not-so-sailor-friendly midwest

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turbohobo

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Registered: Oct 19, 2006

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Posts: 613
Posted: Jul 24, 2010 - 08:13 PM

as most of you have read in some of my previous posts, to go sailing for me involves an hr + drive to nearest lake. Well yesterday I hitched up the cat and went to check out a new lake I had heard about, only 30 min away, arrived there and got quite excited at the lake view, but thats where it ended. Concrete boat ramp, no beach, hills on the south side of the lake blocked off the prevailing SW winds, and when the wind did make it onto the lake it swirled and gusted in every direction. As I was there I decided to get wet anyway, found a bank where I could back the trailer into the water and went sailing. Got par-broiled in the 97F + sun.

I got to thinking, were there any other sailors out there going through the same thing, lakes loaded with every conceivable peril known to cat-sailor, cement ramps gnashing at the hull bottoms, tree-stumps chomping at hulls, rocky causeways just waiting to chew up fragile fibreglass hulls and spit out pieces, gusting winds shredding sails, etc etc. Some experiences would go a long way to encouraging this lonely, one-of-a-kind-in-this-area cat sailor.

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yurdle

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Posted: Jul 24, 2010 - 08:33 PM

Where are you? We have some places like that here in OK, called 'fishing lakes', but luckily there are tons of lakes to choose from.

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Rob
OKC
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yellowhulls17

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Posted: Jul 24, 2010 - 08:40 PM

Sailing in the Midwest sucks in July, that's it...
However, if you are anywhere near St. Louis, best place to sail is Lake Carlyle hands down. Check out CSA Sailing, lots of regattas, lots of water.
smfinley

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Posted: Jul 24, 2010 - 11:17 PM

Turbo,

I found no good small lakes in Northern Illinois. About the only option is Lake Michigan around here, unless you get into Wisconsin and then most are still swarming with oil burners. Not to mention the concrete ramps, shallow water obstructions etc. Hang in there and keep searching for better water.

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lonbordin

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Posted: Jul 24, 2010 - 11:26 PM

The midwest is such a L A R G E area... I find it is not easily stereotyped with one brush. That said...
My "home" beach is Lake Monroe south of Bloomington Indiana.
Concrete boat ramps- check.
Rocky beaches- check.

Nearly all large lakes in my area are man-made so they are all flooded valleys and the side can be vexing when it comes to the wind. Some areas an onshore breeze will result in an offshore wind... wild and can be a real PITA to make it back in to shore.

Today it was 10-12 knots... it has not been 10-12 knots in a loooong time... seems 0-5knots is more common for this time of year. I was out sailing a Laser and my son was on his Jetwind.

It was fun but the power-craft on the lake are so freakin' dangerous... For me they are the worst of all. Two + weeks ago two power-craft collided killing two people. These people did not grow up on the water and have NO IDEA what they are doing... none. Now with the super-fast bass boats and PWC's everywhere it is more crazy than ever. AND the powerboat marina expanded its dock capacity this year, sheesh. When gas really spiked a while back it reduced the load on the lake significantly... I can't wait until it happens again.

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turtlecat

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Registered: Jan 26, 2007

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Posted: Jul 24, 2010 - 11:47 PM

Hey Turbo...I have felt your pain man! I have been constricted to all kinds of crappy put-ins. Yellowhulls, I had the pleasure of doing an on water kayak demo at Lake Carlyle, and I would have to agree - that is the best lake in the area.

Yurdle, have you sailed on Oologah? I have visited Red Bud Marina there, but have never been on the lake itself...looked like a pretty place anyhow.
yurdle

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Posted: Jul 24, 2010 - 11:54 PM

Oologah is beautiful. I've sailed a catalina 25 there, but never a cat. I'm told you can go from Red Bud 9 miles north to the first bridge. I'm also told there are no sand beaches.

Eastern Oklahoma is a much prettier place than central OK, however the total flatness of central OK is very good for wind. The hills around Oologah seem to limit the wind a touch the couple times I've been there.

