and at Silverthorn. Please come by our boat and have a drink or two. Let's catch up then.

This origianly came form today's OC Register. I see a crackdown coming!

River presents parties, peril
Thousands flock to Lake Havasu for 'Party Gras.' But fatal boat crash Monday reminds of the dangers.


PARTY CITY: Party-goers dance amid sprays of water Sept. 2 near Parker, Ariz. Some in the area say revelers who flock to Lake Havasu create dangers by drinking and boating.
KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

DEATH ON THE WATER

The Colorado River is one of the deadliest boating corridors in the nation, a Register analysis found. From 1995 to 2003, 136 recreational boaters died on the river, compared with 101 in Pacific Ocean coastal waters and 75 on the Mississippi River.

Nationally, the number of boating- under-the-influence arrests stemming from accidents quadrupled from 66 in 1995 to 270 in 2003.

- Natalya Shulyakovskaya

The Register



By GWENDOLYN DRISCOLL
The Orange County Register

NEEDLES – "I don't want to offend your sensibilities," said Mike Fassari, a sergeant in the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, as he plucked a white binder filled with X-rated photographs from his bookshelf and laid it on his desk. "But this ought to give an idea of the scale of the problem."

The graphic images might make even Hugh Hefner blush. Young adults - mostly women - in various positions and states of undress fill the pages, photographed by an adult-video company along an emerald stretch of the Colorado River.

The pictures were taken of rowdy and often drunken revelers who are drawn to this winding, green river that divides Arizona and California.

According to the Sheriff's Department, on major holiday weekends such as Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day, up to 20,000 small boats - most of them from Southern California - are launched from about 170 ramps into Lake Havasu, a curving 45-mile reservoir lodged between the Parker and Davis dams.

Many come to relax with their families, to fish, and to enjoy the spectacular sunsets over the dusky pink mountains of the Mojave Desert. But thousands also come to engage in "Party Gras" - a bumper-to-bow traffic jam of small boats that crowd the river's narrow channels and shallow sandbars, in which liberal quantities of alcohol help to shed inhibitions as well as clothing.

The "floating frat party," as Lake Havasu City, Ariz., resident Kathi Johnson terms it, is an important economic boost to the arid desert town, accounting for 70 percent of sales in Johnson's waterfront photo and toy store alone.

But the combination of alcohol and "hot boaters" - the 25- to 40-foot high-speed performance boats that "Party Gras" revelers prefer - brings danger as well.

On Monday, two people were killed when a 1993 Renegade jet boat crashed into the concrete pylon of an old iron railroad bridge that spans Topock Gorge, a jutting spur of land that forces the Colorado River into an abrupt curve. Two other passengers remain unaccounted for, and the boat's pilot, Scott Eickhoff, 31, of Anaheim Hills was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony boating under the influence.

That alcohol might have been a contributing factor in yet another in a string of boating deaths that have occurred on the lake dismayed, but did not surprise, residents of Lake Havasu City. The town hosted thousands of boaters last weekend in its Bridgewater Channel, a narrow strip of water sandwiched between an island and Arizona's mainland shore.

"The problem is that the weekend and especially the holiday weekends throughout the summer have been an out-of-control environment," said Lake Havasu City Vice Mayor Don Clark. "There's drinking, there's public nudity, there's violence. The police are just quite honestly outnumbered. It's gotten to the point where the locals won't go down there."

Alcohol - compounded with poor boating skills - is the No.1 contributing factor in boating accidents on the lake, according to San Bernardino County sheriff's officials.

"It's chaotic," said Fassari, who directs marine policing operations out of the department's Needlessubstation. "The majority of people on the water have no idea what the rules are. They've never taken a boating safety class. They'll spend $100,000 on a boat, but they won't pay $69 for life jackets or a fire extinguisher."

Sheriff's officials report nine "major injury" crashes in 2004, including at least four fatalities, and three more crash deaths in 2003 on the side of the river policed by San Bernardino County. According to Fassari, at least 40 crashes in the past year involved significant property damage.

Efforts to police the lake are challenged by its physical and political topography. Two counties - San Bernardino in California and Mohave in Arizona - split jurisdiction of the river in the Lake Havasu area. Water adjacent to nearby wildlife preserves falls under the domain of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as well as state fish and game departments. The river also is monitored by the California Department of Boating and Waterways and the Arizona State Parks Department, among others.

"When an accident happens on the lake, it can be a puzzle to see who has jurisdictional authority," said Charlie Cassens, a spokesman for City Hall in Lake Havasu City.

Boaters can use differing state laws to their advantage. Arizona has a "zero tolerance" policy toward public nudity, whereas nude sunbathing is permitted in certain cases in California. On Lake Havasu, an in-the-buff sunbather need float only a few feet across the river to traverse the invisible jurisdictional line that separates the two states and their differing policies.

Even where laws exist, some party-goers find ways to subvert them. Lake Havasu City officials report a marked increase in the purchase and use of pasties by women eager to get around state laws prohibiting nudity, according to Cassens.

The confusion over jurisdictional authority has resulted in police departments attempting to "solve" the "Party Gras" problem at other departments' expense.

Hundreds of boats once flocked to CopperCanyon, a narrow cove surrounded by high walls of red and orange rock. Boats were jammed so tightly together that, according to Fassari, it was possible to walk from one side of the cove to the other without setting foot in the water. Beer and other alcohol flowed, loud music pumped, and an adult- video company even imported porn actors and encouraged volunteers to sign release forms and strip.

The party ended in 1999 when the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department closed off the cove, reopening it only after a "safety lane" was cleared to allow access by police boats.

In 2000, boaters moved to a large sandbar north of Lake Havasu City - until the Mohave County Sheriff's Department shut it down during the major holiday weekends.

In the same year, attempts to regroup at Steamboat Cove to the south of the city were similarly thwarted. The party moved again, this time to the doorstep of Lake Havasu City - the Bridgewater Channel - and its Police Department.

"Bridgewater Channel had always been a party spot, but it really increased when those other places shut down," said Cassens, who subsequently noted an increase in previously unseen "extreme types of behavior."

In response, a temporary courtroom is installed inside the city jail during holiday weekends to expedite the punishment of offenders who might otherwise "go back home to California and we'd never see them again," Cassens said.

Some city officials complain that the boaters present a menace - not just to public decency but to safety. A study conducted by the city in 2003 found high levels of carbon monoxide in the air during peak hours on holiday weekends as a result of the hundreds of exhaust-spewing boats that clog the narrow passage.

Carbon monoxide might have contributed to the drowning death of a Huntington Beach man on Memorial Day 2003, Cassens said.

"It's one more hazard that these crowds present," he said.

Not everyone considers the noise and disruption of "Party Gras" a concern.

"We have the lake 365 days a year," said Nick Yolla, a Lake Havasu City resident who took a break Tuesday from his home-building company to go for a cruise on his pontoon boat, "Holy Water."

"If we have to stay away for a couple weekends a year, how tough can that be?"

Johnson, a former Laguna Hills resident who moved to Lake Havasu City in 1989 and who now runs a photo store that specializes in aerial photographs of the clusters of party boats that come each holiday weekend, said the rowdiest boaters represent just a small percentage of the thousands of people who come to enjoy the lake.

"We don't resent the tourists," she said. "We were tourists once ourselves."