Kleen Impact » Recreation

Prevent the Spread of Aquatic Hitchhikers

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 20:13:46 +0000

There is an educational effort being taken by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the state of Utah to prevent the spread of the quagga mussel. The quagga mussel is a small freshwater bivalve mollusk with a dark and white pattern along it’s shell. They are usually less than an inch long. Although small, these invasive mussels can collect in huge colonies, literally carpeting underwater surfaces. They can live three to five years and can release 30,000 to 40,000 microscopic fertilized eggs, called veligers, in a single breeding cycle – up to a half million fertilized eggs in a year. A single cup of water left in a bilge can contain thousands of these invaders.

Quagga mussels attach themselves to a number of surfaces including boat hulls, engine intakes, livewells, bilges, anchor lines, water intake valves, canals, pipes, aqueducts and dams. This causes increased maintenance costs. In the United States, Congressional researchers estimated that invasive mussels alone cost the power industry $3.1 billion from 1993-1999, while their impact on industries, businesses and communities totals more than 5 billion.

So how can us boaters help? Easy. Inspect and clean you water vessel (powerboat, sailboat, bassboat, jetski, zodiac, yes, all of ‘em) after removing it from every waterway. It is really very easy and takes little time and we’ve also recently discovered that some of our favorite boat cleaning products make this job even easier.

We were told recently the bio-kleen boat and trailer passed the mussel inspection at Lake Powell in Utah with flying colors. Not a single quagga mussel was found in spite of the fact that the boat originates from Michigan, a state that has a high population of the mussel in the waterways. Bio-Kleen credits the easy inspection to cleaning the bilge with the bilge cleaner after boating in every waterway. A quaternary sanitizer included in the product keeps the bilge and livewells free of invasive species eggs. Also cleaning the hull, props, exhaust pipes, trailers, anchor and dock lines with hull cleaner will kill the mussels and eggs due to the phosphoric blend in the cleaner. Not to mention it dissolves unsightly calcification and scum lines at the same time. Dual action – that’s what I’m talking about… Be sure to take a few minutes after pulling you boat from each waterway to protect your boat and the environment from these nasty invaders. Think of the alternative – mussel infestations will close your local waterway. Yeah, that’s what we thought.

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Lower Lake Levels for Lake Michigan – Huron for 2010

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:13:15 +0000

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, levels in Lake Michigan will continue to be more than a foot below average levels in 2010 and lower than levels experienced in 2009, perhaps even 2008. Lower levels put the spotlight on harbor dredging, which opens up ports to commercial and recreational traffic.

View the June 2010 Monthly Bulletin of Lake Levels for the Great Lakes

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Arctic Cat Recalls Snowmobiles

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:20:45 +0000

Arctic Cat has voluntarily recalled about 3,000 snowmobiles due to fire hazard. The company is working in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The sleds being recalled pose a potential fire hazard to consumers from oil leaking into the engine compartment. Arctic Cat has received 33 reports of oil leaks, including eight vehicle fires. The CPSC also said the fuel tank could come into contact with the engine, possibly wearing and causing fuel leakage. There have yet to be any reports on fuel leakage from tank wearing and no injuries have been reported.

The recall involves MY 2009 Arctic Cat Z1 Turbo, Z1 Turbo Sno Pro and TZ1 Turbo model snowmobiles.

The vehicles were sold at Arctic Cat dealerships nationwide from June 2008-July 2009 for $12,500-$14,300.

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Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Saturday

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:02:11 +0000

Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009 – Saturday

Bio-Kleen Parked @ Captian Rons

Finally, the day had come to witness the largest unsanctioned racing event of the season. What started as a friendly battle among lake residents to see who had the fastest machine on the water has become known by many as the fourth holiday weekend of the summer. Today, professionals and amateurs compete against each other and clock their speeds for the Top Gun honor. Boats more than 22 feet in length are allowed to run in classes by length, hull design, size of motors and number of motors. Proceeds from the Shootout benefit the Lake-area rescue teams, Habitat for Humanity and other charitable organizations.

Mikes Thunder Marine @ Dock

The temperatures are the highest we’ve seen yet since heading into Missouri and the day looks like it should shape up to be beautiful, calm and sunny. The day is sure to be action packed. A majority of the buzz around the lake is of course centered around last years Top Gun winner; David Scott and his 50ft Mystic racer with throttle man John Tomlinson (then sponsored by Bud Light). The crowd is also quite intrigued to see if the Miss Geico boat will be on the list of competitors this year. The boat passed up the Shootout last year for another race, but up to this point has been seen as Scott and Tomlinson’s biggest competition.

