We had rented a houseboat previously at Lake Havasu and really enjoyed the convenience of taking your hotel with you! We considered renting a houseboat at Lake Powell, but the lead time and considerable expense dulled the attraction. While surfing the net, I came across a web page for houseboat rentals at the Lake of the Ozarks. The price for a week was about 60% of what a Lake Powell rental would cost.
We thought about it and decided we’d spend some extra cash for travel and lodging to get there, but it looked like a great adventure. One friend had been to nearby Table Rock Lake the previous summer and loved the place. Then we read about the Party Cove and that convinced us! We could see how the Party Cove compared to Lake Havasu’s Copper Canyon and the Sandbar.
Our group consisted of my wife, Tonna, myself, and two other friends, Tom and Kathy, towing my 22’ Advantage Sport Cat. Tony and Kim, their family, with their Baja 270, and the family of Dale and Michelle, with their Chaparral 2335.
Without killing ourselves, it took two full days to make the trek from Phoenix to Osage Beach at the Lake of the Ozarks. We had hoped to pick up our houseboat, find a place to moor it and then go find the Party Cove. We had about 20 miles of lake to cover with the boats to get to the State Park at Osage Beach. One thing different we noticed was that it appeared that most of the lake’s shoreline is privately owned. Therefore, we really were limited as to where we could beach this behemoth of a houseboat! Most people probably wouldn’t have taken too kindly to having a houseboat and three other boats tied up in front of their house. Hey, we’re friendly people, but some folks probably wouldn’t have appreciated our company!
We finally left the marina at about 4 PM and we were on our way to Osage Beach. Once everything was stowed, we had planned to tie the boats behind the houseboat and have a leisurely cruise topside; turn on some tunes, open the coolers and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Wrong. They got Tony’s boat tied up and while trying to get Dale’s and my boats hooked up behind Tony’s, a few of us ended up in the water attempting to keep the boats from banging into each other. The problem was getting everyone onto the houseboat, keep the boats in line and get the houseboat pointed in the right direction. I neglected to mention that at this point, the wind had kicked up and we were dealing with two-foot swells. Granted, nothing disastrous, but enough to make securing the boats a pain!
We finally got all the boats tied together and put on some dry clothes. We had been cruising up the lake for about 20 minutes when we heard a loud "snap". Panic! The rope between Tony’s boat and the houseboat broke leaving the three boats on their own to bump and bang into each other as they pleased! Back into the water we went! Tony ended up getting his boat hooked back up to the houseboat. Dale and I decided we had been in the water enough this afternoon and figured we’d just cruise along side the houseboat to Osage Beach.
On a more positive note, it was nice to see all that green. Most of our gang is transplanted desert dwellers, originally from the Midwest or back east. The homes on the cliffs were very impressive to say the least! It’s easy to be impressed by huge waterfront homes that not only have private covered docks, but also a seaplane or helicopter! There is certainly some big money in that area!
Most mornings I was rousting someone out of bed to go skiing for an hour or two. Nice smooth water. We would head out later each morning to explore a different arm of the lake. We had pulled a bunch of info off the web on all the restaurants along the lake. Some of the places worth checking out are Bayou Bills, Shooters 21, The Barge, The Wharf, Big Dick’s (you have to try a shot with a live minnow in it at this place!), The Salty Dog and HaHa Tonka State Park. My favorite places had to be Shooters 21 and The Salty Dog.
Tom and I stopped to check out the Party Cove late Friday afternoon. There were about 5 houseboats and 30 other boats in the cove. A lot of nice machinery! We spoke with one group at length. They had three "little" boats with them. A 40’ Sea Ray, a 32’ Skater w/twin 600SC’s and a 36-foot Hustler. Money, money, money! Turned out the guy with the Sea Ray owned a dealership in St. Louis that carried Sea Ray, Advantage, Hustler and Skater. They had originally thought I was someone they knew who had an Advantage like mine. Where do I sign up to open one of those dealerships? We were there in mid June and they said that it was really before "the season" started. July and August it really gets cranked up. He said on a weekend the Party Cove, which looked about a mile long, would be packed. Damn, we were victims of poor planning! Wrong month and we show up on Sunday afternoon and leave Saturday morning. Next time......
Here are a few observations on the differences between boating in the Southwest and boating at the Lake of the Ozarks. There were a lot more big boats, meaning 36’ Fountains, Hustlers, Skaters etc. We have our share of big boats out here, but not to that extent. Probably 50% of the boats at Lake Havasu are 22 feet or smaller. We never saw a low slung jetboat sporting over the transom headers. Couple of jet skis, but no jetboats. I rarely saw anything smaller then my 22 foot Sport Cat. This would probably be due to the next comparison: Bigger water.
The mornings and evenings were smooth, but if the sun was out, the big boats were also out there kicking it up! The week we were at the lake, it seemed there was always a 10-15 mph breeze during the afternoons. Just north of Osage Beach there’s a new bridge that’s wasn’t on any of our maps. That area seemed to be the roughest for some reason. We did OK. My boat, being the smallest, fared satisfactorily, but I don’t think I’d want to be there in anything smaller! I’d just run her at 40 or 50 mph, trim it up and try to keep both sponsons on top of the mix!
Top off your gas tanks early! We tried to find gas after 6 PM one day and pulled into 5 or 6 gas docks. Every one was closed. Maybe they’re open longer during "the season"?
Would I go back, sure, but I'd like to have a bigger boat. Tony still goes back every July. They stay in one of the local condos now though. They have one on the water in Osage Beach. Last year they made another trip in August for the Big Bud Shootout. We might try and make that one this year!
