Don;
Not trying to burst your bubble (was there for MM 2 years ago and had fun) - - - but you guys really need to be careful to not transport these Zebra Mussels back to your home ports. From the Las Vegas Review Journal, Monday 3/3/08:
"Quagga mussels are clinging to thousands of boats berthed in Lake Mead's marinas, stirring concern among recreational boaters that they will continue to coat hulls, clog cooling water intakes causing engines to overheat unless preventative measures are taken.
The problem with the invasive mollusks has magnified since they were discovered a year ago in the Lake's Boulder Basin and later downstream from Hoover Dam in Lakes Mohave and Havasu. Lake Mead alone has more than 2,000 marina slips.
Scientists say warmer water temperatures and the calcium content of the Southwest's lakes has caused Quaggas, a zebra type mussel, to reproduce three times faster than in the Great Lakes region. That's where they turned up in the mid 1980's after hitchhiking in the ballast water of foreign ships.
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Owners of boats less than 32 feet long (that's us Macs) can deal with the mussels at Lake Mead by pulling out the boat for cleaning at Callvill's (that's the marina out of which Mead Madness starts) high pressure - hot-wash station.
Mobile cleaning services are also available at the other three marinas on Lake Mead.
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- - - fears are that without regular maintenance to brush away the fingernail-sized mussels, colonies can build up on the hull and in the cooling water intakes of outdrives (or outboards) - - - falling victim to serious safety problems caused by drag on the boat and lack of cooling water - - - - they will go up the lake, melt hoses and that results in fires."
So be very careful this year with these varmits and take care not to transport them back home - - - andf HAVE FUN
Rick
Lake Mead for Mead Madness. There is still time to join in the fun! Don Chesley