Naci

Naci is at 31% and dropping about 1.5 inches a day and faster as we loose water. I'm hoping I still have a slip on July 4th.

Last weekend was nice until about 11:00 am, everyone showed up, hit the lake with power turn after power turn and it went to hell in less than an hour.

Naci people, please respect the good water when we have it.
When your rider falls, stop and idle back to your rider.........

If you do not agree, please post a reason why you must turn around at full throttle and then again turning around your fallen rider at full throttle....I've got to know why!!
We are a small group, we can get a handle on this.

Hey Brent! I completely agree with you but unfortunately I dont think anyone on this site is power turning at Naci. It has gotten pretty bad out there lately! Is it true that Naci will be closed at the end of July because you wont be able to launch?? I keep hearing this nasty rumor. Anyway we will be out there next Friday and Saturday in a white VLX.

brent, i agree. though i have to admit, i have power turned to pick up a fallen rider. it gets too crazy on weekends with the water so low. i've been guilty of this for my rider's safety. i was out there tuesday (hardly any boats) and some pontoon was just zig-zagging all over the place. pissed us off!

Seth,
I think your prob right that I'm not going to hit my target talking to people on WW about power turning on Naci.
I'm not sure what to do, Ive tried approaching drivers on the lake and I have never, never had any luck talking with them.
The power turners of the lake seem to also be the road rage/ boat rage people on the lake.

I guess we could do what surfers do and start protecting our turf, but who wants to ruin a day on the lake with that tuff guy stuff. Not me!

I'm lost for a cure.

Ive always wanted to make a flyer or something to pass out at the ramp, but im sure that would not do to much. Maybe we could convince the rangers of the dangers of the power turn!! Wouldnt it be cool to get a ticket for power turning!

I have pretty much lost all hope for a cure as well. It has become an epidemic!!!

honestly! I was out there this last weekend, and at 8am there was a family boat out on the water pulling tubers! I see the power turns more and more often out there now, and it's so unfortunate. I do agree however that people on wakeworld probably know how to turn around properly to keep the water smooth. If you want good water at Naci, you've got to wake up at 6 and be out there by 6:30. Water is warm, but definitely need sweats when you get out!

I fully agree with everyone here about the power turns, and actually wish negative things on power turners, but don't you think they have the right to do what they want on the lake as long as it's within the regulations/ laws? They paid their $8, just like us. It is unfortunate, but reality is, they have all the right in the world to turn their boat the way they want to, right??? These people purchased a family boat to have fun with their families, so if that consists of power turns or tubers, IT SUCKS, but that's the way it is.

They definitely have the right to turn the boat. But when it infringes on others ability to enjoy the lake it becomes an issue.

I have the right to blast vulgar music as loud as I want, doesn't mean I'm going to do it. Rights and doing what is right are two different things.

Really it just comes down to ignorance. People that do it don't know they are wasting gas, ruining good water, putting wear on their boat & looking like d-bags. I've thought of the flyer idea for years. Post it at the gas pumps and ask the Rangers to hand them out.

Aside from that I think the only joy that can come from the situation is throwing errant triple ups at the water poachers, then watch as it silently stalks...

I agree Mike, but I also dont think the people power turning even know what they are doing. If people actually knew what they were doing and how bad power turning is for everyone on the lake, including themselves, I believe some people would stop doing it.

Steve, really weird we just posted the same thing at the same time!!! Whats your plan for the weekend??

Yeah it is! I think we've had this talk before. Haha.

I think I'll be up Saturday with Forrest. Not sure yet. We are moving our office and I might have to stick around. You headed up?

Yeah headed up Thursday night and staying at B Rock pad. Not bringing my boat but we will be in that white VLX.

i hear ya guys, but just because their interests are different from ours, doesn't make it inconsiderate. yes, lots of them are jackasses and don't know what they're doing or care about anyone else, but some of them are families just trying to have fun together.

live and let live. if you accept it and move on, you won't get worked up.

Or if we try and educate, I won't get worked up. Accepting the status quo never enacts any change. If we can all improve our experience, save some gas and be a little safer then it is worth it. Or I can continue to get up earlier than the rest and get my butter before they are awake.

