Took a drive up to Berryessa today to see if there was enough water to launch. Went to my usual spot at Steele Park and found the water to be about 40-45 feet down; still some ramp in the water but not much. The cove is reduced to less than 600' across.
Then the news from the resort employees, the resort's lease expires May 25 2009 and the whole resort is to be demolished. I don't know if it's by regulation for what is happening or out of spite by the former operators but they said they had to "tear out every pipe, every electrical line, every road, everything".
I asked if the 6-lane ramp was to be torn out, they said yep, along with the store, the marina, all of it.
Five resorts on the lake--all that had been under separate ownerships--were "awarded" to Pensus Group of Arizona. One other resort is already under operation by Forever Resorts, a houseboat company. Word is that Pensus owns Forever too. The BOR seems to have given Pensus a total monopoly at the lake, except for Markley Cove which somehow escaped and is still going to be run by the current owners.
This despite YEARS of outcry from every lake users group imaginable, bassboaters to wakeboarders and everyone in between, and the homeowners at the lake who weren't elite enough and got kicked out and their homes demolished. The public's voice was gagged in favor of a few special interest tree-huggers and bureaucratic bungling at its finest.
Lake B is now a ghost town, as predicted. The only good news is that for the next couple of months, it's the ultimate speedway because NOBODY is out there. Until water levels drop too much to be able to launch, and if no rain gets here, that'll be within probably 30-60 days.
The lake will be remanufactured into something unrecognizable. It may take years to get there, and in the meantime it is going to be a "total mess" according to lake oldtimers I spoke with today.
This year's boating season pretty much looks washed out here. The Red Bluff races were cancelled because of some @#$% enviromentalist, the Chowchilla races are threatened from lack of water, so it looks like no drags for hundreds of miles--Dexter, OR for the CDBA and Phoenix for the IHBA opener. And now, owing to a combination of drought and government, no local lake. The delta pretty much looks like the only game in town and this summer the salinity will likely be way up. Maybe I just spend the summer in Tennessee!!
RIP Lake B, and thanks to all of you who came to the 2006 WAR there.
Anybody got a canoe? :rolling eyes
Then the news from the resort employees, the resort's lease expires May 25 2009 and the whole resort is to be demolished. I don't know if it's by regulation for what is happening or out of spite by the former operators but they said they had to "tear out every pipe, every electrical line, every road, everything".
I asked if the 6-lane ramp was to be torn out, they said yep, along with the store, the marina, all of it.
Five resorts on the lake--all that had been under separate ownerships--were "awarded" to Pensus Group of Arizona. One other resort is already under operation by Forever Resorts, a houseboat company. Word is that Pensus owns Forever too. The BOR seems to have given Pensus a total monopoly at the lake, except for Markley Cove which somehow escaped and is still going to be run by the current owners.
This despite YEARS of outcry from every lake users group imaginable, bassboaters to wakeboarders and everyone in between, and the homeowners at the lake who weren't elite enough and got kicked out and their homes demolished. The public's voice was gagged in favor of a few special interest tree-huggers and bureaucratic bungling at its finest.
Lake B is now a ghost town, as predicted. The only good news is that for the next couple of months, it's the ultimate speedway because NOBODY is out there. Until water levels drop too much to be able to launch, and if no rain gets here, that'll be within probably 30-60 days.
The lake will be remanufactured into something unrecognizable. It may take years to get there, and in the meantime it is going to be a "total mess" according to lake oldtimers I spoke with today.
This year's boating season pretty much looks washed out here. The Red Bluff races were cancelled because of some @#$% enviromentalist, the Chowchilla races are threatened from lack of water, so it looks like no drags for hundreds of miles--Dexter, OR for the CDBA and Phoenix for the IHBA opener. And now, owing to a combination of drought and government, no local lake. The delta pretty much looks like the only game in town and this summer the salinity will likely be way up. Maybe I just spend the summer in Tennessee!!
RIP Lake B, and thanks to all of you who came to the 2006 WAR there.
Anybody got a canoe? :rolling eyes
Last edited:
SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD TIME TO GET OUT OF THE LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS!!!!!:beer::beer: