checked at boat ramps, none showed any evidence of quagga or
zebra mussels.
The Ruedi Power and Water Authority conducted inspections
on Wednesdays through Sundays during the summer, covering
75 percent of all the boats launched on the reservoir during the
season and averaging 40 boats per day. Of this number, eight boats
carried water from other bodies of water, a common way invasive
species are introduced to a lake, and were given a high-pressure
wash with steaming water at the inspection station. Colorado has
seen invasives appear in a number of reservoirs but, so far, Ruedi
has not been affected.
Yep in Myrtle Beach
A long-proposed boat ramp along the Intracoastal Waterway
in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is getting the green light for
construction, according to WMBF-TV. Using money from a federal grant, the new ramp will be located near the intersection of
Highways 17 and 22 with parking for 46 boat trailers. If all goes
according to plan, construction will begin this month. The ramp
will be the only public boat launch within miles of the ICW.
Nope in Tarpon Springs
A $4 million plan to renovate a 20-acre RV park on the Anclote
River in Florida’s Tarpon Springs isn’t going to happen, despite the
fact it would include a much-needed boat ramp. A proposal to put
the expenditure before Tarpon Springs voters failed on a tie vote,
thus killing the measure. Opponents pointed to the large expenditure during tight economic times as a bad idea and suggested private enterprise should build the ramp. Proponents argued the city
council should look at the big picture as a boat ramp will generate
revenue in increased food, fuel, and tourism sales.
Knowledge Is Power
After insuring hundreds of thousands boats for over 45 years, you
could say BoatUS Marine Insurance has learned a thing or two
about what gets boaters, anglers, or sailors into trouble. Boats get
damaged and people are injured in many ways. Here to shed light
on these incidents, BoatUS Marine Insurance is offering a bimonthly email with “Damage Prevention Tips” for those who sign up at
www.BoatUS.com/insurance/newslettershignup
If He Had Read BoatU.S. Trailering
A thief in Seminole, Florida, backed his tow truck up to a parked
boat trailer holding a 20-foot Mako, hooked it up, and took off with
the stolen boat in tow. Along the escape route, though, the boat
trailer came off the hitch and slammed into a telephone box. Police
say the crook hadn’t connected the getaway tow vehicle to the
trailer tongue properly. The thief hasn’t been found and the owner
of the boat has called his insurance company for repairs.
These Things Take Time
Jacksonville, Florida, boater Bill Fadeley took his 16-foot airboat
up the Intracoastal Waterway to New York City on a 1,100-mile,
13-day trip in 1986 to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Statue
of Liberty. It wasn’t a smooth ride on the flat-bottomed Miss
Jacksonville and he nearly sank during heavy weather in Sapalo
Sound near the Georgia border. But he made it and sent his travel
logs to the Guinness Book of World Records in the hope of nailing the category of Longest Airboat Ride. One problem: Guinness
didn’t have an airboat category. Now, jump to page 112 of the 2012
edition of the Guinness Book. Fadeley is found under the category
“Fantastic Voyages.”
Green BOATU.S. FOUNDATION
What To Do When It’s
A ShrinkWrap Wrap
he day is quickly
approaching when
you’ll walk outside,
stare at the shrink-
wrapped boat on its
trailer, note the date on the
calendar, and the fact there
is more sunlight, and say,
“It’s time.”
Shrinkwrap is designed
to “weather” the weather;
the interior of the boat is
kept dry; heavy snows or
rain can’t get inside because
a polyethylene cover is
stretched across the top of
the boat and secured along
the gunwales, if not all the
way to the bottom of the
hull.
But here’s the downside:
Shrinkwrap is not biodegradable and won’t easily
deteriorate in a landfill. The
upside is there’s a way to
easily recycle it. First, check
with your state’s Clean
Marina program for a list
of locations that offer this
service. A second option is
to buy the shrinkwrap from
www.Dr-Shrink.com, which
T
offers a postage-paid bag
with a mailing label. Most
importantly, don’t throw it
in the garbage.
“Sunlight is the only
thing that will break down
shrinkwrap,” says Michael
Stenberg, aka Dr. Shrink,
“so if it goes to a landfill,
there’s a chance it’s going
to last a long time.” There’s
more information available
at
www.BoatUS.com/foun-dation/cleanwater/environ-mental/ recycle.asp
Stenberg says we’re still
in the early stages of successful recycling.” There are
no real statistics as to how
much shrinkwrap is used in
the marine field, “he says,
“but I would estimate it
to be about 11-13 million
pounds. Of that, I know
we get back about 700,000
pounds, and I would guess
that other recycling efforts
around the U.S. would get
about the same amount or a
bit more. So maybe 10 percent of the material is being
recycled at this time.”
