From the Styx by Peggy Tibbetts

Every June, Tod and I make our annual pilgrimage to Lake Powell, which I call the 8th Wonder of the World. The trip takes about 6 hours with the camper, boat and now 2 dogs. We put our boat in at Bullfrog Marina and set up our camper in the RV Park.

Bullfrog has no cell service, no internets. The closest town is Hanksville, Utah, 40 miles away. Once you head south on Hwy 95 into the desert, you depend on the kindness of strangers – and extra gas cans. It’s the US version of the Outback.

We’ve had some unusual experiences over the years. This year was exceptionally unusual.

Our boat is an 18-year old Thompson with a 240hp OMC/IO. We’ve taken immaculate care with it and it’s been a reliable vessel – until we had the engine overhauled last year. I won’t bore you with the details. It’s the same old story – hasn’t worked right since. Tod put in a new battery, changed the oil, and we took it for test run on Rifle Gap a couple weeks ago. Still shifted hard, but the engine ran smoothly.

Late Monday afternoon, we put the boat in water at Bullfrog. Tod drove it over to the rental docks and moored it for the night. We set up camp and ventured out to the dock early Tuesday morning. After a sweltering night with a low of 90 degrees, we were anxious to get out on the lake. The dogs, Venus (Great Pyrenees/Lab mix) and Zeus (Malamute) were hot and crabby.

Venus is a year old. We adopted her on Easter Sunday. She’s been a huge challenge – from separation anxiety to escape artist – but we’ve been training her hard. This was her 3rd camping trip and her 2nd boat ride, so she was ready. We haven’t been able to let her off leash outside our own yard because she bolts. Our plan that morning was to motor to an island and let her and Zeus go crazy. She loves to swim and we brought plenty of tennis balls to fetch. Plus a shade tent for Zeus. 

About 15 minutes into the bay, we heard a clunk. The engine quit. Every time Tod tried to start it – clunk. We weren’t dead in the water for even 5 minutes when another boat pulled up. A family of 4 towed our boat to the landing and delivered Tod to the Marina to pick up the truck and trailer. They told Tod a story about last year when their new boat caught fire and they had to depend on the kindness of strangers. “What goes around, comes around,” the man said. “Do something nice for someone else.”

Imagine if people lived by that creed everywhere – not just on Lake Powell.

Meanwhile, by then it was about 100 degrees, so I beached the boat and cooled the hot dogs in the water while we waited for Tod. We pulled the boat out and parked it at the campsite. We weren’t about to turn around and drive 6 hours home. We headed to the Marina to rent a boat.

The first boat wouldn’t start, so they set us up with another boat. An hour and $1,000 later, we headed into the bay. But the noisy outboard engine ran ragged. Since we’d already missed a half day on the lake we didn’t want to turn back. Instead we found an island not far from the Marina, beached and tied the boat and went swimming. We spent the afternoon there about 100 feet offshore. The dogs had a blast. Swimming. Chasing lizards. Walking on the beach. Eating dead fish. (Venus! Yuck!) We didn’t leash or tether Venus. Didn’t need to. The harsh desert terrain intimidated her. She stayed close.

Zeus also herded her occasionally. He’s an unusual Malamute. He swims. He grew up romping with Labs on the banks of the Colorado River. They taught him to swim. Although he hated the loud outboard motor on the rental boat. His ears are huge, and sensitive.

A friendly loon paddled around, watching us all afternoon. A fitting visitor.

Our boat troubles didn’t end at the island. Tuesday’s boat with the faulty motor made it back to the Marina okay. Wednesday morning Tod told the boat rental crew that the engine was missing. The rental supervisor thought he said the boat was missing and ran out on the dock frantically looking for it. The boat rental crew just oozed competence.

“No,” Tod explained. “The boat’s motor isn’t working right.” They wanted us to wait for the mechanic to fix it, but Tod argued that for the money we’d put down, they needed to give us another boat. Like, now.

The boat rental dude showed us another one and boasted, “This is the employee boat. Just took it out yesterday. I know it works.”

We motored for a half hour to a sheltered cove and tied up. We set up the sun tent and went swimming. No one bothered us. We had our own private pool. After lunch we noticed the tent was missing. We searched everywhere but the wind must’ve carried it into open water. Maybe someone picked it up. Or else it sank. We’ll never know.

When it was time to head back, we pulled the boat out of the cove and paddled through the narrow channel. Once we were clear of the rocks, the motor wouldn’t start. Then Tod flooded it trying to start it. He tried calling the Marina on the radio. But the radio didn’t work.

Tod paddled awhile. I told him, “Zeus likes this speed. All he needs now is a little Spa73 on the Sirius radio.” Zeus loves new age music – makes him sleepy.

Eventually the engine sputtered, blasted blue smoke and kicked in. Zeus groaned. We headed for the Marina before it changed its mind.

The trip home was uneventful until 15 miles away we saw smoke coming from the direction of Silt. We tried calling Ema but no answer. The fire was on Jolley Mesa, about 4 miles east of Silt. You can read all about it in The Paper. It’s 100% contained now.

Next year we’re planning to rent a houseboat and take the whole family. Loon-acy loves company!

Click here for photos of the dogs and Lake Powell. The photos of the sun tent and our boat are from last year. Be sure to click on the photo captioned, “Chillin”. It’s a hoot!

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