10/08 - 10/10 - Lake Shasta Gathering

[Wheeler Dealer]

Sea Wolf Joe,

Thanks for looking, we will let you know.

I see your from Lake Shasta way. We took a vacation there several years ago at a place called Tsasdi Resort, (not sure of the spelling). Absolutely stunning . Taught my son how to high dive off of the bridge near the entrance of the resort there.

Would be a great place for a CD gathering . Could probably talk the lovely Terrie in to pulling the Denebola down there. Maybe the summer of 2005?

Edited by Da Nag
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[Sea Wolf]

Jon and Terri-

Could definitely be done! We had a C-Dogs get together about two years ago, in 2002, I believe. We centered it at the Bridge Bay Marina, which is geographically dead center of the lake which has 4 arms each of which is about 25-35 miles long. We did it in April, though. The summers here are usualy 95-105 degrees, but it makes for great swimming weather. The fishing is better in the Spring, though. We'd have to survey people and find out when the best time would be for maximum participation. Joe

[Da Nag]

Talk it up, you guys! I split this from the heater discussion, this would be a great summertime get-together.

But hey - 2005? Why not this coming summer? If there's enough interest, we could even split the rent on a houseboat for use as a Mother Ship and Brat Party Central!

As much as I dig the WA C-Brat gatherings, I love going for a good swim on a hot day. So come on, all you NorWest Brats - any of you in? I promise I won't laugh at your "tans"...

[Sea Wolf]

C-Brats- OK, I'll talk to the manager at Bridge Bay and a couple of other marinas about acommodations (berths), houseboat rental costs and availability, etc. What month(s) would be best for those who could make the gathering? Joe

[SEA3PO]

Lake Shasta sounds like a great cruise.... it's huge and has lots of shoreline ...perfect for a gathering.
Count on SEA3PO to be there. heck there is even a West Marine in Redding....and a super Crab shack.....just set the date !!! During the summer we live near Lake Almanor...but they will not anyone camp on the water overnight.
Eagle lake will... and we have been there several times....but it's pretty remote.

[Da Nag]

Early August isn't too crowded yet - there's the Catalina gathering mid-month, not sure how many folks we'd lose out on due to that cruise.

Dang - only January and the year is filling up fast!

[Kay]

Hmmmmm....... Keep talking this one up. Entice Mike somehow cause that's only 8 - 9 hrs south of us and my Uncle lives in Shasta Lake. I love that area. Awfully hot in August tho! We'd have to jump in to cool off then our rust (NW Coastal tan) would wash off and blind you folks!!!!

[Da Nag]

How about the last weekend of June (6/25-6/27)? A little cooler than August, but it's only 3 weeks after Roosevelt...

[Sea Wolf]

Lake Shasta C-Brat Party Revelers-

It's real early yet, but here are some more considerations.

Late June would be less hot than July and August. We'd be more likely to get temperatures in the 90-100 range, than the 95-105 range.

Houseboat rental takes a big jump after Memorial Day. The least expensive houseboat, a 56 footer that sleeps 12 comfortably and a maximum of 18, goes from $789 per weekend to $1702. A top of the line super luxury unit goes from $2168 to $3847 for the same periods. A houseboat would make a great centerpiece for a floating/moveable party. If most everybody brought their boats, we'd need it mostly for group activity since most people would wind up sleeping in their boats. We'll have to see how many people are interested in coming, how many would want to stay on the houseboat, and how many would be interested in sharing the cost of the unit as necessary, etc. Wouldn't want to keep anyone away for fear of a big surcharge they felt was unaffordable, etc.

After Memorial Day, berths in marinas will probably be much harder to rent, being reserved by the marinas for guests staying at their motel units. We were able to stay right at Bridge Bay last time because of the April date. I'll check it out and also other marinas. It's nice to have showers, flush toilets, shore power, and a covered berth with vehicle/trailer storage and a restaurant, snack bar, and grocery/general store at your disposal, but not absolutely necessary.

