QUESTION: Could you give me any information about renting a houseboat on Lake Powell, Arizona? And what sort of weather can I expect at different times of the year?
ANSWER: Lake Powell, which is operated by the National Parks Service, was created as a recreational area in 1963 with the completion of Glen Canyon Dam, built for flood control and electric power generation. It stretches 186 miles northeastward up the Colorado River, from Page, Ariz., to past Hite, Utah, with the San Juan and Escalante Rivers giving additional recreational areas. Its 1,960 miles of shoreline are longer than the West Coast of the United States.The houseboating concession is held by ARA Leisure Services, which operates Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas. Rates for next year have not yet been established, but this year's rates were as follows:
Summer rates, from May 15 to Oct. 15 at the Wahweap Lodge and Marina in Page, and from May 15 to Sept. 30 at the Bullfrog Resort and Marina, Lake Powell, Utah, and Hall's Crossing Marina and Hite Marina in Lake Powell, were $675 for three days, $900 for four days and $1,241 for seven days in a houseboat sleeping six.
Rates for a 44-foot boat sleeping 10 were $906 (three days), $1,208 (four days) and $1,651 (seven days). A 50-footer sleeping 12 cost $1,128, $1,504 and $1,998.
So-called value rates, a 25 percent discount over summer rates, were in effect at Wahweap from April 1 to May 14 and Oct. 16 to 31, and at Bullfrog, Hall's Crossing and Hite from April 1 to May 14 and Oct. 1 to 31. Budget rates, offering a 40 percent discount, are in effect from Nov. 1 to March 31 at all locations.
The houseboats come equipped with just about everything you could need, from deck chairs and life jackets to 40 gallons of drinking water, two seven-gallon propane tanks and a wine bottle opener. Suggested optional items to bring from home include binoculars, a shovel, onshore camping equipment and aluminum foil.
A brochure includes useful information on such subjects as boating safety, what food and bedding to take and refrigerator sizes on the various boats so you have some idea of what you can store. Small boats, from a 16-foot skiff accommodating 6 people to a patio boat with a capacity of 8, are also available. A 25 percent discount is offered during the value-rate and budget-rate periods.
Accommodations are offered at Wahweap Lodge, Page, telephone (602) 645-2433; Lake Powell Motel, near Page, (602) 645-2477, and at Defiance House Lodge, in Bullfrog, Utah, (801) 684-2233. Rates range from $91.65 for a standard double in the summer and value-rate seasons to $39.55 for a double in the budget season.
In winter, sunny daytime temperatures range from 40 to 50 degrees and clear, cold nights from 20 to 30 degrees. Hiking, fishing and sightseeing are the main activities.
In the spring, the days are warm but the nights are still cool, conditions good for hiking and fishing. Some water-skiing begins in late April and May, but warm clothing is still necessary for most activities.
In the summer, daytime temperatures range from 90 to 100 degrees, with cool desert nights sometimes requiring sleeping bags.
In the fall, wildlife begins to return to the lake's edge and the days start to cool down. It is a good time for fishing.
Information: Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas, Post Office Box 56909, Phoenix, Ariz. 85079; (800) 528-6154.
QUESTION: I would like to tour England to visit the homes of its famous writers. How can I can find out where the various authors lived and what homes are open to the public?
ANSWER: One of the most comprehensive sources of information, a free foldout map called "Literary Britain," was recently published by the British Tourist Authority.
The full-color, profusely illustrated folder identifies more than 80 locations with ties to about 90 writers, including the homes where many were born and lived, schools and universities they attended and the landscapes, rural and urban, that inspired their work.
The map points out that the villages and countryside of Thomas Hardy's Dorset, in western England, are little changed from his day and that Bath, familiar to readers of Jane Austen, retains its elegant air.
Among the many homes listed are Bernard Shaw's at Ayot St. Lawrence, near Luton; the cottage in Chalfont St. Giles where John Milton fled plague-ridden London to complete "Paradise Lost" and begin "Paradise Regained" and the birthplace of Charles Dickens in Portsmouth, which has been restored to illustrate the kind of life he was born into and which, in later years, would influence his writing.
The foldout map is available free from the British Tourist Authority, 551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 701, New York, N.Y. 10176; (212) 986-2200. Enclose a self-addressed business-size envelope with 52 cents' postage.
QUESTION: Can you provide me with any information about an Early Music Festival that I believe is held in the Netherlands every year? - Bill Fortunato, Rochester.
ANSWER: An Early Music Festival has been held every year since 1982 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
It presents music from the Middle Ages to the end of the 19th century and adheres to the following philosophy: music can only be adequately performed on the instruments for which it was written. As a result only soloists or groups using authentic old instruments or copies are invited to play.
The music is presented from mid-morning till midnight in the many historic churches, museums and houses of Utrecht, the very places for which such music was designed to be played. The modern Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, which seats 1,700, is also used.
A few themes of next year's festival, from Aug. 26 to Sept. 4, will be French Baroque music, the Dutch-born composer Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594) and the French composer Guillaume Dufay (circa 1400-1474).
In addition, all Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas will be played on historical instruments.
Groups playing at the festival will include the Orchestra of the 18th Century, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Freiburger Baroque Orchestra and the Concerto Italiano.
About 90 official concerts will be staged and there will be some 40 fringe-festival concerts. Prices for the official concerts will range from $5 to $20; the fringe concerts are free.
For more information and tickets write to the Holland Festival Early Music, Postbus 734, Utrecht 3500, the Netherlands; telephone 340921 (the dialing code for the Netherlands is 31). A free brochure will be available in mid-May.