I’ve been to Lake Powell with large groups a few different times. One trip had 7 house boats and over 120 people and 8 speed boats. I’ve also gone with groups as small as one house boat and tent camping. Either way, this list will help you plan no matter the size. Pick and choose what makes sense for your group and make sure to PLAN AHEAD!
- Make sure meals are planned well in advance. Here are some suggestions:
- Split into 3 teams and each team cooks breakfast and dinner on Thu/Fri/Sat + clean-up. Lunch is on your own. Each team buys water and alcohol for their team.
- Everyone provides 1 person with money to buy meals for entire boat
- Split into 4 teams and cook dinner each night for the boat. All other meals are on your own
- Collect $600-800 for fuel and ice in advance so that you don’t need to worry about collecting funds during the trip or after
- Note: You will need to refuel the House Boat (HB) upon return which cost $258 in 2011
- Arrive at the Marina on time (SPECIFY TIME). The house boat departs on time and you will be left behind if you miss it. Each person will be responsible to stay and empty the HB and prepare it for inspection. No exceptions. No arriving mid-trip or departing early. We will not be near the marina and late pick-ups and drop-offs take up precious time on the speedboats. If you are unable to attend and have made a deposit / full-payment than you are personally responsible to sell your spot.
- Freeze ice bottles and pre-made food to help with ice needs
- Each boat should bring 1-2 shade tents for the beach.
- Each HB should bring at least 8 bundles of wood for the bonfire on the beach at night
- Each HB will have 12 deck chairs. You may choose to bring 2-3 additional chairs for the beach.
- ATTENTION Speed Boat owners. Here are some things to think about and discuss with your HB:
- What equipment do you have?
- Do you have enough life jackets for everyone on your boat?
- Will you allow others to drive your speed boat?
- What rules do other drivers need to be aware of?
- What insurance coverage do you have?
- Do other drivers need to be insured?
- Do you have back-up gas tanks so that fewer trips to the marina are needed?
- How much time will you be on the water?
- How much time will each person on your boat be able to be on the water
- NO ONE is allowed to drive the boats or wave runners while drinking. We’ll leave the drinking for the bonfire’s.
- Most people will want to sleep on the deck of the HB at night. Be courteous and bring small mats vs. large air mattresses so that everyone can fit.
Lake Powell Checklist for each HB:
- BYOB and meals for 4 days
- Small sleeping mats for each person
- Koozies
- Frozen bottles of water (used to keep food cold the first day or two)
- Large Coolers (combine coolers once onboard and return unused coolers to your vehicle)
- Wool blankets to cover coolers to keep ice longer
- Red solo cups + black marker
- Paper plates
- iPods for music for the day
- Firewood
- Extra gas tanks filled a the gas stations in Page, AZ
- Tubes for lounging in the water around the boat
- Costumes for the theme night
- Sleeping bags / Pillows
- Games – Frisbee, Football, Ping Pong Balls for Beer Pong, cards, water guns
- Sunblock
- Bathroom sprays
- Hiking shoes
- Towel
- Camera
- Rectangular 3” bucket for the entrance to your boat in which folks can wash their feet before going onto the boat.
- Small air mattress or sleeping pad
- Camelback
- Bug Spray
- Coffee
- Party attitude
Ideas:
Create Theme Nights
Rules of Conduct:
Be it known throughout the 7 seas that the Captains and intrepid crews of the hereby consent and agree to the following rules of conduct, or suffer the consequences!
- Smoking – There is a single designated smoking area on each houseboat – the top deck (always downwind of others enjoying the view). No smoking in any other areas of the houseboats at any time.
- Ahem… “Smokin” – Off the boat only. Your business, we are all adults. Just be sure to take it outside.
- Nudity – Each boat will set its own policy on nudity. However, there will be absolutely no recording of said nudity – not even a charcoal sketch. Violators will have their recording medium and quite possibly one of their kidneys confiscated.
- Public “displays of affection” – Again, we’re all adults. If you simply must have your happy time in any of the public areas of the boats, don’t be surprised if others wander up to critique your technique. Each boat captain will make an effort for everyone to have access to private cabins often enough to satisfy your carnal lusts.
