raddog

I have friday off and want to get out on the water somewhere. Looking at one of three lakes in NH (Sunapee, Newfound or Squam) or something Portsmouth- Rye area. Tides high very early morning and late afternoon so I'm not sure how much mudflats I feel like dealing with. Anyone interested or have any good ideas for a mid-day paddle. Jeff 17 Eskimo, teal over teal

My Subbie has the factory aftermarket rack, with the bars approximately 30 inches apart. I'm concerned that hauling a 17 foot glass boat on a narrow support may not be the best way to ensure long term safe boat hauling. Is it worth while to invest in the nearly $300 slipstream to move the supports out to about 60 inches?

THe river has a class 2 upper. People who aren't used to moving water have a little trouble in the first rapid but anyone who has some experince in moving water should be fine. The lower is basically flat ( the part before the take out really flat), with a sincle class 2 drop.

The time is near for the annual MVP/NHAMC annual P Cat Draw down and BBQ! Mark this on your calendars. Saturday October 31st on Haloween Day. Release usually starts at 10:00am. Costumes Welcome! The MVP has once again made arrangements to have the drawdown done on a weekend instead of a week day so we may have water to run on our day off. In addition to this fun filled release of water, the MVP and NH AMC Paddlers will once again be holding a free bbq for all paddlers. And once again, thanks to the generous contributions of both clubs, there will be good food aplenty! Tell all your boating friends! Spread the word! Everyone is welcome! This years Menu: Melt in your mouth marinated steak tips Steaming hot baked potatoes w/sour cream baked beans Homemade chicken soup salad rolls As in the past, I would like to ask for dessert donations to take the pressure off of me as I have plenty of other food to prepare. I would also like to mention that this is BYOB. And, in conclusion, please bring a lawn chair if you would like to sit down. The event starts and ends at the Glen lake dam where NSPN use to have one of its summer skills sessions. Goffstown, NH, just west of Manchester, off Rt 114/ Mast Road. The river has a class 2 gorge, followed by a class one section with a single class 2 rapid midway. There is a bridge 1/2 way down offering take out or put in. See the www.mvpclub.org website for additional details. Jeff Swett

Interested, is it scheduled yet?

I do a lot of w/w paddling and find that my offside needs me to do more actual thinking thru the process. Off side is an unusual situation and my on-side set up is almost automatic. I find that things usually aren't moving quite as fast as it feels when I am downside up, and I have plenty of time (within reason) to reset up. It takes only a very few seconds although it feels a lot longer. Like everything thing else, practice makes perfect.

