# Quagga Mussels and your kayak-SUP-raft-dory



## Tom Martin (Dec 5, 2004)

Hey All, this post was buried in another thread, so am re-posting here. 

If you are taking your river gear across state lines, like say, to run the Grand Canyon, here's what you need to do at the take out, on your way home, and once you get home.

According to the good folks at the Oregon Dept Fish and Wildlife and the Utah Division of Wildlife, rafters DO NOT have to quarantine their boats at Diamond or Pearce, but can go on home as they normally do. 

Both of these folks assumed river runners were not stopping at the inspection stations. If you don't stop at the inspection station, you need to have done this at the Ramp:

*Clean* mud, plants, and all other debris from your boat and equipment.​ ​ *Drain* the footwell and flap areas that hold thwarts, if applicable.​ ​ *Dry* (7 days summer, 18 days spring/fall and 30 days in the winter) or freeze (3 days of below 32F temps for the full 72 hours). This drying timeline starts when you pull off the river.

They both gave me a URL tool to help figure out how long your raft needs to dry.
100th Meridian Initiative

Martina noted the key here is that river gear dry out completely between rivers. That means unrolling your boat-SUP or taking the skirt off your kayak. 

They noted if a boat is stopped at an inspection station, it can be cleaned with warm water (not hot) under much less pressure, but for a longer wash time. They do this for wooden dories, where the high temps and pressure can strip paint and erode the wood surface. 

What about you lucky ducks with a quick turnaround to another river, say, Desolation Canyon, where a complete three week or more dry-out is not possible? You need to decontaminate your craft of choice with hot water washing at a decontamination station BEFORE you go to the next put-in.

Hope this helps, yours, Tom

Tom Martin
Co-Director
River Runners For Wilderness
PO Box 30821
Flagstaff, AZ 86003-0821
Hm: 928-556-0742
Mobile: 928-856-9065
[email protected]
www.rrfw.org

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