Other Characters @ Shootout 2009

There’s also a lot of hype about a brand new addition to the Shootout, a head-on-head drag race; two boats running down the course at one time. One world class racer and well known lake member, Bob Morgan, is an advocate for the drag style boat race for the shootout. He’s finally gotten his wish for 2009 as race officials have approved the head-on-head competition. Bob Morgan himself in the Bad Moon Risin boat will go nose to nose with Bob Bull in the CMS boat. The talk is they’re scheduled for the best of three races.

Nauti Marine's Saturday Shootout Run

Dave Scott and Nauti Marine, 2008 Top Gun, holder of multiple world speed records, nearly a dozen national titles and almost as many world titles, is the team to try and beat this year at the Shootout. For the past eight years, Scott and all the Nauti Marine boats have raced under Anheuser Busch sponsorship. About this time last year InBev, the new owners of Anheuser Busch, announced they were no longer interested in sponsoring powerboat racing; which left the team looking for sponsorship elsewhere. Instead, Scott decided to race under his own Nauti Marine banner.

Last year Scott intended to race the Mystic fueled with methanol, but on the Thursday before race weekend a motor broke. So they spent the night changing the out the methanol motors back to gasoline. Obviously things did work out for them, still holding onto Top Gun status. They’ve still been testing methanol motors and plan on running the two 2,400-hp New Century alcohol-fueled engines for the Shootout this year.

The Nauti Marine boat seemed to be off to a great start on their first run on Saturday; but 2/3 of the way down the course something goes wrong. There’s a noticeable change in the sound of the motors and the output of the boat. They seem to blow another motor, but still finish the run with an impressive speed somewhere in the 160′s I believe.

CMS & Bad Moon Risin Drag

There was much more action for the day from the racers and the crowds. We captured video not only of the Nauti Marine first run, but impressive runs from Flight Club, the Mercedes Boat, D&M Motorsports, Mikes Thunder Marine, Shogren, Bob Bull and the CMS boat in a single run and the first drag between CMS and Bob Morgan in the Bad Moon Risin boat. CMS starts the head-to-head race out in front, but about mid way Bad Moon Risin easily coasts by. From our view it looks as if Morgan leaves Bull deep in his wake. Turns out it was close to a photo finish. The final details are debatable, but the word is this first race goes to Bob Morgan and Bad Moon Risin.

It was a great start to the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009. Beautiful weather, hot enough for the passengers of the hundreds of rafting boats to enjoy the water. Great speeds and action from the racers along with a few new twists. The opening day was not without its challenges though. There were multiple runs tainted with radar issues; forcing the racers to possibly fore-fit a great speed and run again later. There were also some staging issues, not allowing them to pack in all the desired runs for the day and sometimes moving at a slow pace in between runs.

Fire Rescue Team Lends a Hand

Then there’s the broken, wavy line of rafting boats that zig-zags the border of the entire course and then some. It’s really the only way to stay put safely with all those boats, but the number of boats with 30ft anchor lines in 75ft+ water definitely outweighed those that were prepared. Put that amount of boats and weight on not enough anchor and your bound to drag. And drag they did… into the course enough times the police and fire patrols had to discipline and assist the boats back out of the course boundaries or the race would not go on. Thankfully they do their jobs well and the spectators were very receptive. After all, everybody’s there to watch the boats and have a good time and if the boats can’t run there’s no race, and it’s all over for everyone.

Saturday had some smooth runs and good speeds, but there’s still a lot more in store for the final day of the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009.

View more blog posts, video and pictures from the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009:

Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Wednesday
Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Thursday
Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Friday
Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Saturday
Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Sunday
Bio-Kleen Shootout YouTube Videos
Bio-Kleen Shootout Flickr Pictures
Bio-Kleen Facebook Pictures
Bio-Kleen MySpace Pictures

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Tread Lightly! Unveils “Respected Access” Campaign

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:52:27 +0000

Ad for Restricted Access Campaign

Tread Lightly!, in partnership with the nation’s most influential hunting and shooting sports organizations, has released a series of six print public service announcements (PSAs) encouraging responsible behavior on public lands. The PSAs are part of a much larger new education and outreach campaign called “Respected Access is Open Access.” Read the press release or see the overview of the program.

