Main Boat Ramp at Elephant Butte Lake State Park

Hor Flash and Oso on the boat ramp. This is the largest boat ramp at Elephant Butte Lake and can handle large numbers of boats, and accommodate big swings in lake level.


After Sunday's racing ended, Carol Anne and I sailed in light breezes (averaging about 2 knots) to the Rock Canyon Marina. As we neared the marina, I took down the jib and took the helm; upon arrival I dropped her off at the fuel pier so she could catch a ride to fetch our truck and prepare to remove Black Magic from the water at the end of the weekend.

The mast-up storage yard is near one marina, Marina del Sur, which is about two to three miles from the race area. Rock Canyon Marina is closer to the race area, so we often put our boat in at Rock Canyon during race weekends. However, it's a five-mile drive between marinas, so this involves quite a procedure of shuttling boats and vehicles.

Sailing south from Rock Canyon it's about three or more miles to Marina del Sur, plus tacking. The breeze was adequate until I approached Rattlesnake Island, where it began to switch, fade, and become intermittent. The last mile took close to an hour. At least the lack of wind meant that getting the motorless boat on the trailer was relatively easy.