Seth, turns out I'm headed to San Antonio Saturday. Have a blast up there, say hey to Liz & I hope to see you guys soon.

Got up early on Sunday, on the lake at 7:AM, started at Oakshores West ramp, rode all the way to the opening mouth of Heritage cove. Thats miles and miles!!!!
Did not pass through another boats wake, I was in freakin heaven.

My wife rode all the way back to Tablas, turned in, passed one boat wakeboarding, pulled her all the way back to OakShores before we had a third boat.

The lake was clear of idiots until about 11:00, it was just serious riders who knew how to drive.

There is a God and he is listening.......

Hey, I want to meet all of you guys who frequent the Naci.
I know Stephen of course and the locals I ride with. I met Seth once. Please stop and say Hi when you see the all Yellow Mobius.
Last weekend we tried to park and bob in Town Creek but its getting really shallow and the water is nasty now.

We hit up "Wake Board Cove" on Sunday and its still about 20' deep and clean water.

Its right about Bee Rock and has a bunch of shallow buoys in front of the mouth of the cove. It has no 5 mile per hour zone.

cool deal! i'm hoping to get some early morning runs in this weekend. kinda hoping that with the water level/economy it's not as busy as past years. i know las tables is like 6' if that.

Hi all, looks like I'll be heading up towards Atascadero this Saturday to meet some friends for lunch. Any chance I could catch a pull from any of you fine boat owners in the morning or later in the evening if I were to bring along my gear and some gas money?

Brad
I don't typically log on while at the lake due to slow connection.
Wish I heard from you sooner, would have been no problem.
Hope you found a ride.

The 4th was awesome, out early, around 6:30 am.
Water temp was super warm, air temp was about 53 deg.
Falling back in the water was so nice.....

So Monterey is now dumping water big time, they have gone from 200 cfs (already a lot) to 380 cfs.

The lake is going to drop fast.

Check it out http://www.mcwra.co.monterey.ca.us/Agency_data/ReservoirData/CurrentReservoirData/d&r_current_n.htm

Does anybody have an update on the status of the launch ramps, particularly Oak Shores? I'm trying to plan a trip for the first weekend in August, but am worried the Oak Shores ramp may no longer be usable. Last I heard, they were closing it on 7/15.

Oak shores was open this past weekend. Not sure when they have to shut it down. Pretty crappy if no one in the development can launch their boats.

See you all up there this weekend! We be camping!!

Yeah it was still open last weekend. I heard there is about 70' of ramp left. There is another ramp for low water but they have to find and do not know if one of the docks may be on top of it.

Guys
Today the main ramp in Oak Shores and West ramp are officially closed. Not sure why, I pulled my boat out on Tuesday morning and backed way deep with no problems...

So the auxiliary ramp is supposedly found and working, people used it today. (So i am told)

I will be up there and launching Thursday night, I'll drop a note and maybe a pic.

Any of you guys ride at Lopez at all? Yeah I know it isn't Nac or San Antonio, but the water at those lakes isn't so great for riding lately either. All the guys that my wife and I used to ride with either stopped riding or moved on to old man wakesurfer status. We are looking for some people to ride with that still like to wakeboard and are still trying to improve their riding. We have a 98 Malibu and like to weight it down heavy...Anyone interested in going out at Lopez for a morning or evening session? We would be stoked to find some new riding friends (especially ones that own boats and know how to ride). Hit me up if interested.
email: mike@coastal-aquariums.com

by the way...sorry for the thread hijack, just seemed logical since you all ride locally

Hi Mike
I've never been to Lopez, heard about it a few times.
I'm not against hitting a new lake its just hard to imagine going elsewhere when your all set up here.
I'll hang on to your e mail address.

Thanks

Soooooo
Spent all last week up at Naci, its like being at a new lake. Stuff is appearing that I have never seen before. House foundations, rock formations, sunken boats, anchors littering the bottom.
Water level is down to 21% and showing no sign of slowing down.

The Oak Shores auxiliary ramp is working great, thanks to the developer Mr. Bean for having the foresight to pour that ramp when he could.

