Decontaminating Boats in August

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wayne gustaveson

wayne gustaveson

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The summer season is winding down and many of the technicians working on the ramps are college students that are returning to college. Most will be heading back to school in the next week of two. New applicants are being screened to fill these many open positions but it is going to be a hard job to fill all the open slots with the small number of applicants that can work at Lake Powell in the Fall and Winter.

The reduction in force will make it more difficult for departing boaters to schedule a decon at both Wahweap and Bullfrog. At Wahweap the plan is to try and schedule decon's for the weekends only. The group at Bullfrog will be severely understaffed after August 14th. Hopefully more strong, young kids will be found to fill the slots. It is a really hard job to work 10 hours a day in the 100+ temperatures, and spend as much as an hour washing individual boats with 140 degree water all day long. These guys are wearing out.

So plan ahead and schedule a decon well in advance when planning to leave the lake. If you are not launching in another lake within the next week or 10 days it may be possible to get a decon at a spot closer to your home. You are responsible to clean drain and dry your own boat. The hot weather will kill hitch hiking mussels in a week.

Just be aware of the short staff that will be at Lake Powell soon and plan your return home based on what you know. If you need a decon before leaving schedule early and check back in often. If you can safely exit and take your boat home in hot weather then consider how best to do that as well.
 
wayne gustaveson said:
The summer season is winding down and many of the technicians working on the ramps are college students that are returning to college. Most will be heading back to school in the next week of two. New applicants are being screened to fill these many open positions but it is going to be a hard job to fill all the open slots with the small number of applicants that can work at Lake Powell in the Fall and Winter.

The reduction in force will make it more difficult for departing boaters to schedule a decon at both Wahweap and Bullfrog. At Wahweap the plan is to try and schedule decon's for the weekends only. The group at Bullfrog will be severely understaffed after August 14th. Hopefully more strong, young kids will be found to fill the slots. It is a really hard job to work 10 hours a day in the 100+ temperatures, and spend as much as an hour washing individual boats with 140 degree water all day long. These guys are wearing out.

So plan ahead and schedule a decon well in advance when planning to leave the lake. If you are not launching in another lake within the next week or 10 days it may be possible to get a decon at a spot closer to your home. You are responsible to clean drain and dry your own boat. The hot weather will kill hitch hiking mussels in a week.

Just be aware of the short staff that will be at Lake Powell soon and plan your return home based on what you know. If you need a decon before leaving schedule early and check back in often. If you can safely exit and take your boat home in hot weather then consider how best to do that as well.
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I have been instructed that 7 days is no longer the wait time during the summer for an inboard/outboard. The time for I/O boats is 30 days regardless of the time of year. Has this changed?
 
Thanks Wayne. That was a new change this year with I/O due to water between the outdrive and the waterpump on the engine that does not see engine operating temps.
 
PowellBride said:
We discovered many Colo lakes don’t recognize the Lake Powell decontamination-had to decontaminate in Colo anyway
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None of the Colorado lakes are supposed to recognize a decontamination from anyone outside the state. Has to be done by a Colorado certified inspector.
 
Wayne,
We launched and retrieved out of Halls Boat Ramp four days in a row about three weeks ago. The young woman running the inspection operation was very pleasant and said to just check in with her our last day. We did and I asked her if she could decontaminate our boat. She said she would have to check, then came back and said she could. We were in no hurry, since we had fish to clean.

In visiting with her when complete (she was very thorough!) She said due to the limited water available in her unit, her cap was four boats per day. And only outboards, usually fishing boats. She said she did not have enough water for even one wake boat or cruiser. So four boats per day, at the most. There must have been 35-40 trucks with boat trailers at the ramp parking lot each day, with many coming and going each day. So not many boats getting the treatment out of Halls.

That's the first time we have ever had an actual decontamination at Powell. They do accept them here in NM with the tag on the boat. We are fortunate that the state AIS director lives not far from us and we can usually contact him and get an appointment for a decontamination.
 
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