Possibly building a lake - taking suggestions!

[jipster43]

Our homestead is in Petroleum County - an hour away from nowhere. It may be the least governed place in America. I'm hoping that equates into a much easier permitting process.

 

A buddy of mine and I drove out to the homestead (Grass Range, MT) last week. It had been 15 years since I had been there last and I barely remembered what it looked like. Three days later that same pal ran into a fella' from Grass Range (pop. 200) that had a place a mile from my property. He's literally my neighbor. He's a real laid back cowboy who knows every piece of heavy machinery in the county. I'm hoping that it's a sign that the stars are aligning and I might be able to get this done.

 

Jim - I want to model the lake after Tate's Lake, but it probably won't be a 3-event lake. Other than that I can see modifying his design so we travel clockwise around the islands... if we have islands!

[6balls]

Put a landing strip next to it so I can come visit the finished project!

[jdarwin]

When considering whether to build north/south or east/west, consider prevailing winds. Yes, the sun can be bad in one direction but the wind affects you both directions. My lake is east / west and the sun does become an issue certain times of the year (for less than 45 minutes in the evening). But, wind is rarely an issue (SW winds). I built my lake 2150 x 190 w/o turn islands and it works quite well. When I built my lake, everyone I spoke with who had turn islands advised me not to build them. They don't save money on digging - compute your total cubic yards to be moved and the circle around the turn island would equate to lengthening the lake. No matter how well you construct them initially, they will require maintenance at some point - they silt in unless you place rip rap along the outer edges as well (expensive!). If you have a cheap, reliable water source, depth shouldn’t be an issue. After 5ft, lake depth really has little effect on the ski. Water viscosity has more to do with how a lake skis than does depth. To an extent, it’s more luck than science.

[MrJones]

jipster,

Building your own lake will severely cut into your time and resources to travel around the country to other people's lakes. If better skiing and free time are goals a private lake is not the best bet.

 

Now you mentioned family land and wanting to do this for reasons other than skiing. That is more real. I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. 110 acres out the back door. I saw the sun rise over a farm pond while eating breakfast every morning. Didn't realize how much I missed that until I moved away.

 

I am about 6 weeks away from sitting in the kitchen watching the sun rise over my lake while drinking a cup of coffee. It is not the perfect lake, and the house won't be perfect either. It is however going to pretty satisfying. Marco had a picture of him sitting on his back porch after finishing his house/lake a couple of years ago. I think of that often and am looking forward to it. If you decide to dive in I doubt you will regret it.

[6balls]

I love to ski, but that's a mighty lot of coin that could be used elsewhere for skiing and other fun. It's a mindset, but if it stressed me financially I wouldn't be able to enjoy the dream.

If I really wanted the tourney lake in my back door it would be way cheaper to buy a home on an existing set up...get out of my home and onto MS' joint would be cool...but I have a pretty good gig going for so little $ it's hard to justify it. Allows me to take cool family vacations, save for retirement, kids education etc instead of "all in" for the lake.

For those that do it...sure do appreciate the chances to ski on your puddles practice or tourney.

[Steven_Haines]

If it were me and my goal was to settle down on this property, I'd forget about building a conventional ski lake and build a more natural looking lake that could be used for other sports like tubing and wakeboarding. I would start looking at the ground near the water source or look at ground that you can flow your water to. In this scenario flat ground isn't needed. In fact rolling hills and varying topography becomes your friend. Start thinking about using the terrain to capture your water with minimal dirt moved. Id then start liking for an older dozer and go to work! Skim all of your top soil and vegetation away and work on closing off any areas where you could potentially lose water. By using this approach you've cut out alot of excavation costs, plus now you own a piece of machinery that can be used for other things. Then id put in a well (which you'll need later anyways) and then head to North Dakota and steal a large generator out of the oil patch (JUST KIDDING) ok, buy a large generator to power your well for the initial fill. You'll probably need that generator anyways to keep you from freezing to death during a winter time power outage. Bottom line is, Iddo as much of it as I can myself and try to move the least about of dirt as possible and hold on to as much cash as you can! Just my 2¢

[Marco]

Been working too much to read this thread until today. You can save a lot of cash by renting and operating the heavy equipment yourself. Its a lot of work, but no pain no gain. We built our lake 100% by ourselves, just my family and 3 others. We had the hole dug in 1 month, but with the landscaping, irrigation system, utilities, etc. the lake itself was about a 5 year project. The house another 2. Totally worth it, now that its done.

