Outdoors

Gulf and Bay: News and notes

By Rodney Page, Times Staff Writer
Published February 22, 2008

CHECK IT OUT

Dragon boat regatta paddles into Tampa

The water around the downtown Tampa Convention Center docks will be filled with dragon boats Saturday for the second annual Tampa Bay miniregatta. The regatta, with 65 to 70 boats expected to compete, takes place from 8 to 11 a.m. The boats are 42 feet long, 4 feet wide and seat 20 paddlers in 10 rows. Elevated in the bow, a drummer sits facing the crew and a steerperson stands in the stern to guide the boat with a 10-foot oar. Races usually consist of four to six teams racing on a straight-line course of about 400 yards. For information, go to www.tampabaydragonboats.com.

A classroom where your feet get wet

Tampa Bay Watch is offering an educational program for those who want to learn about our local estuary. Every Wednesday through March 26, Tampa Bay Watch is offering a daylong program of classroom orientation, touch tanks and exploration on a tandem kayak through Tampa Bay. The cost is $20 for members, $25 for non-members and kids ages 8-16 are $15. Participants should bring a towel, closed-toed shoes and a change of clothes. For a registration form, go to www.tampabaywatch.org.

VOLUNTEERS

Help unclog America's rivers

A group called America Outdoors started a national rivers cleanup program in 1992. Since then the project has gained momentum, and more cleanups are planned throughout 2008 in all 50 states. In 2007, the group claims to have removed 600,000 tons of trash from 583 cleanup sites. There were 95,109 volunteers used to clean up 7,453 miles of rivers. There were 100,980 trash bags filled. Some of the more bizarre items taken from the rivers include toilet seats, washing machines, an outhouse, a lawn mower and a tractor. For information on year's cleanup, go to www.americanrivers.org/cleanup.

[Last modified February 21, 2008, 19:25:33]