Yuma Az cruising possibilities
- Thread starter ghone
- Start date
George,
Lake Roosevelt in Arizona is 41 percent full. It is still boatable, but not as scenic as when the water level is higher. It is the first in a chain of lakes on the Salt River. The next lake down stream is Apache Lake, but access is via a dirt road. Next is Canyon Lake which is fairly small, but picturesque. When we were there in the fall, we saw two bald eagles and several mountain sheep. Lost Dutchman state park is within a few miles and has some nice campsites-some have electrical hookups. Next in the chain is Saguaro Lake which is also scenic. The lakes lower in the chain have stable water levels, but there is a pump storage between Saguaro and Canyon Lakes so be careful if beaching the boat as the water level can vary a few feet.
Lake Pleasant is north of Phoenix and the one we visit most as it is closest to our house. It has nice ramps and two marinas. Camping is available. The east side is owned by a private water company and the west side is a county park.
Tony
Lake Roosevelt in Arizona is 41 percent full. It is still boatable, but not as scenic as when the water level is higher. It is the first in a chain of lakes on the Salt River. The next lake down stream is Apache Lake, but access is via a dirt road. Next is Canyon Lake which is fairly small, but picturesque. When we were there in the fall, we saw two bald eagles and several mountain sheep. Lost Dutchman state park is within a few miles and has some nice campsites-some have electrical hookups. Next in the chain is Saguaro Lake which is also scenic. The lakes lower in the chain have stable water levels, but there is a pump storage between Saguaro and Canyon Lakes so be careful if beaching the boat as the water level can vary a few feet.
Lake Pleasant is north of Phoenix and the one we visit most as it is closest to our house. It has nice ramps and two marinas. Camping is available. The east side is owned by a private water company and the west side is a county park.
Tony
George,
I forgot to mention that all the Salt River lakes are in the Tonto National Forest and a Tonto pass and boat stamp are required. These are not available at the lakes. They can be obtained on line, but you need a printer. The Tonto National Forest web site also indicates where they can be obtained in town.
There is also a fee for Lake Pleasant, but it can be paid upon entry.
Tony
I forgot to mention that all the Salt River lakes are in the Tonto National Forest and a Tonto pass and boat stamp are required. These are not available at the lakes. They can be obtained on line, but you need a printer. The Tonto National Forest web site also indicates where they can be obtained in town.
There is also a fee for Lake Pleasant, but it can be paid upon entry.
Tony
BaseCampAnne
New member
Hi George and Carolyn,
Interesting to hear about boating in the desert during winter, complete with very shallow water and sandstorms. Life here on San Diego Bay moves forward with earlier sunrises, quite cool nights and warm sunny days again now.
Your potential plans to join Bill and El in England sound wonderful along with all the other areas you two intend to visit in the next year or two.
Neighbors on the dock here left 36 hours ago for Mexico, Costa Rica and then out across the Pacific, they hope.
Best wishes, and thanks for sharing your adventures
Interesting to hear about boating in the desert during winter, complete with very shallow water and sandstorms. Life here on San Diego Bay moves forward with earlier sunrises, quite cool nights and warm sunny days again now.
Your potential plans to join Bill and El in England sound wonderful along with all the other areas you two intend to visit in the next year or two.
Neighbors on the dock here left 36 hours ago for Mexico, Costa Rica and then out across the Pacific, they hope.
Best wishes, and thanks for sharing your adventures
Hi all. We were underway for Gila Bend this morning but only made a couple miles from the rv park when we noticed a guy walking on the road side waving at us. As we were coming to a stop light we buzzed the window down. The gentleman was quite agitated and said something like...."you're all on fire back there". What? Sure enough we're smokin'. Had a trailer bearing come apart. We pulled into a motel 6 lot right away and got my water shower out to douse the wheel. No flames but hot. After it cooled a bit Carolyn went into the motel office to let them know why we're in the driveway and the gal said there was a good tire shop a block and a half down the way. It was a longish block but I hoofed it down there to see about a fix. They work till 1pm Saturdays so no dice today. We limped on down there and they set us up in their nice flat paved lot. They offered power and water and overnite stays for a coupe nights till we can be first worked on Monday am. Nice folks. We took Dan up in the power outlet. I was going to have the bearings serviced in Cottonwood as I did last year but nope. We'll do them all here. The other 3 bearings look fine, we'll find out Monday. They have all run nice and cool even early this week of the run in from Senator wash so not sure why one let go. We are truly grateful to that sharp eyed gentleman and a timely stop light. Another minute we'd have entered highway 8 for Tucson and not had a lot of fun. We returned for happy hour to the rv park after decoupling. Lots of Canadian jokes about "losing our bearings". We'll get back on the road Monday! George and Carolyn.