Brent-thanks for the update. Are there still a lot of people on the lake? How scary is it driving around?

The lake was noticeably less crowded on Sunday. We got good water til about 10am. Then it turned into a wild mess. We rode back in Las Tablas in the AM and then when we did our sunset ride, we noticed that the Sheriff had put a 5mph buoy essentially shutting down the back section of the cove (where we did double ups the wknd before Brent).

It is pretty trippy driving around. The main lake gets real shallow an everyone has to go all the way to one side. You can really see where the Nacimiento River once flowed. Be safe out there.

Brent, Stephan have any pics? Looking at the web cam, It's crazy how quick the lake is dropping.

i was there saturday. surprised to see a lot of boats, but notice not that many were actually riding. it's turned into a river. never knew how many tree stumps were out there.

as for lopez, it's cold water!! the water temp is closer to pismo. really choppy water, but good for late or early morning sessions possibly midweek. i will take to boat out there before i leave it at our place for the summer.

I was at Naci on Saturday, and it was suprisingly packed. Got some good water until about 10:30. The water level was LOW, but definitely manageable. The lake is at about 20% capacity, and according to the guy at the kiosk, they are done draining for the work that is to be done to the dam. They said the only draining that will occur now will be for farmland water purposes.

I am in Ventura right now but heading back up tomorrow.
I will take some pics of odd new features popping up in crazy places.
Ill post them when I get back to High Speed, next week.

Shawn Wilson and I were boarding Sunday morning in Tablas, Shawn says "Hey is that a cow stuck in the mud up to its neck?"
We boated over to see and sure as hell, it was a cow totally submerged in the mud, basically standing up but sunk in quick sand. We swam over and checked it out, crazy... called the local farmer guys in Oak Shores and hey called the owner rancher and the guy pulled it out with a chain around the cows neck behind his pick up.... ha ha ha not kidding!!!!

Here are a few pics of the lake/ river outside of Oak Shores.
The boat ramp is the West Ramp and the islands off the West Ramp are the ones that pop up at about 30% water level. You can drive out on to them now.

This is slightly to the left or east of the last picture.
The whole area is a 5 mile an hour zone now, the Narrows bouys are in front of Oak Shores.

This is the Main Marina at the dam and the Naci River flowing to it.
Pretty sad!



August 22 2009

Brent-thanks for the pictures. Indeed it is very sad. The worst part is that they are still releasing at a significant rate. A was down there 2 weeks ago, and the Oak Shores auxillary ramp was still usable. Is it now? On top of this San Antonio is only 36%, and they are still releasing it. I think we should all be doing the rain dance over the off season.

is the main marina launch ramp even open? suppose to head up friday and running deer is gone! we're i day camp and anchor is now what will probably be "las tablas" for the weekend!

nick--i'm going to sacrifice a chicken and dance for an el nino!!

Garold-When I was last there, the guy at the kiosk said that they don't anticipate losing the ability to use the main launch ramp. Both of the ramps at the marina where in use, as well as the ramp nearest to the damn. However, when I went the lake was at 19%-20%, and it is 16%-17% now. Be careful.

Naci people,
So we are down to 14% and the lake is still being dumped at 300+cfs.
I got confirmed word that Monterey County Water will not be stopping the water dump this year and may not even slow it down until it reaches minimum pool, I can't figure out yet what minimum pool is. My source claims the water will be dry down to about Bee Rock area at minimum pool.
Last week the five mile an hour zone was set at about the eagle nest, thats the east end of Oak Shores.
We still have a ramp at Oak Shores that is working great and the depth is about 12' in front of the ramp.
Lots of islands, rocks, sunken boats and trees poping up everywhere.
I think we all need to join Garold and do a rain dance this fall.

Brent,
i was told by some family that live up there year around that the lake will be drained by mid-october! no great news. now i'm wondering where's slo county going to get all the drinking water now? the lake's future water cycle will be interesting with monterey co taking water for ag land water table and slo for drinking water. heard one rumor that slo would try to make it a non-contact lake, like other reserviors, but don't think it could happen because of all the public owned land and shorelines.

