Shasta Questions

I will be spending a week at Shasta at the end of the month. I've heard that Shasta is clay based and the water can stain your gel coat and upholstery. Is this true? Is it safe to leave the boat in the water overnight? Will a good coat of wax protect your hull?

The soil that surrounds the lake is a red-ish/orange clay. The clay does not typically bleed into the water unless there is high traffic. Even if that is the case, it will not affect your boats gel coat. The water at Shasta is very clean and clear. I would not recommend beaching your boat on the clay soil, that might actually stain. Whoever is with you just remind them to wash their feet before getting into your boat. The clay soil can be a pain to remove out of upholstery but it can be done. It can also stain carpets if not taken care of right away. I don't think you need to wax your boat, get anchor buddies instead if you don't already have them.

Here is a system we used one time.

Step 1 Find a safe location 75 feet from shore , and set an anchor and apply a strtch rope from boat to anchor.

Step 2 Have someone on shore to pull boat wiht rope towards shore.

Step 3 un load and alow stetch to pull boat off shore.


Step 4 Tie one rope to shore.


It that made any sence then that is what we did. It worked well then we made sure not to get any stain on the boat.

I have not had a problem with gel coat stains. Just be sure to have passengers rinse the clay off their feet or shoes, it can be a pain to deal with in the carpet.

There are places where you can find beaches that are made of pebbles and small rocks which, in my opinion, are far better than the red clay stuff. Just depends on which arm you go up. Any white clothes you have are going to turn orange permanently with the clay.