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Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Friday

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:40:43 +0000

Finally, the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009 weekend has officially started. Half of the Biokleen Team needs to head out early for the mandatory driver’s meeting at Franky and Louie’s at 9:30am. The Shootout Pokerrun is scheduled to start at 10:30am. It’s a cloudy, somewhat dreary morning and it has been unseasonably cool for late August at Lake of the Ozarks. The 2008 Shootout temperatures were in the mid to upper 90s, with the heat index roasting above that. This year we’re having temperatures in the mid 70s and 80s; which is great for standing by the water at a tradeshow booth all day, but not the ideal conditions for party cove, if you know what I mean.

It did clear up a little for the day, but there was also a batch or two of slight sprinkles. The pokerrun had six stops: 1.Big Dicks, 2.The Fish & Co., 3.Dog Days, 4.Captain’s Galley, 5.Captain Ron’s and last and final stop 6.Franky & Louie’s where they would announce the winners. Each team received a card to be punched at each stop. Once everybody is back at Franky & Louie’s, contestants will draw seven cards, playing the best five card hand. Pokerrun committee chair Don Sylva said last years pokerrun attracted 105 boats. Sylva and co-chair Connie Weyer, who along with her husband Dave owns Advantage Marine in Sunrise Beach, hope to have 150-175 boats at the 2009 Shootout Pokerrun.

Biokleen had the honor of a special passenger for the Poker Run, Tamara, Miss Missouri. She was also kind enough to visit us back at the booth and give a helping hand. Be sure to vote for Tamara for Miss America.

Joy Schou and the crew from the Platinum Powerboat Club shacked up with us in the biokleen booth to sell T shirts for the Platinum Shootout Beach Bash that evening. Proceeds from the event support the areas local boy scouts. There’s also live music and free food and drink for attendees. The booth went extremely well for us to get the weekend started. After getting the booth closed up, it’s time to head to Franky & Louie’s to get our last cards and see who the winners are. Then back to Captain Ron’s for the Platinum Beach Bash. Tomorrow: everyone fires up their engines pursuing Top Gun status.

View more blog posts, video and pictures from the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009:

Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Wednesday
Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Thursday
Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Friday
Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Saturday
Lake of the Ozarks Shootout 2009, Sunday
Bio-Kleen Shootout YouTube Videos
Bio-Kleen Shootout Flickr Pictures
Bio-Kleen Facebook Pictures
Bio-Kleen MySpace Pictures

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ROVs, Minimum Trail Impact

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:16:50 +0000

Over the past few years a majority of the powersports industry has been in decline. The Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) or side-by-side, or now Recreational Off-Highway Vehicles (ROV) market has grown and remained consistent. That being said, there are plenty more drivers out there who must be conscious about the lands they’re using. Our friends at Tread Lightly! have come up with some ways to minimize your impact with these popular outdoor vehicles.

Travel only in areas open to ROVs. Not doing this may land you a ticket anyways.
It’s not acceptable to drive ROVs wider than 50 inches on most designated all-terrain vehicle (ATV) trails. Be safe and courteous your fellow trail riders.
Cross streams only at designated fording points or where the trail crosses the stream. Cross slowly at a 90 degree angle. Remember, you’re not only sharing the wilderness with trail riders but with the Earth and all of it’s inhabitants. Be sure to not disrupt the natural environment.
Do not carry passengers in the bed of the ROV. Too bumpy of a ride anyhow.
Buddy up with two or three drivers. Driving solo can leave you vulnerable if you have an accident or breakdown. Designate meeting areas in case of separation. This is just good sense for any extended outdoor adventure.
When winching, always inspect your equipment, use the right winch for the situation, find a good secure anchor, and never winch with less than five wraps of wire rope around the drum. When using a tree as an anchor, use a wide strap to avoid damage to the trunk of the tree.
Obtain a map of your destination and determine which areas are open to ROVs.
Make sure you and each passenger in the vehicle wears a seat belt.
Make sure your ROV is mechanically up to task. Be prepared with appropriate tools, supplies, spares and oil spill kit for trail side repairs and cleanup. Smart.
Before and after a trip, wash your ROV (try Bike Magik from Biokleen) and support vehicle to reduce the spread of invasive species. Maintaining often makes it easier to clean the next time as well. This is also most important when traveling across county or states lines.

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