Up the creek with one paddle

  Bullfrog, Utah, United States
Monday, August 11, 2008

We had confirmed the previous evening that the concessionaire had our boat reservation so we showed up the next morning with a cooler of iced tea, water, and lunch ready to navigate down to Rainbow Bridge. The Bullfrog Marina is beyond buoy 93 by about four miles and the Rainbow Bridge turnoff is at buoy 49. The buoys are measured in distance from the Glen Canyon Dam, so depending on the direction of the lake, it is not unusual to see multiple buoys with the same number since that reach of the lake runs parallel with the dam. Bottom line, it was a hike down to the Rainbow Bridge, but it was a cloud-free, cool, beautiful morning.

After signing away all rights to seek damages and having the boat inspected for damage by the rental crew, we were on our way. Speeding down the lake in the early morning was heaven. Lake Powell, however, is very odd. The area around Lake Powell is high desert. The lake was formed by damming up a canyon on the Colorado River that precedes the Grand Canyon so it is very deep, with steep rock walls falling into the lake bottom. Our rafting guide in Moab, Carmen, told us that there were plans to build two additional dams in the Grand Canyon as well but they were scuttled by environmental protests and so never came to pass. However, Lake Powell still sits in the middle of high desert, with nothing green in the way of trees or other larger foliage for miles. Because of all the side canyons and the deep water of the lake, it is a water sports haven. Deb read that as many as three million people use Lake Powell for water sports each year.

Lake Powell fun

This is borne out by the huge number of boat trailers parked in the lots surrounding the marina. In addition, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of houseboats, both privately owned and for rent on the lake. The marina where we rented out modest nineteen foot speedboat had houseboats for rent from a mere 36 feet up to a 75 foot behemoth with six staterooms and an onboard hot tub! As we cruised down the lake, we noticed that each houseboat also had at least a smaller speedboat in tow and maybe two or three jet skis.

We cruised down the lake at a nice clip and finally came to buoy 49 after about two hours of wide open sailing. We turned into the side canyon that led to the Rainbow Bridge and motored up until we got to the no wake zone near the dock.

Way up the lake at the Rainbow Bridge dock

We pulled up to the dock and moored without hitting any of the many other boats there as well.

The walk to the Rainbow Arch can be as long as a mile and a half depending on the lake level. The last few years, Lake Powell has been very low, but this year, the lake is within 20 feet of its maximum level. As a result, the walk to Rainbow Bridge is only about two-thirds of a mile and you can actually see it almost as soon as you start walking up the floating dock. By the time we got to the dock, it was almost 11:00AM and the day was developing into a scorcher. We filled our water bottles, donned our hats, packed our cameras, and set off to the arch. We hiked up to the bridge and took many pictures on the way. However, in search of the "perfect light", we were disappointed.

Rainbow Bridge

The light in the morning was from the back of the bridge as we came up from the dock. Fortunately though there was a ranger underneath a shaded area near the bridge. We had read that it was not possible to go under the arch because that was held sacred by the Navaho people. When we asked if there was a way to hike up and around the arch, he said to wait a few minutes and he would take us to the other side. When he was finally able to free himself, he led us up under the arch and onto the trail that comes in from the Navaho reservation from the other side! We got to walk under the arch and reach a promontory on the far side that had the good morning light that Deb was looking for. The ranger said the only reason the trail is not open to the public is that the stream that flows under the arch has severely undercut the bank and it is dangerous to let people wander unaccompanied. After taking many pictures we went back through the arch and headed back to the dock. On the way back, we stopped to thank the ranger who had shown us the trail through the arch. He had set up an impromptu vignette showing a velociraptor footstep fossil along with an accompanying prop. Based on the stride, the velociraptors were approximately 16 feet tall with 8 to 10 feet of that being leg.

Jurassic Park

When we rented the boat that morning, we were told that we would need to refuel before heading back up the lake or risk running out of gas. There was a marina five miles down the river from the Rainbow Bridge turnoff so we headed there before having lunch and beginning the trek back. The ranger at the Glen Canyon/Lake Powell visitors' center had recommended several side trips that we wanted to make on our way back so getting adequate fuel seemed a good idea.

We pulled into the fuel dock and the attendant came and helped us gas up, $5.30 per gallon. This really wasn't too bad when you consider that the gas had to be trucked into one of the marinas and then brought on the lake via barge. He said they go through 20,000 gallons of fuel every three to four days! He also checked an oil tank under the rear seat and found it completely empty, not a good sign! When we checked out the boat that morning, I asked the rental agent, Megan, whether I needed to check oil and was told, no, that this was taken care of. Obviously, it had not been taken care of! I had the attendant put in a gallon of oil and we set off up the lake.

