M.A.S.K.G.I. MINUTES

MEETING DATE: September 18, 2002

LOCATION: Lord Camden Inn, Camden, ME

OFFICERS PRESENT:

• Scott Anchors, Vice President
• April Lawrence, Membership/Treasurer
• Robert Shaw, Membership/ Treasurer
• Doug Michael, Secretary

MEMBERSHIP PRESENT: 20

AGENDA OVERVIEW:

• Welcome & Pizza
• Roundtable reactions to Summer, Safety, Guide Testing
• Coast Guard Update
• MITA Update
• BPL
• Follow Up Initiatives
• Emergency Planning
• Insurance Issues
• Marketing/Brochure
• Upcoming Events/Announcements

MINUTES:

Roundtable Discussion

Safety Issue — Father/son lost off Stonington (Rented boats) August. Found 8 mi off course by lobsterman. Search started when overdue.

-Can we develop standards for rental operators?

-Higher risk activity

Suggestion for guide exam to place more emphasis on Harbor safety and Etiquette.

• Review of panel discussion @ Maine Coast Seminar — notion of keeping out of "traffic lanes"
• Possibility of developing promotional materials promoting safe paddling in high traffic areas

Sea Spray Kayak held Safety Day w USCG

• tested radar & visual
• discussed use of Bike Flag
• pencil flares less visible than smoke or flame flares.

Guide Testing Experiences

• general impression that few guides passed exams early in summer; many passed in late summer.
• Paul reported on Guide Exam meeting with MITA to discuss island ethics/LNT questions.
• 2 oral boards will be used
• 1 board for inland licensing
• 1 board for coastal licensing

Once the oral board is passed, cadidate will sit for written exam

• Group submitted questions for new written test. Once finalized, the new Sea Kayak written will include 0/night questions.

ACTION: Invite Mark Warren to next MASKGI mtg

• next guide exam meeting (on LNT.Island Ethics) scheduled for LLBean Hyde House 3-5pm, Oct 30, just prior to the Freeport MASKGI meeting (location TBA).

USCG UPDATE — Al Johnson

• 3 kayak fatalities in Maine this summer — 1 in ocean, 1 in Rockland Harbor, 1 in inland water. 1 may have been misclassified — elderly man fell off dock into? Boat.
• These are the first fatalities since 1994
• June 8-11 National Safe Boating Conf in Bar Harbor. Al invites the involvment of the Sea Kayak community. Perhaps MASKGI to do presentation and on the water demo/tours
• Next Ellsworth Meeting (December) will have more info.
• Aug 23^rd, Southern Maine Sea Kayak Network did safety symposium 150 attended. USCG & Casco Bay YMCA
• Next safety symposium in Bangor, May with Castine Kayak and other partners

MITA UPDATE

-Very good success with island log books this year

• Islands seem to be in good shape
• Good cooperation reported among users
• MITA working on 10 yr management plan for Public Islands
• Process began last fall
• Advisory Committee formed, one year ago, met once thus far
• Pre-plan document going out in preparation for fall stakeholder meetings NOV 19 Portland; Nov 20 Rockland; Nov 21 Ellsworth
• Document to present list of significant management issues to be rectified
• Lack of sufficient number of islands
• How much of each island should be devoted to recreational use
• Site Hardening policies and guidelines
• Human Use Issues — fair share/access /day vs overnight/public vs organized groups

Plan will seek to identify strategies and decision making guidelines

After stakeholders meetings, Draft Plan will be produced, reviewed by Advisor, sent back to stakeholders meetings

FOLLOW —UP on INITIATIVES

Emergency Planning

Insurance

• discussion about workers comp premiums — inconclusive — some went up, some down. Appears outfitters are being rated differently.

MASKGI Brochure

Scott Anchors introduced topic, thanked Bob Stanley for his work on the brochure over the summer. Bob was the only member to volunteer for the effort last spring.

Miscommunication was acknowledged. Officers were not aware Bob intended to print and distribute from his own desktop system.

Membership agreed to spend the next hour providing feedback on the current draft, and establishing criteria for the final version to be crafted. Doug Michael facilitated discussion, recording on flipchart:

What are some general impressions of the current draft?

• more concise format needed
• section on "what to ask a Maine Guide" may not be needed
• make text larger
• more white space, less content overall
• logos don’t work well, type too small, use standard format for outfitter names
• Like the map concept piece
• Would like to see mission statement
• Promote safety statewide
• Size doesn’t fit into rack
• Map helpful, may be misleading though, implying outfitter’s limited to one area
• Business card/logo approach problematic, difficult to read phone numbers and other info
• Like Map Concept
• Prefer to see listing of members vs "business card logos"
• Equipment list may mislead clients — may be not needed here
• Map only addresses coastal outfitters
• Low quality print, output.
• Is the goal, intent to do desktop or professional printing?
• Appreciate the effort Bob put into this
• Very pleased, it works!

After some discussion and review of themes, the group was asked to prioritize some specific criteria and content elements they would like the brochure committee to use in refining the graphic design and printing of the MASKGI rack card:

CRITERIA:

• Keep it Simple — like the original rack card.
• Get input from membership
• Timetable: March
• Budget?
• Change the card year to year (not on a rolling basis)
• Primary uses of card:
• To increase business for outfitters
• To increase awareness of MASKGI
• Communicate "Professionalism and Safety"
• Use recycled paper — consistent with our outdoor ethics
• Make it to fit standard Rack size

What are some specific content elements you would like to see in the rack card?

• Use a Number system with the map
• Statewide Map element
• Mission Statement
• Equal listing of outfitters (same font & format)
• Reference website

1. SIMPLIFY FORMAT
2. LESS OVERALL CONTENT
3. PROFESSIONAL PRINT QUALITY
4. SINGLE OR DBL FOLD LAYOUT

MASKGI Rack Card Committee:

1. Bob Stanley bob@tideway.ws
2. Sid Quarriere aplridge@midcoast.com
3. Dave Legere dave@aquaterra-adventures.com
4. Thornton Ring info@ringsmarineservice.com

ACTION:

• Dave Legere agreed to Chair the committee

1. Rack Card Committee to use tonight’s discussion as guidance to detail a content list of brochure elements to bring before the membership at the next regular meeting (OCT 30).
2. Committee will take the criteria discussed tonight, along with the content list (to be approved at next meeting) to a minimum of 2 designers for bidding.

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

- Member dues need to be paid by January 1^st. Please forward to April Lawrence.

• Mark Bergoine — Would MASKGI be interested in organizing a Kayak symposium in Maine?
• Pros and cons discussed.

ACTION: Karen Francoeur and Mark Bergoine will look into the symposium idea, frame the concept and bring back recommendations to the larger group at the next meeting.

If membership has any ideas, suggestions or comments please refer them to Karen or Mark.

- WFR Course being offered at United Technologies in Bangor — 942-5296

SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT AGENDA

• Guide License — Mark Warren
• Content List of MASKGI Rack Card
• Invite MA outfitter to present on fatality incident last year — lessons learned
• Continuing Education for Guides
• Update on Symposium Idea

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.