 

@Mr Jones. Be sure to post some pictures when you are sipping on a cold one on your porch, looking at your new lake. I'd love to see how it turned out.

[A_B]

Our lake is fairly wide at one end, maybe 700 feet, and we spend a ton of time at the east end pulling tubers. Most other ski lakes I ski at are not nearly as much fun (or safe) for tubing.. We didn't dig ours, though, a Turnpike contractor did..

[LeonL]

Our lake is 2050' and we need the islands that we have. Also if you leave the dirt there you aren't moving it -- $$ saved. You can also leave it shallow everywhere except deeper bowls at the turn buoys. Skis good that way -- again less dirt moved.

[Triplett]

The lake my dad dug is 2100' by 450'. We do not have turn islands but I am not opposed to them. With ZO we get to 36 about 2 or 3 boat lengths before the 55m gates, and that is using all of the lake for it. Our ends are wider, so it is dog bone shaped to allow for spinning and getting out of the way of the boat. Our banks are lined with field stone rocks, about 3 - 4 inches in diameter on average. This soaks up everything, we never have back wash. Our depth is about 10 to 12 feet in the middle. We do have to treat for weeds with things like Aquathol K and some other stuff, I can't remember exactly what it is. We are all sand bottom that is water table, so we dont have to pump water in.

 

If you go any shorter than 2100' I would build in islands. If you do not I think you will wish you did as you will be just getting up to speed by the pre-gates.

 

 

[eleeski]

If your lake is short, islands are a disaster! Don't waste length manuvering around an island. If you must start up heading away from the course, having the islands be a few buoys gives the driver a lot more options to make a safe spin.

Regarding the costs, the island shorelines need finish work. Finish work can be more expensive than rough yardage.

Eric

[The_MS]

Doing repair on the islands is simple.

[Dusty]

My $0.02 ...

I'd say you're getting a lot of good information. My experience is that if you ever jump, or want to hold a jump tournament or sell your lake to a jumper- you may want islands and build in a jump-friendly shape as well. Islands do mitigate rollers somewhat, especially bow rollers and curtain backwash- with a jump in place.

Some of the fine details you might might want to consider: Longer equals more fuel burned and more time taken per pass (2200 or so, seems about right- with islands you can go shorter- maybe 1900?); Where will you want your boat ramp? Maybe near your dock/cabana, boat basin, or whatever; How far will you want to lug gas cans around?; You may want the starting dock at a location allowing you to start and ski into the course, instead of idling half way down a lake and dropping in for example; Trees/berms, etc will provide wind protection based on height- every 10 feet normally gives about100 feet downwind protection; At full value, (wind 90 degrees to lake centerline, 30 feet trees/berm would give about a 300 feet 'lee'. Angle the wind, they need to be taller to give adequate protection. Trees both sides can really help.

My experince in Montana is that it gets 'breezy', and whatever prevailing wind direction may prompt you to 'tweak' the orientation as much as you can towards 90 deg. to prevailing.

I think deeper is better within reason, but moving dirt is expensive. End hauling is more so. Seems all lakes get weedy eventually but the deeper parts stay weed free longer. I think scrapers move dirt fastest and most efficiently, but you have to be able to use the dirt moved on-site.

Greg Tate (greg@waterskilake.com) has put a lot of thought into the design of his lake and has lots of ideas and practical experience re: a lot of the issues you'll be facing.

[Broussard]

@jipster43 @eleeski

 

About your idea of the lake being deeper at the balls and shallow under the boat; what is the benefit of deep water at the balls? Also, when two depths are you talking about?