The local AW rep, Mark LaCroix handed each reporter covering the Jan 1 Icicle paddle oon the Winni in Franklin & Tilton the following booklet. Not a single "reporter" mentioned it. NH has only 16 miles of coast line. I pointed asked each rep where non-residents would paddle, where its free and a lot longer coastline, or here where the coast line is short and might be taxed. >Boat Tax The New Hampshire Fish & Game department is attempting to get legislation to apply a $10 conservation fee for all paddle craft. This is not a bill yet but may be soon. Fish & Game commissioner Lee Perry is seeking new revenue sources to augment a budget deficit in his department. Although paddlers are sympathetic to the plight of Lee Perry we also believe his targeted revenue source objective (human powered craft) is unfair and incompatible with the main focus of Fish & Game which is the management and programs related to hunting, fishing, ATV's, snowmobiles, and power boats. All these activities run counter to the healthy and environmentally friendly sport of paddling. Unfortunately, it looks as though Lee Perry is attempting to use paddlers as a revenue source to boost spending on these other programs. Take for instance the new proposed ATV park to be built near Berlin NH. According to the December 14th edition of the "Mountain Ear" New Hampshire Fish & Game will be transferring $2.2 million from ATV registration fees they collect to help build a 7200 acre ATV park. NH F&G will also be responsible for enforcing rules and maintaining the trails. Such a destructive program will essentially be subsidized by paddling fees. Nowhere else is the fairness issue more pronounced than in this instance. ATV registration is approximately $50 per year, according to the "Mountain Ear" article the park entrance fee will be set at $5 a day. One day of ATV use in the park will create more environmental damage than a paddler could possibly do over a lifetime of paddling yet if that paddler owns 6 or more boats (which is common especially among families) he/she will be paying more than that ATV'er . Paddlers do not need nor do they desire costly infrastructure, all that is needed is a place to park a right of way to attain access to a particular body of water. Paddlers have nurtured and maintained good relationships with land owners abutting river runs. For the most part paddlers are very environmentally conscience. They choose paddling over power boating for a reason. Some of those reasons are economic but most partake in paddling as a healthy and environmentally friendly way to enjoy the outdoors. Just the talk of a potential registration fee has done damage. Paddlers internet message boards are talking of boycotting New Hampshire, many have changed their summer paddling plans to visit other neighboring states instead. A recently scheduled spring meeting of the board of directors and staff of American Whitewater was relocated to Atlanta Georgia. The American Whitewater meeting would have been the first one in the northeast and would have highlighted boating in NH through their membership magazine with a national circulation of approximately 40,000. If the New Hampshire Fish & Game proposal becomes law it will be the only such taxation of paddlers in the east. It will also be the most expensive for paddlers in the country. Currently only six states require boater registration, mostly in large Midwestern states. Registration requirements for Arizona paddlers was repealed in 2000 due to lack of funding, high cost of administration, and ineffective ability to return services to the paddlesports community at a level corresponding to the fees. Not only is the NH Fish & Game proposal the most expensive but it applies to boats rather than boaters. This is the equivalent of registering each gun a hunter owns or each fishing pole a fishermen uses. To reiterate Mr Perry's bias favoring his hunting and fishing clientele, he has proposed one free boat registration with any hunting or fishing license purchased. Once again we can see how paddlers will be subsidizing hunting and fishing. The number 1 reason against boat or boater registration is the inevitable destruction of the paddlesports industry in New Hampshire. New Hampshire is a small state that is easily passed through or by-passed to other neighboring states that do not require registration of any kind and offer equivalent or superior paddling opportunities. What can paddlers do about this? As mentioned earlier this is not an official bill on the state docket at this time, but Lee Perry has the support of a few legislatures and is asking them to introduce a bill in the 2007 legislative session. There are currently 5 members on the Wildlife, Fish and Game committee that should be receiving letters to vent our displeasure with this potential bill. See below. John T. Gallus (chairman) 292 Prospect Street Berlin, NH 03570-2137 Lou D'Allesandro (vice chairman) 332 St. James Avenue Manchester, NH 03102-4950 Harold W. Janeway 225 Tyler Road Webster, NH 03303 Iris W. Estabrook 8 Burnham Avenue Durham, NH 03824-3011 Theodore L. Gatsas 20 Market St PO Box 6655 Manchester, NH 03104-6052 When and if the bill comes up for debate then paddlers will need to e- mail or send letters to their representatives. Paddlers from outside the state can also send letters or e-mails to state representatives. Unfortunately, NH has one of the largest state representative bodies in the country, which means lots of letters to many state reps. For a list of NH state representatives go to: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ie/whosmyleg/ Sample Letter The following is a sample letter / template that could be modified with your argument then sent to the appropriate person.. [insert Date] Senator [First Name] [initial] [Last Name] 107 North Main Street, Room ???, Concord, New Hampshire, 03301 RE: Senate Bill ????: Bill to establish New Hampshire Boater Registration Fee Dear Senator [Last Name], I urge you to oppose Senate Bill ??? or amend the current language so that watercraft powered by paddle are exempted from the $10.00 decal registration requirement. The bill is simply an attempt to generate revenue for the Department of Fish and Game but promises nothing in return to the non-motorized paddling community. Clearly, river runners and in particular whitewater boaters will be taxed but receive no benefits. Most importantly, this Bill will discourage river recreationists from coming to the state causing a decrease in tourism revenues further impacting the state economy. This Bill is simply a funding mechanism with no clear management plan in place for administering the funds fairly and equitably to those that are taxed. I urge you to oppose or amend this bill so that canoes, kayaks and rafts are exempted from the registration. The bill was drafted prematurely without a management plan in place identifying the user groups that should fund the program as well as allocation of the revenue fairly