Wyoming Sailing... what in the heck?

[Lancer28]

Hi Guys

I've had my little sailboat laid up for a while after a long trip in the Gulf, so I'm only just getting started this year on sailing inland again.

I've sailed all over Colorado and Nebraska's Big Mac, and only Guernsey in Wyoming, which was a semi-dried mass of muddy goo full of biting flies. It was so low that people dropping thier boats in on the morning, couldn't get them back because the water was being dumped out so fast the lake was loosing feet by the day. Tractors were employed in the afternoon to pull the stuck boat trailers and 4x4's off of the rocky bottom of the ramp.

SO I'm looking for advice on which lakes to go to next. My criteria is a deep boat ramp (hard of course), some sort of services nearby the lake that I could get provisions, or drive a short drive to, and hopefully a mast or ginpole system to assist in raising the mast.

Some lakes I'd like to see are Flaming Gorge and Bear Lake in the Wyoming / Idaho / Utah zone. I'd also like to see Glendo and Seminoe.

Thanks for any help!

[catamount]

What about Yellowstone?

[RickQuann]

http://www.lakesidelodge.com/ Fremont lake

I've stayed at this place before, very nice, good restaurant, marina on site and I believe they host an invitational regatta every year.

'Course the largest Lake is going to be Yellowstone.

[bobmcgov]

Guernsey's about the worst lake to sail: shallow, hot, buggy, and (as you note) essentially drained dry every summer. The draw-down usually begins around July 4th, but in these drought years it was never full to start. A bigger, deeper, and better reservoir is Glendo, just north of Guernsey. Went there this spring, when it was very full. Had a good time, though five busted ribs cast a pall over the weekend. Lots of powerboats.

Central WY: Seminoe, Pathfinder, and Alcova. Seminoe is classic desert canyon reservoir, snaky with hard bottoms and lots of inlets. Pathfinder is a wider, rounder lake; it only has one real ramp, but it works even in very low water. Minimal boat traffic, nice beaches, clean western shore so the winds just HOWL across that lake. Beam reaching heaven, 8 miles long in good times. Alcova is the smallest of the bunch, but it is the most developed and has a very active sailing scene. Biggest fleets are J22/U22 and J24, most sailing out of the Casper Boat Club.



Alcova is only about 1x3 miles, with an island in the middle, and it's snuggled in a little basin -- so the wind swirls like hell. And the number of soused Casper speedboaters .... But it is always full of water, so that's worth something.

Fremont is our goal this summer: narrow, ten miles long, very cold and deep, and nestled below my favorite place on this planet -- the Wind River Mountains.



Wind is less reliable than the Plains lakes, tho. Nearly all Forest Service land, so you can camp & walk as you please. It's Pinedale's water supply, so observe the sanitation guidelines.

Yellowstone is the biggest, and a very serious lake in some ways. But you gotta wade thru Park Service red tape to sail on it, and camping, anchoring, and so on are tightly restricted. Also, the best launch is on the wrong side of the fishing bridge. Jackson Lake is also Park Service, more or less, but the Teton rangers are a MUCH cooler bunch to deal with. Watch for aggressive grizz on the western shore.

Other lakes: Boysen, Half Moon, Fontenelle, and Flaming Gorge.

[RickQuann]

Originally Posted by bobmcgov

Fremont is our goal this summer: narrow, ten miles long, very cold and deep, and nestled below my favorite place on this planet -- the Wind River Mountains.

Amen Bob, outside of sailing, treking in and around the Wind River Range is first class. The Winds are spectacular

Titcomb Basin

[Lancer28]

Thanks for the input. I've added these to my list.

From the sounds of things, I'll skip taking my BIG boat to a lake until I have a chance to check it out and sail it in my 8' el toro (cat rig) or 14' Dynamic (like an olympic fratcional masthead sloop).

[Lancer28]

Oh - and let me add this: If you have a dinghy that you want to get warmed up with or have some good fun with, Rainbow Res, 15 minutes from cheyenne (and it's two other companion lakes) are GREAT!

Black Crow or whatever it is called doesn't allow powered boats, and Rainbow is only under 15hp so that snuffs it out for some, but my two smaller smaller boats are all sail.

Rainbow has SWEET little coves and runs to explore back into and we've spent a couple of days exploring that one on our el toro. We did have to bring the 2hp DT2 outboard and douse the main a couple of times because the back sides of some of the canyons got swirly or even completely dry for wind.