I was there last weekend and it was fun. Glass all day and not that many boats. The deepest spot was 100 feet at the dam. I'm in SB now so if anyone needs a third let me know.

I pulled my boat out on Sept 30 due to lack of water from my ramp to the lake.
I went out on the 30th and traveled in 5' of water for about 60 yards until it started getting to about 8' near the eagles nest.
Took a decent run, pulled the boat out and I guess we are finished launching and docking from Oak Shores.
Lake is at 11% and dropping about 2' a week.

If we want to ride Naci we will have to go over to the main ramp and pay, bummer.

Garold,
I have heard so many rumors I don't know who to believe anymore. I certainly don't believe Monterey County employees any more, those guys have bent the truth so many times I don't think they know what they are going to do from month to month. I have come to the realization that you just wait and see what happens.
Pray for rain!!!!

El Nino is coming!

Brent-I'm very sorry to hear that. Pray for rain indeed.

Nick,
That is a sweet boat.....
Just spent last weekend in one of my new buddies white VLX. He had it pretty sacked out, I think in the 2000lb range. He chooses to have a lot of the weight in the rear, made a really big and lippy wake. The biggest I have yet to ride.
One of the locals at Naci, Fred, has the same boat but spreads his weight out evenly, has a real large but rampy wake, no lip at all. Its a little easier to tame as you hit it.
Anyway nice boat.....

Brent-Thanks for the kind words. One of my winter projects will likely be to piggyback some sacs in my rear lockers. I have been using stock ballast plus the wedge for the past season and a half. However, I typically have 6-8 people in the boat when boarding, so that extra weight helps. I think I've seen you around Naci a few times while out.

Sadly, due to the water level at Naci, I may be headed for San Antonio this weekend.

So I visited the rangers at Naci Resort on Friday and asked about any special deals on local home owners from the lake getting through the main marina's for free.....
Unfortunately free was shot down but...they do have a special deal for $75. you can use either Naci or San Antonio as many times as you want until Jan 1 2010.

That is a good deal if you hit one of the two lakes every weekend, I think I'm gonna do it.

Anyone know if the whole story behind "Leeches" in San Antonio is true or not?

(Message edited by bfnaci on October 05, 2009)

Yeah there are definately leeches in San Antonio. They are to small to latch on I believe. I saw them in the north end right near the shore. We were standing in the water right there and nobody got any on them. You couldnt even tell what they were until you got really close and there were literally thousands of them!!

Word on the street is that Naci rose about 20ft from this rain storm. The water is right below the main ramp at Oak Shores.

It's also rumored that a guy named Steve released water moccasins into the lake. Yeah water moccasins and sharks with freakin' laser beams!! Ride at your own risk.

The lake came up 19ft over night we had about 5 inches of rain at Tri-Counties yesterday and some nasty wind! Remember Naci has a huge watershed so the lake should continue to rise for the next week because of this storm i'm expecting to see it come up another 5-10 feet. Now if we could just find a way to plug that damn hole in the dam that Monterey county keeps using to dump all of our water out!

P.S. If you don't already support and donate some money to NRWMAC you need too! Remember back in the early 90's late 80's when we could drive our cars on the lake bottom all the way to the marina? This is the group that has been fighting to keep water in the lake ever since! They don't always win but they always try and have had some great success. Here is there website!

www.vivadragon.org

Robert, with all the rain they slowed the release considerably. Hopefully they will stick to that!

http://www.mcwra.co.monterey.ca.us/Agency_data/ReservoirData/CurrentReservoirData/ReservoirData.pdf

CRAZY!!

What? That is CRAZY! I can't believe they slowed it down to 25? Sure thats not a typo and they raised it to 250? lol

Actually what I imagine has happened is they slowed it because the Salinas river has raised from all the storm run-off and this is just temporary. In a few days you'll probably notice they raise the release even higher then it was previously. Monterey uses Naci not just for farm water, and salt water intrusion(totally stupid btw) but also to control flooding from storms. I wish they would just permantly leave the release at 25 or less!

Hoping to check it out this weekend as long as there isnt to much debris floating around. And Steve your riding first to take care of the water mocasins and sharks with freaking lasers!!!!!!!!!!

