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Constant840

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For the final trip of the season, we decided some time in Tahoe may just be the way to go. Now, I couldn?t drive all the way to Tahoe and stare at the lake from shore. My 2008 Ram 1500 Hemi can get anywhere from 6-12mpg while towing. A full day boat rental is $500. So out came the abacus for some good old ciphering. After crunching the additional fuel vs. boat rental numbers, I dragged the tritoon up with us.
I spent what felt like a month getting the boat cleaned up, anchors and anchor lines in order, making sure my tool kit was still complete and everything was generally in order. Boating the lower river where we spend most of the season, 100? anchor lines and chains aren?t much of a necessity and if you happen to break down there is always someone to lend a hand or worst case float back. I?m sure the best bet on Tahoe would be a VHF. Finally, after much preparation, Friday September 19 arrived and we were all packed up to hit the road at 4am the next morning.

The first of many en-route gas stops was at Kramer Junction, just before catching a nice sunrise. Trailer hubs were nice and cool. No turning back now.


Now the plan was to drop by and pick up my fishing-bum Brother in Mammoth, but it turned out he had to work that night so we kept on right by. This was ok with me, as the temperature was dropping and we were starting to get some light snow flurries walking around in the shorts and slaps I had donned that morning wasn?t too appealing.
 

Constant840

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The weather stayed gloomy and wet and by the time we hit the inspection station at Spooner summit it was raining. I had spent many weeks reading and rereading everything I could regarding Tahoe boat inspections, where to get them done and what to expect. We just made it before the roadside inspections closed for the season the following day. Even though it was raining and the boat was soaked these guys meant business. I told them the last places the boat had been and was immediately signed on for decontamination. When they guy asked if he could board the boat, my answer was the same as it always is, ?not with your shoes on?. In the rain, he climbs the ladder, removes his shoes and boards the boat in his socks. Very cool. He proceeds to pull out all three anchors and all anchor lines inspecting everything very closely. They run hot water through the engine, checking the temperature at the out until it hit a temperature they were looking for. They back flushed my live wells with hot water and ran the hot water hose inside the lift strakes on the pontoons before douching the entire exterior with hot water. 45 minutes later we were clean, had the inspection wire on the bow eye and they only charged me for my Lake pass! I was so surprised and pleased by this; I left the $35 decontamination fee as a tip.


Finally? 11 hours and 500 or so miles later, we made it. My parents, coming from outside Sacramento with a much shorter drive, arrived at the Tahoe City, VRBO rental we had for the week about an hour before us and were already beginning to get settled in. So after a great dinner at the ?Tahoe Mountain Brewing Company?, we unloaded the essentials and got our week started right.


Incredulously, my Dad got up early Sunday morning and made the 8 hour turnaround to Mammoth so my brother could join us. His smudge pot of a Jeep apparently wasn?t up to the task. My beautiful wife, the diehard she is, got up early to go running. And I Head out to my truck to finish unloading and find one of the local bears must have caught wind of the best jerky he had ever smelled (from Mahogany smoked meats in Bishop. Of course.) left in the cab? I am lucky he didn?t get frustrated. By the time my Dad and Brother arrived, the weather was beginning to clear up so we took a walk through Skylandia State Park which was located directly out the back door of our rental. A nice 10 minute walk leads us down to Skylandia State Beach. While these are state parks it is my understanding they are operated and maintained by Tahoe City.
 

Constant840

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With the weather clearing I started calling around to find a good place to launch the boat. After finding many closed marinas and expensive crane services I settled on Obexer?s Boat Co, out of Homewood, Ca. A short drive south on Monday morning found a two lane ramp and a $15 launch fee. I inadvertently forgot the camera for the launch, but it was pretty uneventful. I ran the boat up to Skylandia beach with my Wife, Daughter, Mom and Dog on board while my Dad and Brother took the truck and trailer back. They were tasked with getting Dads truck as close to the beach as possible, then launching his canoe and retrieving everyone off the boat. The water in this area maintained 2-3? depth until 200? ft off shore and didn?t drop past 7-8? until a good quarter mile out. With a solid rock bottom I threw anchors out 300? or so out in 4-5? of water. It turned out to be a decent paddle in the canoe with 3 trips required to get everyone and the gear to and fro. The danforth anchors I had brought were fairly useless on this type of bottom. Really just lying there, but with two of them off the bow and a box anchor off the transom, with chain on all three I was moderately confident the boat wouldn?t go anywhere. With 75? of line on each danforth and 50? on line of the box it turned out I was right.


