I can only speak for part of West Texas, but here are three areas:
San Angelo: In this area are four reservoirs:
1) O.C. Fisher -
This has the potential to be huge when full, probably 5 miles east-west and 3 miles north-south. My understanding is that when it was full, there was a sizeable sailing club on the lake. Indeed, the San Angelo tourism page has a picture of some sailboats at Fisher.
As of 27 Feb it is at 6% however and the boat ramp (middle "A" in map above) stops a good 2500' from the water's edge, so it's not as big as it appears in this graphic. Last time it was full was in the '80s when a hurricane came ashore and stalled out around here, I guess. Still, if you note a hurricane in the area, it might be worth checking into.
Lake home page here: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/sanangel/
2) Twin Buttes -
Just south of O.C. Fisher and almost as big. It is also slightly more full, but still not nearly as big as this map would lead you to believe. As of 27 February, it's at 21% capacity. I drove to the "North Pond," just 2 days ago and the boat ramp just barely gets down into the water enough that you could float a boat off of it. The tops of bushes stick up some here and there in the area, but if you get out into the main part of the lake it's probably a good ½ mile across and ½ mile long now. The "South Pond" was 6-8' deep last time I checked it out and a few hundred yards across. Again, watch for heavy rains in this area.
Lake home page here: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish ... /index.htm
3) Lake Nasworthy:
As you can see, Twin Buttes flows into Nasworthy, and the city tries to keep Nasworthy full at Twin Buttes' expense. As of 27 Feb Nasworthy is at 95% capacity. You may also note that the highway cuts across the center of the lake, and the bridge is unfortunately only about 8' off the water, so for sailing purposes you'll have to choose one side or the other. I do my sailing on the east side of the bridge. Right now the lake is about ten feet deep here. The east side is about 1½ miles long and maybe ¼ mile across.
Facilities: There are several boat ramps; at least two on each side of the lake (as divided by the highway bridge) but nowhere to keep your boat with the mast up. Unless you are in the military, in which case you can use the Goodfellow AFB "recreation camp" as I do. They have wet slips available for rent, as well as two Sunfish, two Excites, and some ski and pontoon boats.
Home page: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish ... /index.htm
4) O.H. Ivie -
I have not been to this reservoir. As of 27 Feb it's at about 46% and many people go there to boat. It is about 70 minutes east of San Angelo, and is somewhere between (a full) Twin Buttes and Nasworthy in size.
Lake Home page: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish ... ake_id.htm
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Abilene
While a look at MapQuest shows two lakes in the Abilene area, only one is worth looking at for sailing. "Kirby Lake," to the south, appears to be only half the size of Lake Nasworthy. On the other hand,
Lake Fort Phantom Hill, forbidding as it sounds, is GLORIOUS.
Point "D" is even referred to as "Sailboat Point." There is a very active sailing club there with a number of Hobies (various sizes but mostly 16s).
This lake is approximately 3½ miles (north-south) and nearly a mile across. Not quite as big as Fisher, but since it's at like, 98% right now it's perfect for everything up to and including 27' keelboats. In fact, Catalina 22s appear to be the second most common boat there after the H16. According to a new friend, at the height of a drought 4 years ago the lake was too low for keelboats (mainly because the boat ramps were too muddy for 3000+ poiund boats) but the Hobies and Sunfish were still out there all the time.
My friend tells me that it is pretty much windy all year except July/August, and I'm looking forward to moving there in March!
Lake home page: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish ... ake_id.htm
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Del Rio
Del Rio is home to Lake Amistad, (Ah-mee-stahd, friendship in Spanish) which is also a sizeable reservoir. As of 27 Feb it's at 95% capacity.
Lake Amistad is on the border between Texas and Mexico, and is over a mile wide in several areas and many miles long. My understanding is that people come from a long way around to boat on Amistad. I cannot comment further on this lake as I have not actually been there.
Lake home page: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish ... ake_id.htm
I hope this gets you guys excited about the prospects of sailing in West Texas!
