A recent article in Performance Boats Magazine concerning drinking and boating on the River was judged by the Agencies at the Lake Havasu Marine Association Laughlin meeting as "the best written, most balanced article ever written on this subject".  Congratulations to Magazine owner Chris Davidson and Editor/writer Kevin Spaise for their willingness to shed light on this subject!

Lake Havasu Marine Association and Arizona Game and Fish Department are seeing eye-to-eye on a grassroots sober boating campaign by the local marine association.  Marine association executive director Jim Salscheider said he, the association’s media consultant and four representatives of AZGFD met Friday in the private meeting room at Red Onion for a three-hour discussion about the campaign.

“It was a really good meeting. It improved the quality of the (sober boating) program. We worked out our minor differences, and they will be participating in all our stuff,” said Salscheider on Monday.  One minor difference was the portrayal of adult boaters without lifejackets. AZGFD is entrenched with other nationwide campaigns to promote lifejackets being worn all the time, no matter what the boaters age, according to earlier reports.  The marine association has compromised with the state agency and has agreed that if their campaign materials show people in a boat, the depiction will reflect boaters wearing life jackets, Salscheider said.  “Our issue was that it is not the law, not the Colorado River culture. But we agreed that if we are going to show boaters, they will be in lifejackets,” he said.

AZGFD and the marine association are jointly working on the next round of billboards to include new themes, stickers and other campaign materials promoting responsible boating in the area.  “Sober Skippers Rock” is the new slogan generated by a collaborative brainstorm effort, Salscheider said. It was deemed appropriate for the “younger generation” and called a “more positive thing”, he said.  The next meeting between the two organizations is set for mid-January during a law enforcement seminar in Laughlin. The meeting is six-weeks before the grassroots campaign digs its heels in March 1 — in time for Spring Break season on Lake Havasu.

The sober-boating campaign will also be promoted at the Los Angeles Boat Show March 17-20 as well as the marine association’s 20th annual local boat show April 9-10, sponsored by Teague Custom Marine, Salscheider said.  Teague and Romer Beverage are key sponsors for the campaign. The gesture of the companies using its personal money is one aspect that hooked AZGFD, Salscheider said. Furthermore, AZGFD suggested there are state, national and private funding resources that could help support the local campaign, according to AZGFD wildlife manager Dee Pfleger.  Pfleger said Tuesday she agreed the meeting was a success.  “Just an opportunity for game and fish to sit down with the marine association and to get on the same page as the marine association,” Pfleger said. “We are always looking for any opportunities to make waterways safe.  Pfleger said AZGFD helped the marine association identify where the gaps were and how the state could help.  “I think its great. It is something that we have needed for a while. It is something that we as state agencies have been reiterating. But a new voice saying it in a slightly different way might help to gain attention,” Pfleger said.