Hi George,
Sorry to hear about the bearing failure but glad you found it before getting out of town. I learned last summer how quick a bearing can cause a problem. I drove less than 10 miles and less than 40 mph and the hub had to be replaced. I hope you can get fixed without having to wait for parts.
Steve
Sorry to hear about the bearing failure but glad you found it before getting out of town. I learned last summer how quick a bearing can cause a problem. I drove less than 10 miles and less than 40 mph and the hub had to be replaced. I hope you can get fixed without having to wait for parts.
Steve
El and Bill
New member
George -
Ah, that old German saying, "Luck in unluck." Unlucky that the bearing went out, but so lucky a thoughtful guy (and a stoplight) were right there, and that you have a shop handy by to fix you up. Good luck on the repairs and keep those luck in unluck smiles on your faces. Cheers - E&B
Ah, that old German saying, "Luck in unluck." Unlucky that the bearing went out, but so lucky a thoughtful guy (and a stoplight) were right there, and that you have a shop handy by to fix you up. Good luck on the repairs and keep those luck in unluck smiles on your faces. Cheers - E&B
Thanks guys and gals. Luck in unluck is right. We avoided an issue out on the freeway, we have a nice place to stay for the weekend, we don't have a tight schedule and who knows what we avoided on the road by having a happening. The bearings were going to be serviced in 2 weeks in Cottonwood anyway so here is fine. Don't worry. Be happy.
We were longer in the shop than I thought we'd be. We needed to do bearings all around as the mfg had left rough edges on the hub near the spindle ends leading to failures on the seals. Also brake actuators were corroded and showed signs of only 3 out of the 4 working. One drum was rusty inside never having had brakes working. The hot bearing caused no damage to the brakes etc so after a good cleanup and parts we are on the road again. The guys here at TFS understand boat trailers. They put a ss cap over the rough axle shoulder, silicones in place to seal the inner spindle, then the spindles were all polished, near sealed brake actuators and then new bearings. One new bearing buddy as the one that came off when the bearing failed was never seen again. We went up the road to look. I am confident the bearings are better than the mfg did now. It amazes me what some mfg do. The inner end of the axle spindle is terminated at a pretty rough casting which allows water to migrate easily and causes rust which allows more water etc. even keeping grease in the buddy isn't adequate. A new thing I am going to do on the mechanics advise is to put a couple of small shots of grease in the hub just prior to each launch. Don't overdo it but pressurize the bearings a bit. Also as I always do, let the wheels cool a while before the dunk. Should be good now. Overnited in Welton Az at the Tier Drop rv. Very nice!
Sounds like "better than new" is no understatement. Good to hear you are back on the road and all fixed up :thup
Sounds like a good place to know about - can you post the name and town (I tried to search TFS and Gila Bend but didn't get anything obvious).
Thanks,
Sunbeam
ghone":1dcr24ff said:
Sounds like a good place to know about - can you post the name and town (I tried to search TFS and Gila Bend but didn't get anything obvious).
Thanks,
Sunbeam
Hi we were looked after by FTS auto Center in Yuma. Dan Milkes and his team. Ricardo was our tech. They are on 1845 S Arizona Ave. email is FTSYuma@gmail.com. Really good folks. The dealers use his guys on hard to diagnose issues. We overnited at Tier Drop rv at Wellton and had a half a dozen visitors around the boat before I even plugged in power. Lots of jokes about no water in Arizona. A couple guys said "now does that ever make sense, you can rv on the road and then go in the water?" Indeed. One neighbour was over pouring us a margarita in no time as a welcome. Friendly bunch. Just a short run from Yuma to see if all the work done was ok. Rig is running very smooth. Tonite dry camping in Gila Bend at Augies rv. Quiet and warm. Enjoying the desert. C dory makes a great rv. George and Carolyn.