WELCOME TO RIVER DAVES PLACE

700 on the San Juan

Marios Metalworks

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Posted up for the night at 700.3hrs
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c_land

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Nice. Do you haul your own fuel?
 

mesquito_creek

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Did you see any other boats up in the SJ or did you have the whole place to yourself?
 

Marios Metalworks

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Hey Tony thanks again for the quick responses this past week. Glad I didn’t have to take you up on any offers for help 👍

I did see two houseboats out there. The first at what I’m calling Three Bend Camp and the other at Wind Blown Beach Camp near the northwest side of the basin. Still felt like I was all alone though!
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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I did haul an extra 15 gallons and used every drop of it by design. Wanted to tow empty back home and didn’t want to store fuel in cans at the shop.

Left WW with ~27 gallons In the tank and 15 gallons in cans. The numbers were spot on as I rolled into Antelope.
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Whew thats tight.... I learned I could never trust my fuel gauge.... I actually ran out at the fuel dock once. Had to get towed to ramp cause fuel injectors wouldn't pull new fuel in.... ps, I'm no mechanic.
 

Marios Metalworks

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Whew thats tight.... I learned I could never trust my fuel gauge.... I actually ran out at the fuel dock once. Had to get towed to ramp cause fuel injectors wouldn't pull new fuel in.... ps, I'm no mechanic.

I was waiting for that to happen lol. The wild part is fluctuations in fuel level depending on how high up I’m trimmed. I do know fuel levels are the same if running trimmed 1/4 up or sitting in the water at idle speed. I had to bury the bow in choppy water coming through the canyon and that made me pucker a little bit!

Found it more reliable to track distance, time and average speed to figure fuel consumption. I’ve pumped the fuel tank out on three separate occasions and the numbers were within a 1/2 gallon each time. Basically once the lower part of the needle hits the E mark I have 5 gallons to go. That’ll give me an hour of run time at cruise speeds.

What I never expected was MPG rates to be with 1/10th of each other anywhere between 2500rpm and 4000rpm.
 

RiverDave

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Looks amazing!! Right up until that mud water.. I'd be real concerned about hitting an underwater object
 

Marios Metalworks

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Looks amazing!! Right up until that mud water.. I'd be real concerned about hitting an underwater object

It was clear when I took my time on the way in..this was on the way out. The dozens of kayakers must of stirred up the silt.
 

jet496

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The title caught my attention because I took my boat into the San Juan where it feeds into Lake Navajo years ago & we had to get out and walk it back until we had deep enough water when we hit river bottom.

Damn, I wish I was at Powell with so few people right now! This is one of those rare opportunities that may not occur again (hopefully it doesn't), kind of like the opposite when it was full pool & you could go right up to Rainbow Bridge with your boat or into the Grand Canyon from Meade. I think it would be quite the experience. Would need to haul a lot of gas cans with Dangling Rope closed though. Maybe stash them on the shore somewhere.
 
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HubbaHubbaLife

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I was waiting for that to happen lol. The wild part is fluctuations in fuel level depending on how high up I’m trimmed. I do know fuel levels are the same if running trimmed 1/4 up or sitting in the water at idle speed. I had to bury the bow in choppy water coming through the canyon and that made me pucker a little bit!

Found it more reliable to track distance, time and average speed to figure fuel consumption. I’ve pumped the fuel tank out on three separate occasions and the numbers were within a 1/2 gallon each time. Basically once the lower part of the needle hits the E mark I have 5 gallons to go. That’ll give me an hour of run time at cruise speeds.

What I never expected was MPG rates to be with 1/10th of each other anywhere between 2500rpm and 4000rpm.
Sounds like you got that shit figured out much better than me. I asked my tech why my needle jumps around so much and he explained the fuel tank is like a pancake under the helm and only 8" deep so sensor floats around like mad. After showing 1/4 tank it drops like a brick. Figuring all these go fasts are roughly same.
 

Gramps

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the SJ is special. Back in the mid 90's we spent about 8 days in Cha Canyon, the water was high enough to go up the channel to Paiute Farms.
 

Marios Metalworks

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Sounds like you got that shit figured out much better than me. I asked my tech why my needle jumps around so much and he explained the fuel tank is like a pancake under the helm and only 8" deep so sensor floats around like mad. After showing 1/4 tank it drops like a brick. Figuring all these go fasts are roughly same.

I’d like to think I put in the work and understand enough about the boat to take calculated risks like this. I was surprised to find the belly tank in my Baja is pretty deep for where it’s located. The fitting and draw straw tube measured at 14”. The tank itself runs the length of the floor from the footrest under the dash back to the bulkhead under the rear bench. You can access the entire thing with a #3 Phillips screwdriver.
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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I’d like to think I put in the work and understand enough about the boat to take calculated risks like this. I was surprised to find the belly tank in my Baja is pretty deep for where it’s located. The fitting and draw straw tube measured at 14”. The tank itself runs the length of the floor from the footrest under the dash back to the bulkhead under the rear bench. You can access the entire thing with a #3 Phillips screwdriver.
"Belly tank" yup, I think that was the term my tech used to explain the design to me as well. He made some adjustments for me just so my dumbass wouldn't run outta gas so often.
 

J DUNN

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Wife and I do an adults trip each Sept. We usually spend all day Sunday cruising to Bullfrog and back. We've also gone into SJ arm and hung out there for lunch. For this Sept trip all other parties bailed so it's just her and I in our 28' Cobalt. We may bail on Bullfrog and just hit up SJ for a nice day of relaxing with nobody around. I like to leave WW before sun up for a nice flat cruise up the lake. In years past our first stop for a drink and bathroom was Dangling then on to other spots from there. You can get to DR pretty fast early in the morning on flat water. I love it when you have the lake to yourself and can just cruise.

Great thread and pics. Thanks for sharing.
 

Marios Metalworks

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@J DUNN couldn’t agree more. You’re speaking my language.

Here’s the sunrise at the mouth of Last Chance.
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Getting on the boat before the sun has peaked over the mountains feels like riding the first chair up after a night of snowfall. You know you’re gonna have a smooth ride 👌
 
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DaveH

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Looks amazing!! Right up until that mud water.. I'd be real concerned about hitting an underwater object
dave usually the mud is only an issue right after it rains. all of these fingers become small streams that push driftwood and silt into the lake. i have camped at countless places like this where the water is clear and completely free of any obstacles. that's one of the best parts of going to Powell, finding isolated canyons with a sandy beach at the end with total isolation to hang out.
 
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