[Dusty]

Reasonable depth at the balls will minimize the ski 'lifting' at the turn. Shallower, (within reason)- near the boat guides can make boat wakes a little smaller. Some years ago, A Regionals boat was only skiable because of the shallow lake. The lifting effect under the boat in shallow water ameliorated the wakes behind a particular boat enough to allow the skiers to survive it. A year later at a much deeper lake, same brand boat destroyed nearly a whole division.

[eleeski]

Personally I like a deep lake (5m or 15ft) - but that's for tricks. Excavation and water are expensive so shallow is often called for. The best feel of any of my shallow lakes is 4' in the boat guides and 5' at the buoy. The worst feel is 5' at the boat guides and 4' at the buoy. 5' all the way feels OK. All of it is better than any public water.

 

My theory is that your ski gets some bottom effect. If the bottom effect happens behind the boat, you get more acceleration for less effort. If the bottom effect happens at the buoy, the ski rides higher in the water making the turn harder to get a good edge bite. It is a subtle effect but if the feel varies in the course the wrong way it throws off your timing. If it happens in a good way, things just feel easy.

 

Wakes are smaller in a shallow lake.

 

Weeds can be a bigger problem in a shallow lake.

 

Islands always suck - unless it's Hawaii.

 

Eric

[ForrestGump]

I can tell a difference in lake depth behind the boat, fwiw. Every place that is deep(8-10ft) the boat wake is just bigger.

[Brady]

A few questions: I am looking at some land right now that would possibly work dimension wise. First, how do you get the water to fill the lake? Do you have to dig a well? Can you get it from irrigation water? How expensive is it to keep it filled once you get it? Second, once you dig the lake out, what do you put down to keep it from eroding? Seems to me that if you dig it out, and then simply fill it in with water, you would have a big mud bowl that would be constantly needing to be dredged.

 

Also, I have surmised from this and other threads that I could "hire" the dig out for around 100k: how much more money would I need to invest to make the lake A-one? The area where I am looking, I would put homes around and sell the development out. (Yes, @scotchipman, if I do this, you can be my long-lost brother) :)

 

I also have question about witdth. The tract I am looking at is around 50 acres, and if possible, I would love to have a separation in the water and put a wakeboarding course with a pulley in, but I would want to keep the other side smooth. I don't know if there is enough land to do this, but I am curious. My basic design would be to do a "Santan-like" side, but then have a strip for the other activities. My lots would be wide and skinny, but unlike Santan, I would only build them 1/2 acre each. I would try and get 32 lots around the entire development.

 

Finally, if I can only get 1900 for my length, could that work, or would it not be an ideal situation?

 

Thanks for the input guys!! @Marco @Horton Tagged you in this brothers!

[Marco]

@Brady - What are the dimensions of the property, and how flat is it? 1900' is doable, but I wouldn't go shorter than that if possible, unless you want to do an 8 buoy course like @OB has in Atlanta. We are 2000', and though the set up is quick, we are totally used to it and it is a total non issue.

 

Water is the biggest issue, and soil composition comes in as a close second (impacts whether or not you need to line the lake so it holds water- big $$ to line it). When we looked for suitable land, we had 3 basic criteria we were looking for. Dimensionally sufficient, water availability, and flat enough to minimize earth moving. We only found 1 site in a 100 mile radius that fit the bill, and luckily it is in adobe soil that seals up pretty well.

 

If you buy irrigated farm land, find out if you need to go through an augmentation process to change the use of the water. Water law is different from state to state, so you'll definately want to get a water attorney on board before you commit to buying the land.

 

Well water availability is dependent on the aquifer, and again you will need to be sure you have the right to pump and impound large quantities of water. Keep in mind that pumping well water as your main source cost quite a bit in electricity. I seem to recall from years back being told that Great Lakes in So Cal paid 30K or more per year for electricity (someone correct me if I am way off base).

 

Digging a lake in groundwater is problematic to dig, but is probably the best case scenario as far as water is concerned. Buying a gravel pit along a river and selling the rights to mine it to a gravel company is probably the most cost effective way to dig a lake, but the permitting process could be cumbersome (a whole nother topic all together).

 

I haven't even scratched the surface, but would be happy to talk to you in detail if you want. You can come and check out our project (only a 5 hour drive for you) and I can show you how we did it. Building our lake was one of the best things I ever did, but was also the hardest and most time consuming project I have ever done. Well worth it though!!!

