Welcome to the LHC Marine Association
Havasu Powersports is the new Personal Watercraft, Yamaha Jet Boats, Sea Do and BRP dealer for Lake Havasu. With a complete line of trailers available, a demo ride is immediately available and you can take your new purchase home the same day! A complete service department with Factory trained technicians rounds out the well stocked store.
Welcome Havasu Powersports!
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THE DREDGING PROJECT IS COMPLETE! IT TOOK 21 DAYS RATHER THAN THE FORECASTED 10 DAYS AND WE HAD TO REALIGN THE CHANNEL. THE RESULT IS A MINIMUM 2.5' DEPTH AT THE LOWEST POSSIBLE LAKE LEVEL- 445'. DURING BOATING SEASON THAT RESULTS IN MINIMUM DEPTHS OF 5-6'. THE COAST GUARD HAS APPROVED THE BUOYS AS OF FEBRUARY 8.
THE WATER LEVELS ARE BACK UP AND EXPECTED TO STAY IN THE 448' RANGE THROUGH FEBRUARY.
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ALL PERMITS ARE IN- WE START THE DREDGING PROCESS DECEMBER 5!
Dredging upriver to begin
By JACKIE LEATHERMAN
Today's News-Herald
Sunday, December 4, 2011
A major threat to boats’ propellers along the Colorado River north of Lake Havasu City is about to be eliminated. The Lake Havasu Marine Association received permission within the past week to dredge a half-mile long channel near Catfish Bay. The area is about three miles north of Windsor Beach and will stretch 50-feet wide and soon be 4-feet deep – instead of its current average depth of fewer than two feet.
After the association worked for nearly a year to gain support of state, federal and tribal agencies, the permits came just in time to complete the project before a Dec. 31 deadline. Association Executive Director Jim Salscheider said this was the first time a non-profit, the instrumental Chemehuevi Tribe, five federal agencies and two California agencies have worked in unison on a river project. “That’s never been done before,” he said “It opens up the potential for other significant projects and interaction on the lake. Everybody told me when we started this we would never get all the agencies to agree to dredge the mouth of the river.”
Dredging, which removes built-up dirt and silt, is expected to begin Tuesday on the 10-day project that cost upwards of $60,000, he said. The Association fundraised for the project. Biology concerns about the project affecting the upcoming reproduction season of two endangered fish in the river necessitated that it must be completed by the end of the year, said Dick Gilbert, the project leader at the Lake Havasu National Wildlife Refuge Complex. “It is a big project,” Gilbert said. “There are a lot of agencies involved to pull something like this off and the Marine Association has to be commended for stepping up.”
Gilbert said the area has never been dredged before. He explained water – carrying dirt and silt from upstream – flows down the Colorado River at around 6 mph. The river then “hits the lake,” which has slower water flows. “Suddenly you hit water that is not moving so the river slows, any sediment the river is carrying drops out as soon as you hit the lake,” Gilbert said. “That delta has been forming out there slowly ever since they closed Parker Dam and created the lake. It’s just a natural occurrence with lakes like this that have a real good inflow. Hopefully this channel will have some longevity to it.”
Salscheider stressed the Chemehuevi Tribe was the Association’s “partner” in the project. Without the support of the California tribe on the other side of the Lake, he said the permits wouldn’t have been obtained on time and questions if at all. “Would we have ultimately gotten them? I don’t know,” he said. “I know their support and influence was considerable. We had support from them. That changes the whole dynamic with these agencies. They are a sovereign nation and they have significant rights on the lake.”
Chemehuevi Tribal Chairman Charles Wood said they felt the project needed to be completed for safety, first, and secondly, to try to decrease the amount of silt gathering in agricultural pumps in the area. “We’re happy,” he said. “This seems like one of the few times (all the agencies have worked together) and hopefully there will be more in the future. But, ultimately I think this will be a great project.
That particular point of the river, sometimes when the water is low, is less than 18 inches of water. We haven’t had any serious accidents, (but) lots of (boat propeller) damage. That is the major thing in doing that. We are going to reduce it to a no-wake zone. (That is a) narrow point of the river, anyway, and I think the speed should be lowered there to begin with.”
Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Trish Carter said Friday she couldn’t provide comments on if dredging will impact boating safety. However, Salscheider forwarded a MCSO letter of support, signed by Sheriff Tom Sheahan and dated July 27, to Today’s News-Herald. “The enhancements to public safety that will be made possible by completion of this project are an urgent necessity,” the letter states.
Once dredged, project leaders said that will open up 60 miles of clear waterways between Davis and Parker Dams. “You have 60 miles of the best cruising in the west with resorts on both ends and the city in the middle,” Salscheider said.
