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Fall 2004
MEXICO FEVER
SAN DIEGO, CA—Each year at
this time, Southern California is transformed. Cruising powerboats stack
up at the border to wait for the end of hurricane season and the beginning
of fall cruising in Mexico.
Dozens of free seminars are available for boaters needing
last-minute outfitting advice, and chandleries are eager to tout their
services. Downwind Marine (www.downwindmarine.com)
will ship spare parts south of the border, while the new San
Diego West Marine (www.westmarine.com)
provides in-store computers for cruisers wanting to check e-mail. Local
radio communications expert Gordon West (www.gordonwestradioschool.com)
offers two- and three-day HAM classes and advice on using HAM and SSB
radios in Mexico. There are even advertisements around for the new Marina
Costa Baja in La Paz (www.bellportgroup.com).
Mexico fever is catching. Even boaters who aren’t quite ready to cut ties tend to join in the lectures, parties, and informal beach gatherings. Santa Catalina Island makes a great waypoint for everyone and even hosts cruise weekends (www.scio.com). This time of year, the island is packed with cruisers comparing notes.
If you want to join in the fun or even find a few crew
for your own trip south, walk along the San Diego police docks. They’re
right in the heart of the action, with slips for up to ten consecutive
days for boats in transit.
—Zuzana Prochazka, Santana
magazine www.santana.docksidemedia.com
SPEED ZONES
FORT MYERS, FL—Assuming cleanup from hurricane season is complete,
Southwest Florida’s premier outdoor, in-water boat show will open
November 11 in Fort Myers, a waterfront city on the Intracoastal Waterway
(ICW) between Lake Okeechobee and the Gulf of Mexico. The four-day Fort
Myers Boat Show (www.swfmia.com)
attracts anglers, small-boat owners, and yacht-seekers to the picturesque
downtown, which is easily walkable.
Boaters traveling the ICW in November should be aware that seasonal manatee speed zones take effect November 15 on the Caloosahatchee upstream from Fort Myers. However, don’t confuse those with the permanent slow-speed zones that dot the river downstream from the Fort Myers Yacht Basin through Cape Coral toward Sanibel and Pine Island Sound.
To the north on the Gulf Coast, the St.
Petersburg Boat Show (www.showmanagement.com)
opens for its four-day run November 18.
—Betsy Clayton, The
News-Press in Fort Myers bclayton@news-press.com
ZEBRA MUSSELS
CHICAGO, IL—It’s just about the time of year that Great Lakes boaters love—the cold winter, which kills a percentage of the zebra mussels that cause such headaches on the water year-round.
Zebra mussels originated in the Balkans, Poland, and the former Soviet Union, and found their way to the Great Lakes region about 20 years ago via the international shipping industry. Unfortunately, their favorite places to call home now include docks, buoys, and recreational powerboat hulls. They create drag on anything to which they attach themselves, and they’ve been known to overheat and damage the engine cooling systems they get into. They’ve sunk navigational buoys from sheer weight, and they even corrode steel and concrete at the docks.
If you cruise these parts, even during the winter, protect
your boat and gear. Hot water is anathema to zebra mussels; so, too, is
a mild chlorine solution.
—Dan Thomas, Great
Lakes Basin Publications www.great-lakes.org
TRANSIENTS TRIUMPH
CLEVELAND, OH—A recent study indicates that more than 13 percent of the recreational boaters on Lake Erie took an overnight trip during 2002, and that transient boaters often travel in groups—sometimes of as many as 20 to 30 boats.
Responding to that information, the Ohio
Division of Watercraft (www.dnr.state.oh.us/watercraft)
has developed the “Boating on Ohio Waterways” plan to improve
Lake Erie marina facilities. It calls for developing new transient facilities
in downtown Cleveland, the Lake Erie Islands, Port Clinton, Sandusky,
Toledo, Lorain, Fairport Harbor, Ashtabula, and Conneaut.
The improvements will be aimed at boaters looking to stay overnight. These include a suitable draft, short-term rental docks, land-based transportation, and nearby taverns or pubs.
A few site-specific improvements being considered include security, restrooms, adequately sized docks, marine fuel, and high-quality maintenance.
Also watch for a new 300-slip marina on Middle Bass
Island and a transient harbor at the mouth of the Portage River in Port
Clinton, Ohio.
—Frank Kern,
Mid-America Boating
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