[Skoot1123]

@brady - in the middle of building a lake myself. I can PM you some if my thoughts and experiences. But what @marco said is spot on. First thing in my mind would be to involve the Army Corps. - before any money is laid out for the land.

[Marco]

Army corps only need to be involved if modifying an existing lake or stream correct? I don't think they have jurisdiction beyond that???

 

@Skoot1123 - Post some pics of your project. I always like to see the work in progress.

[Skoot1123]

@Marco - that's what we thought. But the jurisdiction of the army corps has seriously increased - even in the last year.

[Marco]

Wow- didn't know that. What is your water source?

[Brady]

There is a big difference between what I am trying to do as well, and that is to create a subdivision. I am going to for sure have to go through zoning changes and all that stuff, and I want to create the best damn site in Utah--a site that would one day be able to host a regional or something. I will for sure be in touch with all of you @Marco @Skoot1123. In fact, I have spent a good part of the day on the phone with @scotchipman already! :)

 

In my humble attempt to be a capitalist, I have been working on a possible layout for what I am wanting to do. I have also changed my site to an 80 acre parcel rather than the one I am currently looking at. Below, for your amusement, I have included my sketch from today. Please feel free to rip it apart. Each square is 50 foot by 50 foot.

 

I have also included a cable-driven wakeboard park. Thoughts?

 

[GOODESkier]

Try giving Eric Pettinger a look up. He owns, designed, and built his lake in California. Villa Labos I think........ He builds lakes for a living and is a GREAT GUY! He would be a wealth of info, since he does every part of the design and runs the equipment to build.

 

On a separate note...... I really Like SUN BASIN SKI RANCH in Moses Lake, WA.

[Marco]

@Brady - I'm not getting the "each square is 50X 50" thing. That would make the lakes only 700' long +/-. Regardless, developing a full subdivision is a whole different animal in addition to building a lake. Not necessarily in terms of difficulty, but in terms of financing. Depending on what your County subdivision requirements are, you will probably be required to bring in all utilities, including water, sewer/septic, power, for each lot (obviously), in addition to paved roads to county standards, possible mitigation for the increased density, etc. Big bucks! If you have the means to finance it, and the market for sales is there, then I think it is a great plan. There is potential for great profit with that many lots if they sell, but the downside is a big financial risk if they don't.

 

We opted for developing only 5 lots on our lake because 6 or more would have kicked us into the major subdivision category. Instead, we kept with 5 and only had to bring in power and water. The roads are gravel, each lot owner builds their own septic, so the developement costs were reasonable. We could not have afforded to finance a subdivision in our scenario.

[Brady]

Thanks for all the great info guys. @Marco. you are probably looking at just the slalom course, which is 850 feet by 150 feet wide, the actual lakes extend almost the length of the property. Sorry for the confusion on that--my scale was not exact and was on graph paper. Also, I have done several developments, both commercial and residential, so the other stuff is not a problem at all. The biggest concern on that front is changing the zoning from A-5 to a more suitable density for the project. Financing will not be in issue on this project. i am excited to come and see yours! I will bring some of @Horton 's rum with me when I come and say hi!

 

@OB I would be planning on 24 families per lake. I may have to cut this back, but there is a HUGE difference between our location and where you live. We have very little of this type of development. In fact, of the 6 private lakes in Utah, the closest is in another county more than an hour away from Salt Lake City. If I can pull this off, this would be withing 40 minutes of SLC and would be the ONLY private ski lake in the entire area. Therefore, it would be peoples primary residence, so hopefully that would eliminate the weekend congestion. But, like you said, I am positive my plan will need to be adjusted numerous times to make it work.

 

The other lots are at the top end of the property. They are much smaller and would not have access to the lakes. I would like to put in a cable-run wakeboard park. That lake would be 500 feet by 150 feet and would have green space surrounding it.

 

Also, if I do this, I want to do it absolutely the right way. I want to have each lake between 2 and 4 without homes and with a spectator area. I would also like to put a jump in and make it a true 3-event locale.

