Re: calling all lake mead boaters! nevada
I like the idea of warning each other if we find dangerous conditions just under water...More than once I have just missed rocks just under the surface..
I have been thinking about jj's suggestion and struggling a little bit. Hear me out . . . What I have always said about Mead is that underwater obstructions change almost every week. If the water is retreating or advancing, what was safe yesterday may not be safe tomorrow and visa versa. So if you give someone a bunch of GPS coordinates you could actually mess them up, or unnecessarily clutter up a GPS.
Here's what I think, and what I do. First if you see a particularly dangerous obstacle, one that may be hard to see, or in a pattern that makes it likely to hit, I mark it with something that floats that I can spare to lose. I carry some fairly heavy cording that I can cut to length, and I may use an old fender or a gallon bleach bottle type thing (needs a tight lid). If there is nothing to tie too, I use a craggy rock to weigh it down. This method would be more common to sections of the river, but I have done it at Mead and Havasu quite a few times. Obviously this takes some work, but I actually pick up stuff I find on the water, and keep it aboard if it will make a good marker. The best setup is something that will survive when the water covers it, and then reveal itself again when the water drops. No perfect way to describe that, but you get the point.
The other thing I do I have posted about a lot. I survey shallows at the beginning of every new trip. Say the start of a long weekend or even a single day trip. When I leave the marina I look for some shallows along my route. I see "color" (whitish green) and slow down and deliberately float over it out of gear as I stare at my depth sounder. Then I make a mental note "that greenish color I saw equals 30 ft." Then I try a brighter or duller "color" and do the same. And make a similar mental note "that much brighter whitish color equals 5 ft., danger Will Robinson!"
This is dependent on weather so maybe I do it again if the weather/light changes significantly. Also, it is important to note that underwater growth can significantly impact the color thing. Damned thing is that vegetation will make it darker and could be the biggest concern. The really hard stuff is almost all white. Just look at the bathtub ring around the lake
For the same reason, I have never really understood saying at Mead. "oh It's down another 10 ft. this month, so I am not going. Too many obstacles." There are new obstacles no matter which way the water is headed. So if you marked them on a GPS, the situation is different within a month most times of the year. I could see doing the GPS thing if I was Houseboating, and I decided to keep her beached in Mushroom, and I wanted a clear exit out so I could go to Temple Bar in the dark. Which I would do. But that doesn't help me next year unless the water level is exactly the same
Not intended to dampen anyone's spirit in doing this, but just the thoughts I have had swirling around the last couple of days
Edit: Obviously boating in the dark changes this deal. And the GPS marked obstructions would help. Somehow they need to be dated though . . .