and equitably. Sincerely, Your name Address phone number email Following are some of the arguments that could be used in your letter or you could make up your own. 1. Multiple boat registration: Kayaks and canoes are relatively inexpensive outdoor recreational vehicles that very in design to allow maximum performance for a particular set of paddling conditions, i.e. lake, river, rapids, creeks, etc. For this reason most paddlers have several boats. A family of four could have a dozen or more boats. Requiring registration on all these craft is extremely unfair. It would be the equivalent of a fisherman registering each fishing pole he owns or a hunter registering each gun 2. The state of New Hampshire should be encouraging healthy and environmentally friendly outdoor activities. Boat registration will discourage these activities and steer tourist away to surrounding states. New Hampshire is a "convenient" paddling destination close to Boston, but not the most desirable. Once the "convenience" of paddling in NH is taken away by boat registration paddling tourist will avoid NH. New Hampshire is a small state that is easily bypassed or passed through to other prime paddling destinations in Maine, Vermont, and yes even Massachusetts. There is no place in NH that is over a 1 hour drive from a neighboring state. A family of four looking for a kayaking destination will see the $40 registration fee plus the aggravation of physically registering their boats as a huge deterrent to visit. This theoretical family would spend their tourist dollars in other states depriving NH of other income including rooms and meals taxes, gasoline taxes, and business taxes that their visit would chip into 3. A few other states have tried registration but some such as Arizona have repealed this tax because of the high cost of administration for the moneys received. Paddlers in these other states are demanding new programs and infrastructure to show some return on their fees. A similar situation can be seen in NH when the federal government initiated a recreational parking fee for national forest lands within NH. Rivers and lakes that were accessed from these lands showed a sharp decrease in visitors once the program was implemented. 4. Paddlers are not a drain on the resources of Fish & Game. Cartop access with foot trails to a river or lake launch is all that is necessary or even desired by outdoor enthusiast. Most paddlers are very environmentally conscience and do not desire any infrastructure. Most of the time all that is required is right of passage and a roadside shoulder to park. These parking and access points have been negotiated by paddlers with various landowners over the years. A boat tax will disrupt this relationship as boaters head out of state. New Hampshire paddlers will actually loose access with a boat tax. 5. Search and rescue operations are best done by paddlers familiar and experienced with conditions normally found on rivers with rapids. Support of local fire departments and rescue services would be the next best thing. If Search and Rescue is the reason for this tax then other groups would need to be considered as revenue sources. It is not fair to single out paddlers for Search and Rescue revenue enhancements since most of those operations are conducted for other groups not affected by this tax. 6. Organized river cleanups by paddling groups will vanish. A lot of these efforts are spearheaded by out of state enthusiasts who have adopted a favorite river to organize yearly cleanups. These people are also instrumental in negotiating with landowners to gain access to many river launch points throughout the state. The domino effect of boaters heading out of state to avoid the boat tax will surely mean fewer boaters at these access points therefore less desire to maintain this relationship with property owners and more trash at public rights of way. 7. Even in state boaters will be heading out of state to boat with friends rather then try and convince them to come to NH and pay the boat tax. 8. Registration will become a safety issue. Resident NH boaters will undoubtedly travel to neighboring states to do most of their boating but may choose to register only one craft in NH. That one craft may not be the best choice for certain types of boating depending on conditions. 9. Paddlers provide an environmental service to the state of NH. Boaters have in the past and continue to reported suspicious activities along the waterways that could be detrimental to the ecological health of the river or lake. 10. There will be a huge impact on paddling related rental businesses. Many paddling businesses have emerged over the last few years. Many of these are in the north country and have a very short summer season to recoup their expenses and earn a meager profit to survive. Some canoe and kayak liveries would need to register in excess of 100 boats. This will cut into their profits and probably force them out of business. 11. Paddling gear retailers will no longer offer demo boats for prospective buyers to try because of the high cost of registering dozens of boats each year. Despite the paddlers disagreement over the boat tax, we are not unconcerned about the plight of New Hampshire Fish & Games budget problems. We realize they have been burdened with many task unrelated to their original mission including search and rescue missions and land and water resource protection. It is for this reason we believe the State of New Hampshire should be funding such programs from the general budget coffers. After all, every state resident benefits from these services. However, we believe other revenue sources should be explored if the general budget cannot be tapped. 1. Search & Rescue insurance: New Hampshire Fish & Game should promote and sell this type of insurance to all outdoor enthusiast including bikers, hikers, paddlers, bird watchers, etc. This would only be effective if it was well known that any search & rescue performed would have to be reimbursed for cost if the rescued does not hold this insurance or a valid fishing/hunting license. 2. A bottle bill: Although there would be a lot of opposition to this, a bottle bill with a 5 cent deposit would generate some revenue from unreturned containers. Additionally, this would help keep shorelines and waterways clean. A 5 cent deposit on fishing bait containers would reduce the second most common trash found and removed by paddlers at riverside fishing sites. 3. A development tax: Any large scale development such as shopping malls or housing developments should be assessed a fee to offset the loss of habitat caused by that development.

Unfotunately, the senate committee approved SB255 yesterday. Please turn up the volumne on your letters. be polite but give them reasons why, such as we don't use F&G services, there are other reasons as well, but this will severely dampen paddling in NH waters, and yes, that means coastal waters as well as laeks annd rivers Jeff