 

All in the planning stage now, but I usually throw myself into these projects and am excited to see the posibilities of what we could do. If I can do this, I will for sure have a beer dispenser, seeing as it would be the only place in Utah where one could freely drink!!! :)

[6balls]

Agree w@OB it's a conundrum there. A successful development and too many skiers. Most want to ski before/after work, and the majority of every day the lakes are idle. Even if only one set/skier now 12 are skiing after work, and that's on the days that weather permits.

Question would be "On the well known, well done ski lakes where the resident skiers are happy with the skier density, how many homes do they have per lake?" I'm not well tourney-traveled enough to know...but I know that knowledge is on the forum.

[ForrestGump]

The number of homeowners wouldn't scare me much, although I feel it's too many for this type of development. IF you look at private ski lake subdivisions in Texas, none are that busy. Lakes at Cypress, while a 3 lake subdivision, really is a 2 lake because the 3rd lake is almost never used. You will never find that you can't get water time there. Longest I've had to wait after work might have been 30 minutes. It'll take years for people to build out on lots and move onto the site. Lakes at Katy has been open for 10 years and it's still not completely built out, although 100% of the lots were sold within a year or two. It's surprising to me the number of people who buy these lots and are not skiers. They just like the thought of living on a watersports lake if they want to use it. I'd be willing to bet money that less than 20% of the residents at any of our private ski lake subdivisions are tournament type skiers and less than 40% even use the lakes on a regular basis.

[The_MS]

The only problem you will have is finding quality drivers. Water time is not an issue. It takes 2-4 people to ski. You need rest between sets, drivers, spotter and warm up time. We have about 10 home owners and I have never had water time as an issue. If people have kids, there is always something keeping them off the lake. Baseball, basketball, soccer and all the other crap that kids do keep most people off the lake until the weekend.

[ToddL]

If you plan on hosing tournaments at your lake, consider where the starting docks would be and where judging towers, stations would be. A large community area where the starting docs are located would be a good idea. Consider also how to keep multi-lake tournament participants close together (minimize walking distance between Lake 1 and Lake 2 starting docs). Also, visualize what it will be like with a PA system blaring to both starting docs and spectator areas. If you plan ahead for these logistics, then your homeowners will not feel like their backyards and private docks are invaded and taken over for every tournament. Also consider pathways for fallen skiers to walk back to the starting dock areas or cart access to pick them up. Maybe consider a communal walking/cart path around the perimeter of the lake (lakeside lots include community easement for the path, but can still build docks per spec).

[ski4xtc]

@Brady, you are starting on the right path with investigating as much as possible and asking tons of questions. The main thing is to talk to the people who have actually done lake projects, improve on what they have done and fix the mistakes they have made.

 

Here are just a handful of the hundreds of things I would consider: What is the water source and what are the water rights for that particular property? How are you going to seal the lakes? These are our biggest issues and expense at SunTen. A sealed lake with water rights and a good water sources are huge issues when you are digging a lake in Utah. Even with the greatest snow on earth, Utah is still the second driest state in the nation.

 

More things to consider... what is the history of the wind conditions in the area? If you are going to try to protect from the wind, it has to be a cross wind and the soil has to be good enough so you can plant the right trees for wind protection. Wind is also a factor on the amount of water you will need.

 

Other important items are everything from the turn islands, docks, boat ramps, jump ramps and location of these items all need to be well planned in advance. I have been to lakes that do not use their docks or turn island due to they were put in the wrong place. I have also been to other places where the jump ramp has limits on how far the jumpers can jump due to a turn island or shore being in the way. Some sites have jump ramps in places that throw rollers right into the slalom course and you have to wait longer at the ends of the lake for the rollers to clear.

 

Before you even start go ski, drive, launch a boat and spectate on 20+ sites and talk to the actual lake project managers. See what works for them and what could be better. Document everything from water sources, how the lakes are sealed, shorelines, location of everything and how those things are working in those locations. Does the lake have backwash? If so, why? How is the weed situation and why? How is the soil? Were they able to plant trees for wind block?