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Rob
OKC
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turtlecat

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Posted: Jul 25, 2010 - 12:00 AM

Yeah I could see that, but man the beauty of it would be worth a fluky day of sailing...The other place I was thinking of the last time I drove thru your state was Eufaula. Looked like a bunch of wide open space there and good camping too!

edited by: turtlecat, Jul 24, 2010 - 11:09 PM
turbohobo

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Posted: Jul 25, 2010 - 12:21 AM

I'm located in Columbia, MO, home of the MU Tigers, located almost half way between Kansas City and St Louis. Funny you should mention Carlyle Lake, I had planned to take the 3 hr drive to check it out but woke up late, hence the 30 min drive to check out D C Rogers Lake. Looking at a map of Lake Carlyle, it looks like Hazlet State Park would be my place to put in, the only downside is that the lake runs SW to NE and the prevailing wind here is out of the SW. But I have it on my list of lakes to visit, it'd just the distance thing, not like those orange farmers down south who park their cats on the beach 5 min away.

Most of the lakes around here are muddy water, man made holes running N and S, same direction as the winds, so an E - W lake like Mark Twain Lake is ideal, been there a few times, long drive. I think I will check out Lake Carlyle soon, or put a 200HP Yamaha motor on the back of my cat and take up water ski-ing.

Join The Dark Side - go motorhead

Know what you mean about them powerboats, they always seem to think they can get ahead of a sailboat, I just bear more off-wind and keep accelerating, closing the angle on them untill I see the white of their eyes, almost as much of thrill as flying a hull.......almost.

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turtlecat

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Posted: Jul 25, 2010 - 12:33 AM

Turbo I was astounded at the number of sailboats on Carlyle...I asked why the yacht club was doing so well, and the answer was, "its the most water in the area..." I also saw a big beach cat fleet with their own put in - no vehicles allowed on their ramp. Too bad I was stuck on the beach and couldnt check out the wind.
yurdle

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Posted: Jul 25, 2010 - 12:34 AM

turtlecatYeah I could see that, but man the beauty of it would be worth a fluky day of sailing...The other place I was thinking of the last time I drove thru your state was Eufaula. Looked like a bunch of wide open space there and good camping too!edited by: turtlecat, Jul 24, 2010 - 11:09 PM

Some buddies and I took our cats to Eufala last September. We camped in the rain for a few days, and launching wasn't optimal on a concrete ramp, but we actually had a beach about 25 feet from the ramp we could swim the boats to, then rig up, then sail about a mile around the camp area to a huge sand beach at our camp site. By my math the lake has a few areas you can sail 10 miles per stretch without tacking. There ARE stumps to watch out for, but the birds hang out around them so they're not too hard to avoid. Beautiful, huge, place.

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Rob
OKC
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turtlecat

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Posted: Jul 25, 2010 - 12:53 AM

Hey Turbo, I also was at Milford resevoir (Junction City KS)for a day before heading up and over to Kearney Ne. That was some big water for that area, and they had nice camping as well. I think the beaches would be the glitch.

edited by: turtlecat, Jul 24, 2010 - 11:54 PM
yellowhulls17

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Posted: Jul 25, 2010 - 11:59 AM

Making a trip to Lake Carlyle is pretty spectactular for us stuck in areas with little water. I took my Hobie 18 there a few times and had a blast (7 mile long beam reaches are great). Carlyle Sailing Association is at the southern tip of Hazlet State Park, where they have a huge beach area for cats. Last time I was there, there had to be close to 20 cats there alone, minus all the cruisers, J-boats etc..
They have day and week passes at the sailing association, where its cheap to beach your catamaran.
You won't have to worry about lack of wind there either. The lake is anywhere between 2-3.5 miles wide, so the wind is pretty steady.

The main lake in Missouri where I would suggest sailing is Table Rock Lake, but the wind there can be tricky (and pretty far away from Columbia). Mark Twain Lake is a good alternative, although I found there are a LOT of underwater hazards there.

edited by: yellowhulls17, Jul 25, 2010 - 11:05 AM
turbohobo

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Posted: Jul 25, 2010 - 09:03 PM

Tried Table Rock Lake, it's down by Branson, stayed there for a week, surrounded by mountains, same problem with wind being influenced by geography, of the 7 days I was there , I never had wind more than 6 MPH.