I spoke with someone at San Antonio a few days ago. According to her, they're planning on draining San Antonio to “minimum pool” on November 2nd for the Salinas project. WHO KNOWS, maybe the lady was on crack. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she is.

Has anyone else heard this rumor? Does this mean, Naci would also be drained to minimum pool?

I wish i wasn't right but they just raised the release at Naci again! Now there letting 150cfs out again!

http://www.mcwra.co.monterey.ca.us/Agency_data/ReservoirData/CurrentReservoirData/d&r_current_n.htm

We were at San Antonio this weekend and it was insane! 88deg and butter all day. There should be some pics soon of the slashing that occured!!

Seth - did you camp? if so, where? If northshore, what road? How was the ramp? Thanks

No we stayed at my buddies place in Oak Shores. CCAW (local wake club) camped on the north shore and the ramp looked fine there.

Thanks Seth.

Mitchell was right. As of today, they raised the release at Naci to 300cfs! WOW!

WHY do they do that???

My guess is for agriculture, and the Salinas project, but not entirely sure.

Actually they are probably doing it because they expect a wet season, they would much rather have space than worry about the lake threatening its spill way.

If we get a moderate El Nino and it holds up, that lake will fill up regardless. It sucks that they release but as soon as it starts to rain, they will stop. Hopefully the rain won't stop.

Remy and I went out Sunday around 2:00 pm, it was 81 deg and glass. Saw one fisherman on the lake. We had our own private chocolate milk lake.
Had a blast!!

How were the debris? Did you guys ride? Kevin and I were talking about going up there the weekend of the 14th.

Hi Seth,
The debris was minimum. You can see that the little that is left on the lake is getting caught in wind pockets. Every major corner or turn on the lake has debris, the rest is wide open, and what is still out is small stuff.
Get your self some ear drops like swimmers ear, your risking an infection if you don't. I'm not 100% sure but my guess is the lake has lots of happy little bacteria just waiting for warm places to grow.
Have fun......

What a difference a week makes, the water was much cleaner, no debris but freakin cold...had another winter water glass day on Sunday.
Justin got a new Gator board and was bustin big on it first day. Loves it.

Were heading up on Friday night to Kevins place (weather permitting), you guys gonna be around?

brent - as always.... great weekend!

Yes it was a great weekend. I am sore!!!!
Nice to see everyone out this weekend, almost felt like summer.
I love winter water and love winter wakeboarders, they know how to not screw up the water.

What an awesome weekend! Weather and water conditions were perfect. There is nothing like getting in the boat at noon and having nothing but glass to shred!!!

Headed to the lake yesterday for the pre-dinner ride. Got to the marina and realized the lake is lower than I've seen it in the last 20 years! Decided against chancing the boat and went home, BOOOO!!! Monterey County, you better figure your ish out, I need my lake!!

Brent, tell Remy thanks for being willing to be our 3rd. If we were smarter we would have gone early and planned to hit San Antonio, but we are not...

how's things looking out there?

http://www.lakenacimientolive.com/

This camera is located at the East Ramp of Oak Shores. Form the looks of it, it is pretty damn empty!

Damn that is low!!! I bet you cant even launch out of Oak Shores anymore. That water cant be more than a couple feet deep. Good thing were getting some snow!!

So we got 3.5 inches of rain in my rain gage in Oak Shores last week. I went down into Templeton to get a tree, the river bed south of the lake (up stream) was swollen with water run-off.

I drove over the dam and the Monterey mother f@4kr$ were still dumping 345 cfs out of the dam.

Isn't the point of dumping the lake to give Salinas farmers water and keep salt water intrusion from creeping into the water table??
All of the run-off from the rain and the 345 cfs from the lake was dumping into the ocean all last week.

I think right now the reason they are dropping her again is because they are afraid of the El Nino that has been predicted. According to the release chart they have been just releasing 150 cfs the last few days. All it takes is a few good solid days of consecutive rain and she will fill right up. Keep doing those rain dances people, it seems to be helping!

MERRY CHRISTMAS NACI PEOPLE

Can't wait to see you and summer again!