In my research and preparing for this trip I ordered two lower pitch propellers to experiment with. I have run the boat on Big Bear and knew the elevation was hard on the engine with the 4 blade 15x14.5 stainless prop I normally run. After asking around RDP it was recommended 1-2? of pitch should be lost with every 3000? of elevation gained. I had a hard time finding a 4 blade in the pitch and diameter I was looking for so I ended up with two aluminum 3 blade props. One in 11x16 and another in 13x15.5. In the end I only ran the 11x16 which I slipped on before leaving home. It let the engine spin in the low 5k range which is pretty close to where it wants to be. Later in the week it ran a best of 31mph on GPS with the family, gear and fuel. Not too shabby. On a side note, my gauges had never fogged before, but I think coming up in the rain got them going. Is there any way to dry them out quickly? Stop them from fogging?


After getting anchored up lunch was in order. We walked the main drag in Tahoe City not sure where to eat. My brother decided to pop his head into a local shop and ask where the best place to eat was. The girl quickly replied ?Moe?s?, a BBQ spot in the area. Just for posterity he asked what her second choice would be and her replay was ?I already told you the first one?. This was an unexpected reply, but not the last snotty local we encountered. We ate a Moe?s and it was? well? terrible. Food that should have been hot was cold and vice versa. I held the notion that it wasn?t truly terrible until I broke my cornbread in half and a 3? animal hair was sticking from one side. The staff was nice though.
Tuesday was the first of my mandated 2 day minimum on the water. Air temperature was in the high 50?s and water temperature was in the low 60?s making for a bit of a chilly ride, but perfect float weather. We cruised down the west shore enjoying the scenery ending up at Emerald Bay. With a breeze beginning to come up I tossed the box anchor which I had picked up and brought with us, on to the sheltered side on the island and we made a nice hot dog lunch. My brother and Dad made the hike to the Tea House but I had to keep any eye on the boat as it was shifting in the wind. Crossed paths with the Tahoe Queen on the way out of the cove as we headed for Camp Richardson; Paddle Boats are badass!
 

Constant840

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Topping off at Camp Richardson it was noted the wind had picked up markedly, though we kept on towards Stateline enjoying the scenery.


As we headed North/Northwest into the wind back towards Skylandia we encountered bigger water than I had expected. The ?toon performed admirably in the 3? water, still moving 28mph. It was a rough ride and I swear we were air born once, but a whole ton a fun. As we got back to the west shore the water smoothed out nicely.

Got back to the house in time for some vinegar and baking soda science experiments with my Daughter, Dad and Brother. The light up balloons were a nice touch.


The wind forecast told us that it was going to blow a bit on Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday being calm so we decided we would do some sightseeing by land. My parents were married in Tahoe and lived in Incline Village for years before I was born in Reno and we moved to SoCal some 4 years later. In that time they never really explored the south shore so that is the direction we headed. Stopping at Emerald Bay, it was neat to see where we had been the previous day from a different perspective. We were anchored off the point on lower right of the island.


While having a nice breakfast at Camp Richardson We discussed the sign we passed for Camp Richardson Corral and agreed it would be something my Daughter would enjoy. It turned out to be a great time for all of us. It was essentially a pony ride for her and we all trailed behind, but a great family experience none the less.
 

Constant840

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From there we headed for some miniature golf at Magic Carpet in South Lake, which also turned out to be great fun.


My Wife, Brother and I pushed for a sushi dinner which we ended up having at ?Sushi Pier? a place my brother had been to previously and swore was good. Walking in and seeing a Neapolitan crew of sushi chefs (Mexican, White, and a Black guy!) I was skeptical. It turned out to be a decent meal, which we may have missed getting gratis by only a few minutes. As we were walking out the power went out, pitch black. The blackout seemed to be along the entire shore. We learned the next day that due to a vehicle crashing into some gear the outage began near where we ate dinner and stretched all the way to Reno!


