Houseboats on LOTO?
 

Hi-

I am a boating fanatic from KY. We have a houseboat at Lake Cumberland. It looks like there is a chance we may be relocated to the St. Louis area. Naturally, I have been trying to check out the lakes. Are there any privately owned houseboats on LOTO? If so, which marinas accomodate them? Would I be better off selling my houseboat and buying a cabin? (I also have a 28 Nordic and a jet ski)

Thanks in advance,
Joe

hundreds!!!!!!

I don't know about 100's, but there are quite a few. Plent of 5-60' cruisers all over. It probably depends on the size slip you need.
I think you'd be better off with a condo or house though. Its not gonna be cheap to slip a house boat and I think you'd be better off spending the money on real estate vs renting a slip.

I agree with Griff. LOTO is just a different atmosphere than Cumberland. Cumberland and Dale Hollow lend themselves to house boating. LOTO is better suited for the condo or cabin. IMO a private dock is a big plus at LOTO.

And lets not get started on the water conditions...it really isn't suited for houseboats on LOTO...I've been to Dale Hollow and to LOTO...literally total opposites in terms of the type of boating. Both a great in their own respect, but you wouldn't see me on a houseboat at LOTO...if you need the size, look at a cruiser....if you need a place to stay, I agree with everyone else...get a condo.

Before you make a decision, spend some time at LOTO so you'll see how different it is. We spent quite a bit of time at Cumberland when we lived in KY, now are living on LOTO and the 2 lakes are like night and day.

The vast majority of the waterfront at LOTO is fully developed, meaning you can't just pull in a cove and beach your houseboat like you do at Cumberland. There are houseboats here and plenty of marinas can accomodate them, but it isn't the "houseboat friendly" lake you're used to.

The good news is it's a fantastic boating destination. We love it and I'm sure you will too. It's a different type of lake though (despite being roughly similar in size and shoreline). Most weekenders have houses/cabins/condos with slips for their smaller boats/skis....there are some good reasons for that.

Check it out first then decide. I suspect you'll wind up selling your houseboat.

Houseboats are few and far between, here at LOTO.

They just don't seem to fit the scene or water conditions here.

Docking at all the bar/restaurants would definitely be a chore.

The house or condo thing is usually the best way to go.

Haven't there also been like 2 houseboats sunk this year do to waves? We boat on both lakes a lot. LC is NOTHING like LOTO in terms of water. On a holiday weekend it is rougher than you could ever imagine LC being. I would sell the houseboat and get a condo and upgrade the 28 to a 30+ and you will be in boating heaven (minus the anal water patrol) there. They actually ahve restaurants and bars that you can ride on your boat to and get a drink without having to sit outside and sneak a coozie up. You will love LOTO.

If you check out LOTO you should see the diffrent parts of the lake Our house is at the 44MM and it is a totaly diffrent world than from the dam to about the 25MM. I would never want a house in the low numbers, Having your own dock and house is great.

we have a couple condos at the 20 1/2 mm and love the condo life. Griff can vouche for the fun that we have...

I don't think so. Not many at all. Most houseboats on LOTO are rentals and they usually go to party cove and back. Condos might be they way to go at LOTO. You love this lake and lots to do and places to go.

Yes I can:evilb::evilb:

You asked about LOTO, and it is great. We live in St.L and LOTO is where we have a condo and do our boating. But, if you are moving to St. Louis, there are many house boats on the Mississippi river just north of the city (Alton on North), and it is a lot closer than LOTO.

whoops Chart just let the cat out of the bag . We live in St.Louis and boat the Mississippi It is VERY house boat friendly, lots of sandbars,(When the water is down) we have had a few bad years on the river but the house boats and cuisers are still out.

No problems with the water bein down this year. It was way too easy to find sand bars all over pool 26. i know I found two that I wasn't expecting this year.:eek:

Now that the cat's out of the bag, lol
 

Good resource for info about the river near St. Louis, especially Alton/Grafton area, is WWW.RiverBills.com. Throw that Nordic in and do a little socializing before you committ to a big expense at LOTO. Don't take me wrong tho, LOTO rocks. Wish I could make it down more often. It's just that you might find what you're looking for right in your own backyard.
We boat on the Illinois near Peoria.

Yeah, I saw one posted this summer, I was thinking of having one there but after that, mayb not!

What's up playa, we don't need no houseboat, do we. :ernaehrung004:

No, seperate House and Boat - works just fine down there!

I will see you in three weeks buddy! :party-smiley-020:

How's Terri doing? :drink:

Knee is all healed up and she's back to 95%, thanks for asking.

I'll buy first round.

I owned a 42' Gibson with twin crusaders for a few years, so I have a bit of experience with it. Most of our traveling was to and from Party Cove, and since we are only about a mile and a half away, it was doable. We also used it for the Shootout when it was in front of Shooters. It was fun to have, as we could load up a bunch of people and get the grills going on the top deck. I am glad that we got to experience one, but I would not do it again, at least on LOTO.

Sitting up on the flybridge (where I did 99% of the driving), the waves, especially from the side, would really throw you around. the higer you get, the further you are from the axis. It was also slow. You could not get anywhere fast at all. the Gibsons hull allowed it to cruise at 20 mph, but when you combined it with waves, it did not work out that way. It was pretty much a putt putt boat. Also, many of the bars do not allow houseboats to tie up. I would suppose that much of theis is from the rental fleet, because a big heavy houseboat could do some real damage to the dock.
I got rid of mine through the big snow/ice storm in december of "07 (I believe that was when it was). The covered slip came down on it, and it was totaled.
For LOTO, we enjoy our 32 V (Envision) much more than the houseboat because we can get around so much faster. We also own a condo, so we did not need a livaboard. If you want something big, go the cruiser route as it will handle the waves MUCH better.
Good Luck, and remember that it is all about getting on the lake, not what you get on the lake with!