- Drunk / Obnoxious behavior – If you’re making an ass of yourself and making the trip less fun for others, you’ll be asked to step off your boat for a while to cool off. If the negative behavior persists, well – be sure to bring a tent. If you don’t step off the boat when asked nicely by the Captain… I’m sure you can figure it out.
- Visiting other boats – Bottom line, each houseboat is the living space of the people that paid for that boat, and having a horde of visitors wandering around in your living space isn’t what Fodor’s would consider “Rest and relaxation personified”. This being the case we are designating the foredeck (the deck on the front of each boat) as a public area, and anything beyond that is by invitation from a member of that boat.
- Visitors from other boats – Welcome on the boat until the start of evening “quiet time”, which is 1am. Visitors on board for the purpose of “public displays of affection” are the responsibility of their “host”. Visitors at all times will respect this set of rules of conduct or risk a long walk off of a short plank, if you know what I mean.
- Quiet time on the boat is from 1am to 9am. If you want to be loud, there’s a lovely beach just off the boat a short ways. Cooking activities are officially exempt from quiet time rules – if someone’s cooking food for us, they can be as noisy as they like.
- Speedboat access – After much consideration by the Captains, we determined that there really isn’t a good way to share access to speed boats outside of specific houseboats because of balancing fuel costs. We’ve made an effort to make sure there is at least one speed boat available per houseboat, so please stick to the speed boats associated with your houseboat.
- Speedboats – Regarding the individual speed boats, the owners are the final authority on what goes for each boat. They will determine who can drive the boat other than themselves and alcohol policy on their boat. Each houseboat crew agrees to pay the insurance deductible for any mishaps with their speed boats (with one exception). There will be no evening/nighttime boating for anything other than an emergency unless the speed boat owner decides otherwise. In the event that an accident occurs during evening boating, the owner will bear the responsibility of paying the insurance deductible.
- Sharing our location – With a group this big it is inevitable that others not part of the event will wander by. We don’t want to discourage visitors, but at the same time everyone on this trip has paid a considerable amount of money to participate. You are welcome to invite non-event visitors to come by and join in for the beach fun, but make sure they understand that the houseboats and speedboats are for event participants only.
- Costume and theme nights – You are not required to participate in the theme night activities, nor are you required to show up in appropriate costume for same.
- Cleaning up – Everyone is responsible for keeping their own areas clean. It is inevitable that there is going to be a bit of mess after each of the theme nights, so it is the responsibility of the boat that hosted the theme party of the previous evening to clean up the common area the following morning. We’ll provide a few big garbage cans in the common area during the theme parties to keep the mess to a minimum. Remember – the more mess you make for another crew, the more it’s going to come back to haunt you when it’s your boat’s turn.
- Leaving Lake Powell – Keep in mind that you’re not free to leave as soon as the house boat returns to the marina on Sunday afternoon. After returning there will be a period of time for offloading possessions, and then a final inspection of the boat. We will be asking everyone to remain with their boats until the final inspection is complete and our deposits are returned. It is inevitable that we’ll want some sort of group picture as well, so be prepared for that too.
- Peacekeeping – For the overall group, each boat will provide a designated “Sheriff” on their theme night. The role of the Sheriff is to keep the peace, make sure nobody dies, etc. Individual boat Captains will take on the responsibility of keeping the peace on their respective boats. In the unlikely event that peacekeeping intervention is required, the Sheriff / Captain will take appropriate action with assistance from the rest of the crew as needed. Be aware that having to do actual peacekeeping will most likely make the Sheriff/Captain quite grumpy, so don’t be that guy.
- No balloons allowed. We had balloon fights in the past, but balloons and lake water do not mix so let’s leave the balloons at home. Let’s throw rocks instead.
- People causing issues / problems – Every year the House Boat captain will have the ability to approve each of his/her crew. Those that cause issues will have a hard time getting on a boat in future years.
- You are in charge of your own happiness and entertainment.
Amy A Travel Guru 