Thursday was to be our second mandated day on the water and began with carving up some pumpkins per my daughters drawn on faces. My brother carved one and me the other.


The weather seemed to be almost perfect. The air temperature had come up to the high 60?s maybe even 70 while the water maintained a 61-63 temperature. After getting fuel at Tahoe City Marina we headed north and followed the shore around to the east side of the lake. Very much memory lane for my parents. Lunch at Gar Wood?s in Carnelian Bay was really good; I would recommend this to anyone looking for boat up dining.


Moving on, we saw the beach I played on as a kid. Legend has it we used to catch crawfish by the coffee can on that beach. We saw the house my Dads buddy built a million years ago? it looked as if it were still in the 70?s.


Lots of really nice multimillion dollar places with docks and boat lifts.


My Brother sported his board shorts that day, claiming he was going to take a dip. It turns out I was the only one willing to take the plunge. We didn?t get as far down the East shore as I would have liked but it was another great day on the water with the family.
 

Constant840

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Friday was checkout day. I decided to have the guys at the Tahoe City Marina use the overhead gantry to retrieve the boat. At $40 and an hour or so from start to finish it was really just because I wanted to see the boat hung up in the air. My daughter and I took a ?Poppa/Lola? cruise over to the marina, while my Dad and Bother brought the truck and trailer. While also uneventful the retrieval was much more interesting that the launch. I again forgot the camera for the retrieval, but my brother sent me a few photos he took on his phone.


After our third meal that week at Tahoe Mountain Brewing Company we hugged my Parents goodbye and my brother piled in with us to be dropped in Mammoth on the way down the 395. On the advice of my Dad who was considering that I was towing, we came into Tahoe via Carson City and the 50, reaching the West shore by going up and around the lake. Never one to heed a warning, always having to see for myself, I left via south shore on the 50 to the 89/88 through Monitor Pass and out to the 395. Holy hell, the pull up the 8300? to Monitor Pass was the toughest my Hemi (which Turned 170k this trip) had ever done. It was a great drive in spite of the 24mph and 5krpm most of the way up. At about 7kft we came across some deer in the road and the view coming down the other side was quite breathtaking. I had no idea there were prehistoric petroglyphs in this area.


We made it into Mammoth in the late afternoon. Dropped my brother off and promised to eat lunch the following day where he was working. We checked into the Westin (pretty nice hotel that actually answered the phone in person and accepted Dogs) and decided a late dinner was in order. So, off to the Village for dinner at ?The Smokehouse?. I was very pleased with the meal there and text my brother he wouldn?t be seeing us for lunch but the dinner was great.
Got on the road around 10am Saturday morning. Stopped in Bishop at Mahogany for more jerky and Schats bakery for lunch. I didn?t mention before, but on the way up we ate breakfast in Bishop at a place called ?The Petite Pantry? located next to a fly fishing shop. This place was pretty gross. Immediately adjacent to the kitchen, through a glass storefront door was a literal bird room. Parakeets and big Parrots, maybe 7 in total, all in filthy cages just feet from the kitchen. Not a place I?d recommend. Snapped a couple photos of Mt. Whitney (larger peak just right of center) on the way out of town. Set cruise control at 68 and after picking up our two Boston Terriers we made it home just before dark.


All in all, one of the best trips we have ever done.
 

fmo24

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What a great write up. Thanks for sharing.
 

shintoooo

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That's a great write up. Looks like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing. :thumbup:
 

HavasuHank

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Great story and pictures.

We are gonna start planning for a Tahoe trip early next year. It's been a while since we've been there.
 

LuckyDaze

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Sweet pics! Whatcha got in that mason jar in one of those pics?

I am headed that way in a week or so, been debating taking my jetboat with me to pop in Tahoe for a day.
 

blackbart

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that's so cool looks like a great time thanks for shareing
 

scouter

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Looks like you had an awesome time..... I love Tahoe...... :thumbup: Grew up in the bay area and it was a 3 hour drive for us. We used to go summer and winter when I was a kid. I've been back a few times since then...... :)
 

E4L

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Very awesome. Thanks for sharing with us.
 

Hammer

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Great Write up! Thank you for sharing! Pics were great as well.

As for the foggy gauges, try a blow dryer to get the moisture out...
 

Deja_Vu

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Nice pics...looks like everyone had a great time! :)
 

oldschool

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Great pics and sounds like a fantastic trip.
 

PVHCA

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Beautiful pics and thanks for making me feel like I was there, well written, Wes would be proud, LOL. I love Tahoe, use to vaca there every summer, I'm gonna head up there next spring.

Oh ya, in the future a bikini shot of the wife in the spa goes a long long way, LOL

Thanks Again-Phil
 

Constant840

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We really did have a great time. I have a ton more photos. Lots of boats and nice scenery. Stay tuned if you're interested.

WTF is with the punctuation change from Word?


Sweet pics! Whatcha got in that mason jar in one of those pics?

I am headed that way in a week or so, been debating taking my jetboat with me to pop in Tahoe for a day.

Thanks. Just one of the essentials. Didn't see any smaller boats... Not sure I'd run my Bahner up there. At least not far from shore.

Great Write up! Thank you for sharing! Pics were great as well.

As for the foggy gauges, try a blow dryer to get the moisture out...

Thanks Hammer. I wasn't getting far with the compressor.

Beautiful pics and thanks for making me feel like I was there, well written, Wes would be proud, LOL. I love Tahoe, use to vaca there every summer, I'm gonna head up there next spring.

Oh ya, in the future a bikini shot of the wife in the spa goes a long long way, LOL

Thanks Again-Phil

Thank you Phil... I might have something like that.
 

3queens

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Sweet pics! Whatcha got in that mason jar in one of those pics?

lol saw that ha
I am headed that way in a week or so, been debating taking my jetboat with me to pop in Tahoe for a day.

We really did have a great time. I have a ton more photos. Lots of boats and nice scenery. Stay tuned if you're interested.






Thanks. Just one of the essentials. Didn't see any smaller boats... Not sure I'd run my Bahner up there. At least not far from shore.
:D

nice pics excellent write up
 

srttruck

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Looks like the family had a great trip! Awesome pics and a nice write up.:thumbup:
 

76 Hondo

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We were at the Beacon at Richardson's on Saturday night great dinner and killer rum runners:thumbup:
 

stephenkatsea

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Thanks. Enjoyed the article and photos. Believe the nice shot of Mt Whitney was not taken as you left Bishop. That view would have been taken from the Lone Pine area (about an hr south of Bishop). BTW, the little town of Lone Pine has a great diner house called "Seasons". It is on the rt when heading north on 395. Outstanding filets and a good wine list. Surprisingly European for this little Owens Lone Pine is a good place to spend a couple of days. Good stream fishing, hiking, off roading, golf etc.
 

BHC Vic

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I just got caught up with this thread. EPIC thanks for sharing can't wait to do Tahoe now ! [emoji106][emoji106]
 

TBulger

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What a wonderful family, and you and yours are just lst class. Thanks so much for all the pics and the time it took to post them. The little girl is out of this world and her kissing the horse is worth a million. I'm a horse guy and still marvel at the horses ability to understand children and act accordingly. Again thanks so much.
 

Constant840

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Thanks. Enjoyed the article and photos. Believe the nice shot of Mt Whitney was not taken as you left Bishop. That view would have been taken from the Lone Pine area (about an hr south of Bishop). BTW, the little town of Lone Pine has a great diner house called "Seasons". It is on the rt when heading north on 395. Outstanding filets and a good wine list. Surprisingly European for this little Owens Lone Pine is a good place to spend a couple of days. Good stream fishing, hiking, off roading, golf etc.

You are right. It was just south of Lone Pine. Thanks for the heads up on Seasons.
We'll have to make it a stop on the next trip up the 395.
 

YoPengo

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Wow, sorry I missed this. What an epic trip with the family. Thank you for sharing. :thumbup:
 

SBMech

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Hah! I read the whole thing and then realized it was a necro...still a great telling of a fun trip! I still want to get up there with my Spectra some day..:thumbup:
 
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