 

We have adapted at SunTen for the conditions and funds we have/had. Adapting means we have spent a lot of money re-digging and re-sealing both lakes, rebuilding two big docks and we had to re-drill a deep well because it was not done right from the start. Even with our past experience, we still hired a lake developer who knew how to dig and seal lakes to oversee the actual work on the lakes that was done in recent years.

 

Everyone at SunTen would probably tell you that the price of the land is not the reason to dig a ski lake there. There are a lot of other factors that are much more important such as water sources, property location and wind conditions. They would also tell you that before you spend the money, investigate and do it right the first time. Go have some fun skiing, visit a ton of sites and talk to people who know their stuff.

[RichardDoane]

@brady - you need a "fact finding trip" to the Pacific NW, where there a dozen lakes within a couple hours of Sea-Tac airport

[auskier]

spend several hours (or longer, like me) looking at the google earth ski lake file and measuring up a heap of sites trying to see what you think would work for you and the pro's and cons of each lake.

[ForrestGump]

There are two dozen lakes within an hour of Houston and we'll be skiing with just a heater top in another 5-6 weeks. Fact finding trip to Houston. We can make a side trip to Austin/San Marcos where there's another 10 lakes.

[Texas6]

I second what @ShaneH said, more than happy to host you out here to look around. I'll stock up on Hortons rum

[Brady]

damn guys. I definitely will be planning some "fact finding trips" in my near future!!!! @richarddoane I think my beautiful RadaR will ski the best in the broho!! And when @ShaneH and @Texas6 are shivering, I will be coming off minus 10 degree weather and will be basking in the 50 degree air!

[ForrestGump]

By the first week of march we'll have 75-80 degree temps and 62-65 degree water temp.

[ntx]

My guess is that Jimmy Thompson/John Able and Gordan Hall have built about as many lakes as anybody in the country. I am not plugged into the history of the sites out west. Who built most of them? Some have worked out good, others not so much. Make wind protection #1. Lakes need to run 90 deg to the wind direction and plant LOTS of trees.

[malski64]

Lots of comments here some good and some....Well we all have our opinions.

Before you get too far I'd think you should be asking yourself what is your goal really? Are you looking at a lake property you can build homes and sell lots? Are you looking for a great ski site you and a few friends can enjoy? Are you looking at a site that would be a great place to host a quality ski tournament? If it's a tournament site you want are you looking at hosting something more than a slalom tournament?

Honest answers to those questions should be dictating a lot of the direction you take. There isn't a one size fits all mold. Every site I've been to has postives and negatives.

There's a lot more planning that should go into the site on how things will flow if you're looking at hosting events. i.e. dock locations, layout, boat parking, water depth for skiers start at the dock, parking in relation to how people get from one point to another, etc. I've been to a whole lot more basakward sites than you can imagine.

 

Just because a lake has islands doesn't mean it works well, and it creates more of a safety hazard with the islands than without in my view. I've skied and driven some with islands that flow very well however. Takes a lot more planning to do islands and do them right in my view. Not worth the extra trouble in my view, and I don't personaly buy into the fact that islands keep your lake calmer. Drive it right and you're fine.

 

Greg's site you metion has a great design with the boat ramp, dock, etc, but to get to the starting dock it's a pain in the ass...a long walk. A long way to drag all your ski gear down and around the lagoon for a tournament. Greg's lake skis very well and Greg's worked his butt off on that place for a lot of years as well and I enjoy skiing there...just hate hauling my jump gear all the way around that damned lagoon!

 

I can think of beautiful lakes with multi million dollar home sites that are great in all respects but not so great to host tournaments.

 

What I'd be scared of is doing it on the cheap. Thinking you can get away with one thing and finding out in the end that was a bad decision. Why risk any of that when there are dozens or hundreds of people you could tap for information, who have already gone through this process and would be a wealth of information for you.

