August  2002 NC Marine TradeWinds Newsletter

Editors 

 

Drought Hits North Carolina Lakes

High Rock Lake has dropped 17 feet, Lake Norman is down 4.8 feet, and Lake James fell 7 feet. These are just some of the lakes that are seeing a dramatic drop in water level. A long dry spell has plagued the western part of the state, forcing boat ramps to shut down, and boaters to find other places to cruise and fish. Two marinas on High Rock have reported they were forced to pull out all their boats and essentially close shop at the height of the busy season.  Waterfront homeowners on all lakes are having problems as their once deep-water piers now sit on dry land.  Residents like these have had to pull out their boats and find storage for them.  

But while business at some of the lakes is suffering, other lake marinas are reporting a good year. Boaters looking for new storage have gone to other marinas, like on Lake Norman, where there is still water.  Boaters who trailer their vessels are visiting lakes they had not previously boated to take advantage of existing water and favorable boating conditions at those lakes.

For more information you can contact the following: For Lake James, Lake Rhodhiss, Lake Hickory, Lookout Shoals Lake, Lake Norman, Mountain Island Lake, Lake Wylie, Lake Keowee, Belews Lake, and Gaston Shoals Lake, contact Duke Power www.dukepower.com or 800-443-5193 and 704-382-8086.

For Fontana Reservoir and Hiawassee Reservoir, contact Tennessee Valley Authority www.TVA.gov.

For John Kerr Reservoir, Jordan lake, Falls Lake, Philpott Lake, and Kerr Scott Reservoir, contact the Army Corps of Engineers www.saw.usace.army.mil or  sawweb-water@saw02.usace.army.mil.
 
For High Rock Lake, Tuckertown Lake, Narrows Reservoir, Falls Reservoir contact Yadkin Alcoa Power Generating Inc.  www.yadkin-apgi.com or 704-374-9300.
 
 
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USCG Compliance Testing for Boats Under 20 Feet

NC boat builders can inexpensively verify Safe Loading, Safe Powering, and Floatation information used on their boat’s USCG Capacity Label. This free testing is advisable, as it reduces risk associated with USCG recalls and the company’s exposure to liability lawsuits stemming from accidents.  The Coast Guard hopes that manufacturers will submit a boat early in its production so that any changes that might be needed for safety reasons can be made quickly and at least cost and effort. The USCG will pay mileage roundtrip from the manufacturing site to the Maryland test faculty and the test site personnel will work with the builder to conveniently schedule the testing. The test is a pass/fail determination, but the boat can be retested following corrections. The boat will be submerged for 18 hours, and drilling ¼” holes may be required to let air out of pockets. The builder has the opportunity to witness the testing and ask questions about the testing methods. Call the USCG for Gary Larimer at (202)-267-0986. 

The Coast Guard will soon offer on CD-ROM its latest publication aimed at helping the boat builder produce safe, regulation-compliant boats.  The Boatbuilder’s Handbook is a complete reference to the Federal regulations that apply to boats for electrical, ventilation and fuel systems, safe loading, powering and floatation requirements.   Call the Office of Boating Safety at (202) 267-0984 to ask for a CD-ROM copy of this useful guide.

 

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14,000 NC Maps Mailed Out Since January - NC Coastal Boating Guides

The number one NC coastal waterways tourism “tool” is the NC Coastal Boating Guide provided by the NC Department of Transportation and NC Wildlife Commission. We have given away thousands from our trade show booths, but the big numbers are mailed out free due to web visitor requests that come in from www.CoastalGuide.com and www.NCwaterways.com - over 14,000 so far this year. Many of our boat builders are providing them with their boat sales literature and at tournaments. Order cases – free. Follow instructions at website - www.NCwaterways.com. 

 

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NCwaterways.com to Sponsor Booths at BoatBuilding 2002 and IBEX 2003 Trade Shows

National marketing of NC marine businesses, and promotion of the State of North Carolina as a business friendly state, are the objectives of our next set of booth sponsorships. Our ads in these show's directories and the presence of our booth continues our economic development efforts on behalf of Golden LEAF Foundation, Progress Energy, Electricities, and the NC Electric Membership Cooperatives (see www.ncwaterways.com/sponsors.htm). There are over 600 hundred businesses in the state that sell products and materials to the national marine industry and we are working to expand their sales efforts in addition to calling attention to NC boats and services.

  

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Coastal NPS Program Takes Aim at Marinas

At the request of the state’s Nonpoint Source Coordinator (NPS) (under Division of Water Quality), Wendy Larimer of our Marine Trades Services attended a planning meeting for the Coastal Nonpoint Source Pollution (CNPSP) program. Under Section 6217 of the Federal Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments, North Carolina is required to address nonpoint pollution coming from various sources, including marinas. The goal of this program is to develop management measures, not regulations, – ones that are economically achievable and reflect the best available technology for reducing the pollutants.  Issues that came up at this initial meeting were:

These items will be further discussed with the hope that workable management measures for marina operators will be the end result. Our goal to ensure marinas are not being unfairly singled out for nonpoint source pollution enforcement and that new programs be easily and inexpensively adopted. 

 

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Job Market Posting on NCwaterways.com – Use it

We continue to hear of successes related to our website’s Job Market matching employees with marine businesses, but more NC businesses should be using this free service. Try it. www.NCwaterways.com.

 

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Boat Builders - Harvard Center Styrene Risk Analysis Now Available

Commissioned in 1999 by the Styrene Information and Research Center (http://www.styrene.org/), this study is now available – http://www.hcra.harvard.edu/pdf/May2002.pdf. In short, it provides fairly comforting information to the fiberglass-reinforced segment of boatbuilders; hold the fact that legal disclaimers are present. From the report: “In the fiberglass-reinforced plastics segment of the styrene industry, where exposures are the greatest, measurements indicate that airborne concentrations are now less than 20 parts per million. And in other styrene industry segments, exposures are estimated to be 5 ppm or less.  Look at the report and the styrene center information.

 

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Southeastern Marine Trades Expo & Conference – Norfolk

The dates are set, the speakers are as good as they get, the topics are current and the venue is top of the line – so plan to attend. The inclusive package starts Sunday, November 10 and ends Tuesday, November 12 and will be held at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk. Topics focus on a range of marina and marine business issues and includes a Monday Tour of Ocean Marine Yacht Center, Portsmouth. Registration information to be sent soon. See www.NCwaterways.com for updates.

 

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The Marine Trades Services is a program of the Small Business Technology Development Center (SBTDC). The SBTDC is a business development service of The University of North Carolina operated in partnership with the US Small Business Administration.