Charles River Clean Up Boat Update

Below is an update from the good people at the Clean Up Boat.  In it is a nice invitation from them fo the Boat Clubs to join in on their clearnup on May 11th, though I know that many clubs are already committed to hosting large clearnups on Earth Day.  Whatever event you take part in, the river is a better place for all the efforts.  Thanks to everyone for the good work.

Charles River Clean Up Boat Update - 13 -1

 

Hi everybody, its that time again and we are gearing up for our 10 th season of cleaning the floating trash from the Charles.   The schedule for 2013 is posted as a link from the website...cleanupboat.org...  Volunteers are already signing up.  Lesley O'Garro, who signs up the Museum of Science volunteers, has been going great guns.  Now that I have finally got this Update out, I expect many of the other volunteers will sign on this summer for an enjoyable, and productive, day on the boat.

In order to sign up, you go to the calender, pick the days that need crew that coincide with your availability, and call, or Email, the person listed at the top of the calender page.   Nancy Free is now signing up non MoS volunteers.  Her phone number and E-mail address is on each calender page.  If you cannot reach Nancy, call, or E-mail, me, my contact information is also on each calender page.

The Lisa S is at Russo Marine being prepared for the season.  This is the 8th year for this boat.  We have worn out 2 sets of steering and control cables, replaced the motor 2 years ago, and installed a new helm last year.  We have gotten a lot of faithful service from this boat.

This year we are starting on May 11.  About the same date as last year.    Again, we will have other boats helping us on opening day. 

So on Sat, May 11, I hope many of the boat clubs along the river will join us in picking up the winters' residual trash.  Individuals, with, or without, canoes and kayaks, are also welcome.

Nick Pasquarosa is coordinating the effort at the Charles River Yacht Club.  Boats and volunteers can gather there at 8:00 AM for coffee and doughnuts, getting assigned areas and matching volunteers to available boats.  We will start cleaning at 9:00 AM and end at 12:00 noon.  The Charles River Yacht Club will host a pizza and soda lunch for the volunteers.

We invite all of the boating clubs between Watertown and the dam to join us.  If you haven't had a chance to join in any of the earlier clean ups, meet with us at the CRYC, or clean the areas near your facilities.  If you are doing this, please Email  (cleanupboat@yahoo.com) or call (508-596-4701) me, so we don't assign duplicate boats to the same areas.  The Clean Up Boat will bring extra skimmers and dispose of all the collected trash.

Funding is going to be difficult this year, Some changes with one of our long term key supporters resulted in our not getting our expected donation.  So any extra financial help you can donate will be definitely appreciated.  I will get to work on sending out requests for donations soon.  

Please spread the word.  Feel free to copy this Update and publish copies in your newsletters, or post copies on bulletin boards.  I hope to have enough help to have the river in mid season condition by the end of Saturday, May 11. Usually it takes us about  3 weeks, working alone, to get the river to mid season cleanliness.

Also, if you can't make May 11th, feel free to pick up any floating trash at any time.  It just helps us to keep the river looking cleaner.

It's going to be another wonderful year, our 10th, on the river.  I hope to see you out there soon.

Tom