rheimb1
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2014
- Messages
- 90
- Fluid Motion Model
- R-25 SC
- Vessel Name
- Ruby Rose
I thought I would offer our story on the Snake River to the Tri Cities and back cruise. We left July 30th from Boyer Park which is 35 miles downstream of Lewiston. We chose that spot to launch as I wasn’t sure if we could make it back to Lewiston from the Tri Cities on our R-25. You can currently only get diesel at Clover Island at a dirt-cheap price of $2.14! The marina there was very nice, yet very noisy and not one staff person anywhere to be found even after a month of trying to get a reservation…meh, we found an empty spot! Fuel wise we burned 30 gallons downstream and 50 on the return. It was 105 miles each way. We took our time going upstream in the slow moving pools to get better mileage because going upstream in the free flowing river we were only getting between 1.3 to 1.8 NMPG and there is a definite current all the time.
Boyer, plans to have diesel available sometime in the future. It’s also the only other marina on the Snake beside Lyons Ferry Marina which is at MP 60 (60 to the Columbia) or about 45 miles from Boyer or 75 from Lewiston. Both are nice marinas with a limited store and restaurant. At Lyons, if you need a pump-out you’ll need your own fitting that connects with their 2” female camlock.
The Palouse River meets the Snake at Lyons Ferry and has created a large bay about 1/2 mile wide and a mile long all reportedly to be 35’ to 50’ deep. The deepest we found was 18’! If it’s hot like it was for us, expect a lot of wave surfers until 8pm then it’s as beautiful as any bay. Speaking of hot, 104 degrees kept us from making good time due to the frequent swim stops for cooling off! The refrigerator ran over time but just a few weeks prior I added a second solar panel for just an occasion! Thanks, Kurt, for helping trouble shoot that one.
There are many more places to anchor or tie than I originally thought. The Corps of Engineers has a lot wildlife projects that include lots of irrigation. Some trails to walk on too. Most have a good short dock with steel pilings. Not to mention there are a few Corps campground as well. We pulled into Fishhook which was close for renovations, so we had it to ourselves…at least we thought. We did not even think about the wildlife, ducks, geese, deer, coyotes and yes even a racoon, we slept while he snacked! He left with a gut ache I am sure as 2 pounds of cherries, 3 avocados, 2 candy bars, 1 apple, a few sticks of chewing gum and 2 cinnamon rolls disappeared, the C-rolls is the one that made me mad!
The only hair-raising event was in a lock. These locks are made for barges not recreational craft. In the locks you are required to be attached, but do not tie securely to the floating bollards, they say. That way if the bollard hangs up in its channel and you simply "let go" that way it doesn’t drag the boat underwater or lift it out of the water if going up. We are talking about a 100 feet of lift. The locks average about 85 by 700 feet so there is huge volume of water rushing in from the bottom. We were going up 4 feet every 10 seconds and this boiling water forces you away from the wall. The bow was getting way to far away from the wall putting strain on the stern line and the thruster could not maintain our position. To make long story short we had to release of our stern line on the bollard and free float in the whirling blender, sitting crosswise and moving forward toward the wall and then backwards and sideways and oh gosh it seemed a lot narrower than 84 feet at the moment as it was a crazy combination of forward and back and thruster use! Oh my! The lock operator said, "nice job!" I was thinking where’s the head?
Overall it was a beautiful trip and will do it again, other than the barges, there are almost no boats once you get a mile away from launch ramps they as thin out quickly, you can go for 10 miles and not see another boat, so you need to be prepare, no cell service for 90 miles, anywhere, until you get closer to the Tri-Cities. We loved the solitude. We pulled one disabled boat back to a ramp and notified a dam operator via VHS channel 14, on another. We were on the river for 7 nights. I have a few pictures in my photo album. I’m really surprised that more people don’t take advantage of a trip like that, if you have a trailer of course!
Boyer, plans to have diesel available sometime in the future. It’s also the only other marina on the Snake beside Lyons Ferry Marina which is at MP 60 (60 to the Columbia) or about 45 miles from Boyer or 75 from Lewiston. Both are nice marinas with a limited store and restaurant. At Lyons, if you need a pump-out you’ll need your own fitting that connects with their 2” female camlock.
The Palouse River meets the Snake at Lyons Ferry and has created a large bay about 1/2 mile wide and a mile long all reportedly to be 35’ to 50’ deep. The deepest we found was 18’! If it’s hot like it was for us, expect a lot of wave surfers until 8pm then it’s as beautiful as any bay. Speaking of hot, 104 degrees kept us from making good time due to the frequent swim stops for cooling off! The refrigerator ran over time but just a few weeks prior I added a second solar panel for just an occasion! Thanks, Kurt, for helping trouble shoot that one.
There are many more places to anchor or tie than I originally thought. The Corps of Engineers has a lot wildlife projects that include lots of irrigation. Some trails to walk on too. Most have a good short dock with steel pilings. Not to mention there are a few Corps campground as well. We pulled into Fishhook which was close for renovations, so we had it to ourselves…at least we thought. We did not even think about the wildlife, ducks, geese, deer, coyotes and yes even a racoon, we slept while he snacked! He left with a gut ache I am sure as 2 pounds of cherries, 3 avocados, 2 candy bars, 1 apple, a few sticks of chewing gum and 2 cinnamon rolls disappeared, the C-rolls is the one that made me mad!
The only hair-raising event was in a lock. These locks are made for barges not recreational craft. In the locks you are required to be attached, but do not tie securely to the floating bollards, they say. That way if the bollard hangs up in its channel and you simply "let go" that way it doesn’t drag the boat underwater or lift it out of the water if going up. We are talking about a 100 feet of lift. The locks average about 85 by 700 feet so there is huge volume of water rushing in from the bottom. We were going up 4 feet every 10 seconds and this boiling water forces you away from the wall. The bow was getting way to far away from the wall putting strain on the stern line and the thruster could not maintain our position. To make long story short we had to release of our stern line on the bollard and free float in the whirling blender, sitting crosswise and moving forward toward the wall and then backwards and sideways and oh gosh it seemed a lot narrower than 84 feet at the moment as it was a crazy combination of forward and back and thruster use! Oh my! The lock operator said, "nice job!" I was thinking where’s the head?
Overall it was a beautiful trip and will do it again, other than the barges, there are almost no boats once you get a mile away from launch ramps they as thin out quickly, you can go for 10 miles and not see another boat, so you need to be prepare, no cell service for 90 miles, anywhere, until you get closer to the Tri-Cities. We loved the solitude. We pulled one disabled boat back to a ramp and notified a dam operator via VHS channel 14, on another. We were on the river for 7 nights. I have a few pictures in my photo album. I’m really surprised that more people don’t take advantage of a trip like that, if you have a trailer of course!