I had seen a small side canyon that looked like a promising place for lunch.

Lunch cove

We gently pulled in and drifted in the shadow of a tall rock cliff. We had lunch and just drifted in the shadow for a while in the its sheltering cool.

The photographer

As we set off again, troubles began. I noticed that the steering control was becoming increasingly erratic. I could turn the wheel several turns in the direction I wanted to go, but nothing would happen. Then suddenly, the steering would catch, and the boat would lurch abruptly in that direction, which I would then have to quickly correct. This was increasingly difficult when we encountered the wakes from the numerous other boats on the lake. However, after several minutes of experimentation, I was able to anticipate necessary turns and keep us heading up the lake at a reasonable pace. It was then that the next problem raised its head. We were cruising up lake, when all of the sudden, an alarm began sounding. Since we had not been told about the possibility of an alarm, I had no idea what the alarm meant. I immediately throttled back and the alarm ceased. However, whenever I increased the throttle past 800 RPM, the alarm would reoccur. At 800 RPM we would get back to the marina about midnight! We were still at buoy 59 or so and, though we had a VHF radio, we were unable to raise the marina since the canyon only allowed about a 10 mile range. We were able to reach the NPS operator who relayed our message and told us that a boat was being dispatched from the rental company. We tried to continue on, but the alarm continued to sound.

We flagged down a passing boater who was returning to the Bullfrog marina and asked him to tell the rental company that we had minimal steerage and a failing engine. He promised to do so and headed up the lake. In the meantime, we overheard radio transmissions of another failed powerboat. This would become crucial to our recovery. We motored at 800 RPM up the lake for 45 minutes or so and heard nothing from the NPS dispatcher or from the rental company. It was unbearably hot and I was pissed! I pushed the throttle forward to 3600 RPM, and alarm be damned! The alarm only sounded every four to five minutes anyway so I figured it couldn't be that critical (more on that later!). We headed back up lake trying to anticipate the need for turns and impacts with wakes due to the crippled steering, the alarm maddeningly sounding every few minutes. We finally got to buoy 92 and the alarm became a constant tone. With the constant tone, the motor throttled back to 800 RPM and again we were barely creeping up river against the wind and current. We pulled into the shadow shelter of another large cliff and were finally able to raise the rental agency on the VHF radio. They promised to send someone out soon. This after having promised to send someone over and hour and half ago!

We drifted in the shadow of the cliff, waiting, and Deb went in swimming. Finally after about twenty to thirty more minutes, we received a VHF call that they could not find us. They had overshot us, despite our description of our location, and started back up lake. To make sure they would find us, we limped back out into mid-channel and flagged them down as they came back up lake. The two mechanics were very apologetic and immediately diagnosed both the problem with the steering and the engine. The steering system was hydraulic and had developed a leak. As a result, most of the steering movement simply pumped air instead of hydraulic fluid. They topped off the system and, while turning the wheel back and forth, found that a fitting back in the stern had come loose and was spurting fluid. Once this was tightened, the steering regained the necessary control. The engine was a little bit harder to fix. When I told the mechanic about the lack of oil in the reservoir when we refueled, he paled, and then attempted to remove the engine cover. He said that the engine had a built-in reservoir of its own, but that when that was exhausted, the engine went into limp home mode, which was where we were. Even though there was a gallon of oil in the reservoir under the seat, apparently an airlock had occurred and the engine's internal reservoir was empty as well. The final problem was that he could not remove the outboard's cover. Apparently there had been a very severe windstorm a few nights prior to our rental and the cover latch had been damaged. He was finally able to pry it open and indeed the internal reservoir was also empty. The challenge was to get oil back into this reservoir. The opening was small and the tank he had with him was large and unfortunately oil was spilled into the lake in the process of recharging the engine. Once this series of events had occurred, we were finally able to get underway again with no alarms and the ability to steer the boat. The mechanics followed us in as we headed to the fuel dock to once again fill the tanks since this was the term of the rental. However, when we throttled back upon reaching the no wake zone near the fuel dock, the mechanics motioned us to follow them and we headed instead to our original moorage from the morning.

We pulled in, tied up, and unloaded our cooler and other belongings. Just as we were about to head for the car, a rental agent came out and wanted to inspect the boat for damage. We went through the procedure, but tempers were getting a little frayed. After the inspection, we went into the rental office armed for bear. We asked to see the supervisor who immediately came out. He was very conciliatory and comped us the gas for our return trip as well as giving us an additional refund to compensate for the half day we had lost. While this was not a perfect solution since we had lost a half day, we felt that it was fair.

We loaded the car, went back to the RV, walked the dogs, and went to dinner at the lodge, having survived our day on the water.