 

In my view, once you've figured out the long term goal get out of Utah and travel. Hit tournaments at places like Tates, Shortline, Imperial, Ski Park, No Wake, Laku, Paradise, etc. Check out sites in other parts of the country if you're able as well because I've learned that each general region has a few things they're hung up on that no one else in the country could give a hoot about. You might find a few things in the Midwest or South Central that no one in the West has ever even done. Ski them for yourself, see how they flow, etc. Find out what the skiers like or don't like about each. Pay attention to parking, boat ramps, boat ramp angles, boat parking or lagoons, ease of maintenance, water depths, course anchoring systems, Judging towers, etc. Then talk to the developers, (the people who actually started the project) built it up, and are maintaining it. No offense to all of us here, but getting out there and doing the research is a hell of a lot more beneficial than listening to a bunch of self proclaimed experts on an internet thread (myself included).

 

When that's all done, talk to the people in Utah (lake owners) and ask them about the prominent wind direction in your area. Everything I've ever known about Northern Utah is wind runs North to south half the day and south to north the other half!

 

Barry Young

[ski4xtc]

@scotchipman, it has been a few years since I have been to Shortline but the first thing that stood out was the great wind protection. There were strong west winds there but the lake was situated such that it was totally protected. It also has very minimal backwash if any. The starting dock worked great for the event and there were no safety hazards. They are able to efficiently ski a lot of skiers during a tournament. To say the least, Shortline is a beautiful site that is very well done....especially for being one of the older sites.

 

Barry stated above that there are almost two types of water ski sites. In my opinion, it is really hard to have a great world class tournament site when you have homes and docks lining all the shorelines. This is especially true for windy areas since you cannot have the rows of trees need for good wind protection. I don't think I have been to a "homeowners" type site where you do not get some backwash from the docks. This is especially true when you have docks on both sides of the lake. For safety reasons, the lakes also have to be wider (less wind protection) when you have docks on both sides.

 

 

[ForrestGump]

Ski Ranch is the one site with islands that I love. They're big and the channel around them is wiiiide.

[ntx]

Here's one. Get rid of all the docks along the shores and use community boats, One boat for each lake you have. We are a two lake site with recent model boats. We have been doing it with no problems for about 25 years. Current cost is about 60 per owner per month. You build a community area with a nice boat house and ski out of that area. It also helps to build relationships within the community. Plus, you don't have a half millon dollars worth of boats hanging in lifts. Turn the boats every two years and you always have the most recent models and speed control. If you have three lakes, how great would it be to have a nautique, malibu and master craft to ski behind each day. Thats a huge tournament advantege.

[The_MS]

But if you could get 465,000 per lot, do it.

http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?topic=Search&category=Real_Estate&postid=22166

[kfennell]

"custom home lot" I almost replied being snarky till I re read that three times! Sneaky wording. That is alot!!!!! I wonder what the most paid at Katy was or the most at our lake will be in 3 years?

[Steven_Haines]

I went out and looked at the site in 2005. At the time, stated in the covenants, your home could be no less than $1,000,000.00 in value. Pretty much put me in my place!

[BraceMaker]

@steven_haines - I have not gotten the trend towards that. "custom homes" valued at a mil plus, but no detached structures, no storage sheds for boats, etc.

 

I just want a big boat house with a bunk room, and an outdoor shower, wanna be my neighbor?

[MattP]

@bracemaker sounds like my kind of place.

[Steven_Haines]

@Bracemaker, I'd love to be ur neighbor! I'm pretty dialed where I'm at though. I just need to spend more time there and less time working!

When they told me that price point I about choked! It's beautiful out there and all but thats a little out of my price range. The wife thought it was beautiful! (naturally).

The thing I like about the Indio area is the shadows you get in the surrounding mountains, it's stunning in the evenings out there!

Maybe if I win the lottery. Do u have to play to win? d;-)

[AggieSkier]

@Brady

 

My 2 cents

 

Lot priced at a premium and generally selling first are the ones located mid-lake and also at the very ends of the lakes.

 

End lots like your #45 offer a great view down the entire length of the lake.

 

I would eliminate the park areas on the left and right sides in the sketch and sell those lots. People like to congregate to watch events. If you need more park area then increase the size of the middle 2 park areas.

 

Eliminate off-water lots or you will have 2 classes of owners with different dues rates and priorities. Shift the right lake up page and add waterfront lots at the bottom of the drawing. Waterfront probably sells at 3X the off-water price.