Dredged, the River will run through it quicker
Today's News-Herald
Published Friday, November 18, 2011 8:24 AM MST
At its core, dredging a river bottom is a pretty unglamorous project. But the results of dredging a reliable channel between Lake Havasu and the Colorado River will offer bountiful benefits to boaters. If all goes as planned, the dredging could begin around the beginning of December, says Jim Salscheider, the head of the Lake Havasu Marine Association. Finished, it will connect Catfish Bay with the river using a 50-foot-wide channel. This will eliminate the guesswork and uncertainty of shallow water in the area, a place described as a chokepoint in the 60 mile cruise between Parker and Davis dams. The project has wide support, especially among the various law enforcement agencies on the lake, because of safety. Though there are few serious accidents in the area, officials say it’s only a matter of time before a tragedy occurs if the shallow area is left alone. Even without bloodshed, the area eats boat props unmercifully.
The Marine Association had to do a lot of onshore navigation to get the dredging approved. More than a half dozen federal and state agencies have a say in the permitting, offering ample opportunities for delays. That the job is likely to get done in December, arguably one of the least popular boating months, is a remarkable testament to the persistence of the Marine Association and its executive director.
The project seems to enjoy wide support among boaters as well as officials. The only point of contention is over the no-wake zone created by the channel’s buoy line. Some argue that other shallow water in the area make on-plane boating the safest way to get through the area, a contention that probably depends greatly upon the individual boat. For most, a safer, calmer transit is probably worth an extra couple of minutes enduring no-wake speeds. And for many of those, it will take no extra time because many boaters take it very slow though the area now. Though there’s some debate about the depth of the new channel, due to river flow fluctuations, it is designed to be at least four feet deep, says Salscheider. Right now, the water level is a foot or less at times.
The dredging offers a great improvement. Congratulations to the Marine Association for its strong work on the project.
CLICK ON THE PAY PAL ICON AT TOP LEFT OF THE PAGE AND MAKE A DONATION. IT MAY SAVE YOU A PROP REPAIR! AND IT ASSISTS US IN MAINTAINING OUR SAFETY AND LAKE CLEANLINESS PROJECTS!
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MCSO investigates two watercraft accidents
By JAYNE HANSON
TODAY’S NEWS-HERALD
Published Monday, June 7, 2011
"Be careful at the mouth of the river!"
Mohave County Sheriff’s Office investigated two separate single-watercraft collisions Saturday that occurred on the Colorado River — one injuring a California woman and the second tossed two men, but both were uninjured. “One (boat accident) was minor (and resulted) with a hurt back,” said MCSO Sgt. Doug Schuster on Monday. “And one (boat) flipped over but no one was hurt.”
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SEE NEWS FLASH ABOVE FOR LATEST ARTICLE ON BOOZE AND BOATING, FROM PERFORMANCE BOATS MAGAZINE.! ALL AGENCIES WE MET WITH IN LAUGHLIN JUDGED IT TO BE THE BEST WRITTEN, MOST BALANCED ARTICLE THEY HAVE EVER READ ON THE SUBJECT! ALSO SEE ARTICLE FROM THE NEW POWERBOAT MAGAZINE! AND THE LONDON BRIDGE YACHT CLUB HAS JOINED IN THE CAMPAIGN BY FUNDING WRIST BANDS FOR AZ STATE PARKS. SEE NEWS FLASH ABOVE!
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IF YOU LIKE WHAT WE DO, CONSIDER A MEMBERSHIP. WE NEED YOUR HELP! SEE MEMBERSHIP ABOVE.
Join an association of marine professionals who are excited about the growth and achievement of our community. Our City's growth and success is due to the wonderful boating community and the visitors who come here year around. We welcome you!
Lake Havasu City is home to many brands, all within a five mile radius! There may be no other City in the US where you can see such a diversity of boat models within a short drive. Traffic? Not here! And within that five mile radius is access to the Lake for a test drive. How sweet is that?
Service? All make and models within that same area. Engines, outdrives, bimini tops and covers, fiberglass repair, custom detailing, new upholstery, accessories - we have it all! Why tow your boat back and forth from home when you can store it in one of our members storage facilities? Save gas and wear and tear. And some will launch and retrieve your boat as part of their service!
If you are interested in joining us, click on MEMBERSHIP, and choose your plan. Mail us a check and you will receive our meeting notices, meeting summaries and be listed on our web site based on the plan you choose. Please include your E Mail address.
Fun on the water through education and safety is not only our motto but also our way of life.
