Lake Powell storm

[Jetdriver]

A friend of mine just sent me this pic of his families houseboat at Powell. Apparently a nasty storm blew through and sank 5 houseboats!

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[freeheel4life]

Damn, we don't have have covered marinas and houseboat around here so this is boating I don't know anything about. How does a storm cause this? Lines tight to bucking docks and waves come into boat faster than bilge pump keeps or/inoperable bilge pump??

[Jetdriver]

I’m at a loss! Either waves over the back of the boat or dock punctured the hull. The covered docks are protected by a break made from giant heavy equipment tires so I’m not positive how it could happen. Apparently the boat in the slip next to it sank in a storm in August. The break water must not adequately protect this portion of the docks. Have to be pretty gnarly to do this though.

[talltigeguy]

Is it possible this was actually from the storm of September 14th? It would be unusual to have a severe storm this time of year. A brief search did not show anything in the news about it.

The September storm blew houseboats off of their anchors and then literally tipped them over on the beach. Luckily, nobody was killed, but one woman who was on the second story of a large houseboat when it tipped, happened to be hanging onto the supports and the weight of the boat pinched her arm and severed it right at the shoulder. The marina literally shifted at Wahweap and part of the docks were without electricity for a while because of the damage.

I would consider foul play if 5 houseboats in the marina all sunk at the same time. Our houseboat is tied with very short ropes, to both front and sides, so I just don't see it sinking without taking out the dock.
Our houseboat is also built like the Titanic, so it could never sink. But in all seriousness, the front, middle and rear compartments are all completely separate from one another. I think most are built that way. It cannot sink unless water fills 2 of the 3 compartments.

[UNSTUCK]

https://www.ksl.com/?sid=46200238&ni...on-lake-powell

[Jetdriver]

I’m pretty sure it was last Friday. Apparently the sunk boats were all in slips. The waves came over the rear end and the bilge pumps couldn’t keep up. Crappy thing for them is the boat was supposed to already be in dry storage but the marina was backed up.
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[talltigeguy]

Yikes!!!! It must have come in just right to fill them up like that. You can see the tire line out beyond which is supposed to break the waves before the big ones get to the houseboats.

I have mixed feelings when I go to Lake Powell, to be honest. I am terribly excited for the great times, and terrified of what can happen out there when it is bad.

[Jetdriver]

It can get pretty sketchy out there but one of the coolest things about Powell is that there are so many spots you can seek shelter from high winds, driving rain, etc.. It can get bad in the big bays no doubt and that is exactly where you don’t want to be in a storm but back in the canyons it’s way less intense, some places are totally calm when there are 4’ swells in the main channel. It’s to be respected not feared in my opinion. It will always be my favorite lake.

[UNSTUCK]

there are so many spots you can seal shelter from high winds, driving rain, etc..

I've only been to Powell once and we had a great time. We launched out of Bullfrog and camped in the primitive camping. Just wondering if you go to specific places to hide out or if you just find a small canyon and stay there? We want to go to Powell a lot more, but I'm like talltigeguy, can't help but feel a bit anxious about what could happen out there.