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Kevin219

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Posted: Aug 11, 2010 - 10:34 PM

any body in northern Indiana?? we got Lake Michigan of course steady breezes all day when the winds blows. cedar lake has its ups, its dirty as hell but its big and shallow. it warms up really fast in spring and you cant turtle. only get stuck in the mud. and lake Maxinkukcee could be the best in state. crystal clear. second biggest next to monroe ill bet. and there is a military academy for high school kids. they have regattas of monohulls all the times. and us big cats can romp on them:)

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Dr-Gizmo

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Registered: Aug 16, 2010

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Posted: Aug 16, 2010 - 11:37 AM

turbohoboTried Table Rock Lake, it's down by Branson, stayed there for a week, surrounded by mountains, same problem with wind being influenced by geography, of the 7 days I was there , I never had wind more than 6 MPH.

I'm North of KC so I'm always looking for a place to sail....

Smithville Lake- near Smithville, MO isn't too bad- need to sail out of Sailboat Cove. There's a small concrete ramp for day sailing with boulders piled on both sides of it and the shoreline. I discovered you can walk the boat around that mess to a beach area just south of the ramp. The lake itself can be a real zoo on weekends..(Who needs a 30' zillion horsepower Ocean Racer on a man made reservoir?)Water police are preoccupied with the Jet skiers, and seem oblivious to other powered craft doing bone headed stunts.

Lake Jacomo near Lees Summit, MO isn't too bad either- concrete ramp, but it's big so your not really in the way standing in the water while finishing rigging- Powerboats are limited in horsepower so there aren't many of them.

Wyandotte County Lake- near Kansas City, KS actually has a beach to launch from, but it's kind of pricey unless you buy a season pass. Again limited horsepower boats and rangers do a good job keeping them in check.

It ain't perfect, but it's sailing!
turbohobo

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Posted: Aug 17, 2010 - 07:23 PM

I've been so busy with lawn care this summer that I've hardly sailed at all, so this past Saturday I busted loose, booked a cottage and went down to Stockton Lake, 3.5 hrs drive. What a trip, crystal clear blue waters and many other sailors, even though they were all mono-slugs. Still not-so-cat-friendly as the marina was in a sheltered cove with breakwater floating docks and a concrete ramp with floating jetty at the point of entry but it worked out well this time. Rigged the cat in the parking lot, backed into the water, floated cat off and tied up to jetty using my trap bungee cord, parked truck, hoisted main, and stepped off onto tramp after pushing cat out gently, and I was off.

Hit the water at 9.00 am Sunday, air was fresh and cool after a midnight storm bringing in a cold front, wind switched around to the N, looked at the map of Stockton Lake which is like an inverted "V", and the apex of the "V" was the dam wall, just perfect for sailing. Took me 45 min to sail up there and what a hoot. Wind was a steady 15 MPH and I sailed my brains out, fully trapped out, fully blasting. Mono slugs were enjoying my frenzied sailing as much as I was, hooting and hollering whenever I zipped past, what a day.

Finally pulled out the water at 6.30PM, fully stoked and totally wore out, the only bummers was the 3.5 hr drive home. I would recommend the Stockton Lake State Park lodging to any/all trailer sailors in this area, they even rent out pontoon boats for the family. Gonna have to do it again soon.

Later Dudes

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eddiecat

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Posted: Aug 18, 2010 - 02:13 PM

Turbo,

I spend way too much time advising (yelling at) powerboaters about the right-of-way rules, esp party barges with drunk idiots at the helm. Usually have to adjust course anyway, once one idiot actually said "I'm carrying more passengers so I have right of way" to which I was speechless...keep sailin' bro

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eddiecat

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DamonLinkous

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Posted: Aug 18, 2010 - 06:15 PM

It's amazing how much shoreline a "party barge" can use up when they anchor sideways along the shore. Get outa the way!

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
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arch

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Posted: Mar 26, 2013 - 09:41 PM

turbohobo

QuoteI would recommend the Stockton Lake State Park lodging to any/all trailer sailors in this area

don't know if you're still trolling this website but i have a question for you if you read this. when you stayed at stockton state park in missouri, in the cabins, where did you keep your cat on the beach? the cabins appear to be pretty far from the water.
thanks!
j

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