Another possibility would be to camp on the lake shore. The Forrest Service has a number of campsites around the lake, some of which are available only to boat-in use, others which have auto access as well. I'll also check into whether there's a group campsite available, and its cost, as well as if the regular campsites are on a first-come basis, or can be reserved. Campsites may limited to pit toilets, drinking water, tables, and require beaching of boats for landing. Let's wait and see. Who prefers this type of arrangement? You can always bring a roll of used carpet to beach the boat on, or stay at anchor over night.

Perhaps some combination of these approaches would be the best workable solution, but we'll need more information first on what exactly is available for what price and who's interested.

Shasta Lake was formed in 1946 when Shasta Dam was completed. It dams up the Sacramento, McCloud, and Pit Rivers.It has four major arms that are from 25-35 miles in length and has 365 miles of shoreline. The elevation at highwater is 1067 feet, and surface water temperatures run from the mid 50's in winter to the low 80's in August. There are about a dozen marinas (some with motels) on the lake, and 15 miles to the south on 1-5 the City of Redding has about 3200 motel rooms. The lake boasts largemouth bass, small mouth bass, rainbow and German brown trout, croppie, catfish, some elusive sturgeon (in deep holes), and about 5000 inebriated college students during Spring Break. (Not an option for us, so I'll check out their dates!)

So waddaya think? I'll go to work on the options, etc. Let me know what preferences you have. Open to all suggestions! Joe. [/list]

[Da Nag]

Hey Joe, thanks for all the info!

When do the rates drop again - after Labor Day, or later into the fall?

Not knowing anything about houseboats, how many people could comfortably hang out on a 56 footer? As you pointed out, most folks would probably opt to sleep on their boats, but I'm thinking more about party capacity.

If we can manage even a fraction of the turnout of the SBS, I think the off-peak rates would be pretty manageable. 10-15 folks splitting $800-$1000 would be a darn good deal in my book...

[Sawdust]

Yup - good idea and a good time of year. Les, Shelley, Kathy and Bill (the EQ folks) plus a full complement of cats and dogs do the Shasta houseboat bit every fall -- and they reserve a year in advance.

Make it work, Bill.

Dusty

[Wheeler Dealer]

I love this Pub ,

The soonest we could go would be the fall 2004 (Sept.) Then I will have the vacation time from work.

I agree with the late spring early fall times as it is Africa hot! in summer . Without AC on your CD you'd be self basting.

The boaters only campground idea sounds great.

[Sea Wolf]

Bill, et al: You can see an example rate schedule at

<shastalakeresorts.com>.

The rates are less in the Spring before memorial Day, and again lower after school starts, and particularly after Oct. 1. There are other houseboat rental providers as well. One key consideration might be to find a floor plan that is adaptable to the kind of use we'll be using the houseboat for. We really don't need a highly compartmentalized set up as much as we need a lot of open space to meet together and eat/cook/party, cruise, etc. Some models may be easier to tie up other boats to, but I'm not familiar with these issues until I can get out and investigate further. I have a friend up here who spent 20 years in the Coast Guard and who has worked for Bridge Bay Resort as Assistant Marina Manager and as a Deputy for the Shasta County Sheriff's Department Lake Enforcement Unit as well. When he gets back from the Bay Area tomorrow, I'll get some great advice then proceed to talk to the marinas , houseboat rental outfits, and Forrest Service. By the way, he would also be a great one to go up to Alaska with, as he spent two tours assigned to duty up there, one out of Ketchikan and the other out of Juneau, and has been just about everywhere up there, albeit on a 110 foot cutter, except for some personal vacation time on small cruisers and sailboats. We'll make this Shasta Lake deal work first, though. See you soon. Joe.

[C-Hawk]

We are booked for 2004--- but would entertain the thought for 2005. Wanted to make the last Shasta cruise April of '02 but didn't get my boat until May '02. Started to just drive up in the motorhome, but wasn't able to get a day off.

-- Maybe next year

[Sea Wolf]

Bill and other Lake Shasta prospects:

I'll try here to report on some of the things I've managed to find out the last week without repeating myself too much, so keep in mind what has already been said above in the previous posts.

