Sherrie (prev MB 2000)
Well-Known Member
Thank you to Hanksville (Rabbitbrush) Dave for towing our recreational boat from Bullfrog to Denver a few weeks ago.
I wanted to comment on the decontamination issues.
Dave took us through the decon facility at Bullfrog in parking Lot D before we left and it was a very minor inspection tagging and flagging operation. My impression, right or wrong, was that there seems to be an acceptance that quagga mussels are a fact of life.
After our boat arrived in Denver, we had a number of miscellaneous services performed at the dealer/ boat shop. But before we launched here in Denver at Chatfield Reservoir, based on what I had read on Wayne’s Words previously, we went to the main Colorado Parks and Wildlife office to have our boat decontaminated.
The process took six rangers almost 2 hours. They are extremely diligent when a boat is coming from Powell into a Colorado body of water.
Everything in every compartment was taken out and laid on the asphalt and washed with the very hot water. Our ballast tanks were filled with hot water and drained. Every emptied compartment on the boat was gone through with a fine tooth comb and washed with hot water. The Ranger found a grain of sand in our ski compartment and put it in a small water vial and showed it to us saying, “This is a quagga mussel” — looked like a sand grain to us, but he seemed to have no doubts and was sending it into the lab. It was the only contamination that was identified in our boat during that two hours.
I am not in any way complaining, I am only sharing this so that other people have the information as to 1. the care that Colorado is showing to keep quagga mussels out of the lakes here and 2. just as a heads up if you’re bringing a boat back to Colorado from Lake Powell what the process is so that you can go to 6060 Broadway and leave yourself enough time.
I am already missing The Big Lake having been no where else for 15 years and I’m sad our boat is on this side of the divide.
My heart will stay over there with all of you.
🚤 💥 ❤️
I wanted to comment on the decontamination issues.
Dave took us through the decon facility at Bullfrog in parking Lot D before we left and it was a very minor inspection tagging and flagging operation. My impression, right or wrong, was that there seems to be an acceptance that quagga mussels are a fact of life.
After our boat arrived in Denver, we had a number of miscellaneous services performed at the dealer/ boat shop. But before we launched here in Denver at Chatfield Reservoir, based on what I had read on Wayne’s Words previously, we went to the main Colorado Parks and Wildlife office to have our boat decontaminated.
The process took six rangers almost 2 hours. They are extremely diligent when a boat is coming from Powell into a Colorado body of water.
Everything in every compartment was taken out and laid on the asphalt and washed with the very hot water. Our ballast tanks were filled with hot water and drained. Every emptied compartment on the boat was gone through with a fine tooth comb and washed with hot water. The Ranger found a grain of sand in our ski compartment and put it in a small water vial and showed it to us saying, “This is a quagga mussel” — looked like a sand grain to us, but he seemed to have no doubts and was sending it into the lab. It was the only contamination that was identified in our boat during that two hours.
I am not in any way complaining, I am only sharing this so that other people have the information as to 1. the care that Colorado is showing to keep quagga mussels out of the lakes here and 2. just as a heads up if you’re bringing a boat back to Colorado from Lake Powell what the process is so that you can go to 6060 Broadway and leave yourself enough time.
I am already missing The Big Lake having been no where else for 15 years and I’m sad our boat is on this side of the divide.
My heart will stay over there with all of you.
🚤 💥 ❤️