There seem to be two basic alternatives:

1. Stay at a marina with all the accompanying facilities, which would be limited to a weekend/week before Memorial Day, or one after Labor Day. The best fishing on the lake is in these time periods.

Bridge Bay will accomodate us for $20 per boat per night ($40 Friday through Sunday afternoon), which includes launch fees (separately $10/day). This would give us covered berths, shore power, access to bathrooms, showers, a restaurant, snack bar, grocery/general store, secured parking, on site motel rooms, houseboat rentals, etc. Those who want to stay additional days can do so for the same rate. The marina is 1/4 mile off I-5, right at the Pit River Bridge, the most centrally located facility on Shasta Lake. Cruises from here are easy, as every thing is equidistant. Our Saturday night get together would be right in the marina, cooking with BBQ's on or next to the boats. This is a clean and easy option to arrange. Bring anyone and anything you want to spend the weekend with. A houseboat rented from them could stay on the courtesy dock or a nearny island at night, cruise by day, etc.

2. Launch and stay somewhere on the lake, using a campground, island, or houseboat as a get together center. This can be done anytime.

As for #2, there are group and family campsites all over the lake. The Group Campsites are all well up on the McCloud (most beautiful) Arm of the lake, and have fee schedules of $65 or $90 per night for the group. All lakeshore camping requires beaching the boats, and the particular level of the lake on the weekend selected may yield a beach or somewhat rocky-ish difficult place to beach a boat, depending on the campground selected and the water level. Our scouting yesterday yielded two attractive alternatives in this category:

A. Stay at the McCloud Bridge Campground which is by far the best equipped, best laid out, most beautiful, and most sought after camping site on the lake. It is at the very top of the McCloud Arm, about 19 miles in by car from I-5. This is not a group campground, but much nicer than any of those. One of us here would have to go up at least a few days in advance and wait for a site to open, then claim it. The double sites allow 16 persons/site, and one would provide us with a central meeting place/home base. We could claim two if needed. The double sites are $26/night, but we could all chip in a few $ if the necessary claiming period were fairly long. The campgrounds feature vault toilets, running water, tent sites, tables, bear-proof lockers, RV parking pads, and the best scenery on Shasta Lake. Boats could be launched six miles down the lake at Hirtz Bay($6/day). Trailers would have to be stored there, as campsite road space is limited. Tow vehicles can be driven to the campground. Boaters should bring an old section of carpet and a couple of tires to provide a secure landing/beaching pad. A big metal stake and a small sledge hammer would add a nice secure finishing touch. This could easily be extended from a weekend into a week's or longer stay. Anyone/group renting a houseboat could tie up on shore or anchor in the lake. There's room for two RV's on the double site. (No Hookups). This is one of the cooler sites on the lake in the summer, as afternoon shade is provided by the surrounding limestone mountains. Bring BBQ's, water toys, dogs, grandkids, etc.

B. We could, as an alternate to choice A, find a suitable island more centrally located in the main body of the lake and stay there. There are numerous islands that pop up as the season progresses. The Squaw Creek Arm has many with gentle, sandy slopes. We would have to beach our boats, bring in our own tables and chairs, build a campfire circle (easy), gather firewood, and use our porta-poties. Anything needed would come in by boat. No RV access, except from another campground. Launching and tow rig/trailer storage could be at any of several different Forrest Service ramps ($6/day). We would scout out the best site available site in the preceeding week, then pick the best launch site, and notify everyone. A houseboat would be a natural addition and a very welcome central focus point. Bring carpet remnants, tires, stakes, BBQ's, tent/shades, water toys, dogs, grandkids, etc.

Well, for now, that kind of let's you know what the best options are, in our opinion. What we need to know is who is interested, and in which ones, to see if we have enough interest to go any further with the planning. There is always some gain and loss as time goes by with the sign-up and commitment to these get-togethers. A flexible, all-accomodating plan that won't disappear off the radar screen if a few dropped out would be a desirable choice.

Let us know what you think! Joe.