"The Alaskan Wet Dog"

[Mentzel]

Meant "Dangerous Waters" TV show.

Promo video on their web site shows them riding right up next to a bowhead. Totally illegal.. They had other videos showing them scaring off sea birds and sea lions but they took that down after I called them out on it. Our local club based in Anchorage has been working exhaustively to reverse the watercraft ban in Kachemak bay. Then these knuckleheads come along. They even put a picture of them next to a whale on the side of there rig! I mean how hard is it to stay away from the whales?? Common sense!

http://dangerouswaterstv.com/





They were parked in my office parking lot yesterday so I snapped a couple photos.

[Mark]

Thank you. You're part of PWCA? I've been in contact with some of your people before. Thanks for all you do.
There's getting to be more and more watercraft down here. Funny to see guys towing them around until they get out of the bay and aging hippies without a real cause freaking out about the ski even being here.

[Mentzel]

Mark

Yes I am a long standing member of the PWCA. (Personal Watercraft Club of Alaska). I am also a member of the IJSBA, APBA, AOC, AOAA, ASSA and Anchorage Racing Lions. I've been to 6 IJSBA World Championships with great results. The magnitude of the AK Wetdog adventure is mind boggling. The areas are so remote you will become a part of the environment which will become a real challenge. Was I meant to be on this planet or not will, your question to answer!

I will probably start working on long range PWCs this winter and start training runs next summer. A typical day might be Anchorage to Homer and back. Or Whittier, Cordova, Valdez. Will also look to make fast runs between Kenai and Kodiak island. It will be difficult to train in the Aleutians because it is so remote. Need to get it done though.

My team will have 4 PWCs and 2 airplanes. Considered helicopters but they don't have the range needed. They are great for film work though.

With permits just now being approved I don't see summer 2013 being feasible for anyone. Patience..

Larry Mentzel
Anchorage AK

[Mark]

I'm selling my charter permit so the good thing is I'll have all next summer to do nothing BUT ride.
I've spent extensive time in the Aleutians and what you are talking about, bigness, the feeling of being small... You'll really like the area past Chignik and Perryville if you haven't been there. I've been there dozens of times and I still have to pick my jaw up when I see a seiner (58') running along granite mountains that make it look no larger than a speck of dust. That being said, the leg between Alitak and Chignik will be the milestone to achieve. More than 8,000 days at sea and two of the four times that I have almost met my maker were within sight of the Trinities. Another reason that I tell people to NOT enter this race on a tight budget - the temptation will be to push it beyond dangerous limits. For my team, there will be no point in time when we are not afraid to say "this is going to be too much. Let's camp here and wait it out or DNF.".
Let me know if there is anything I can do to help (with my boat, logistics, etc.. Mine's the Northern Lights. It has a 13'10" beam and 14' of clear back deck.).

[OsideBill]

Iv'e had the pleasure of meeting John, a couple times now. Great guy for sure, with a huge undertaking. My hats off to him for his tenacity and persiverence in getting this done.

[Mark]

LB2Cat "Biggest and Best", etc... A fun little warmer upper, "with navigation" and all but if we don't actually run the Wet Dog, there's not much that can be said about it. It would be a blast to see some LB2Cat guys run the Wet Dog with us. I think that we (or, at least, "I") couldn't hold a candle to the riding skills of these guys but there will be some suprises in store. I hope that the LB2Cat is rougher than a cob and we'll learn more!

[Mentzel]

I would love to do the LB2CAT as well as the Havasu 300. Great races with great promoters and racers.

Also very interested in going to the kings cup in Thailand.

[Mark]

From what I have seen online, and what I know about S.F., The guys who do well in that race will be competive here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yw17...feature=relmfu Those guys get thrashed!
I also heard that Karujet gets sloppy but I havn't seen video of such.
If you feel you'd be competive in LB2Cat, you are a much better rider than I! It takes a skilled, conditioned rider to hold that throttle on as much as they do. One lapse of attention and...
Havasu? Different kind of race.
My chance in the Wet Dog is if it's very rough. The race is in my back yard and I hold no illusions that I can keep up with you great riders unless the weather equalizes us.
I'd never go to Thailand again. Not my cup of tea.

[Mark]

APPEAL!
It's how these people work - Quiet Rights, Kachemak Coalition (Cook Inlet Keeper), Alaska Audubon, Etc. LOST. The permit was granted. The race was on. Now, these blights on society are appealing the decision by DNR to permit the race, with the apparent objective of spending the race into submission. An example of their work, a petition: "NOW, THEREFORE, THE UNDERSIGNED DO HEREBY OPPOSE ANY EFFORT TO ROLLBACK THE SENSIBLE AND WELL-DELIBERATED RULE BANNING PERSONAL WATERCRAFT FROM THE KACHEMAK BAY CRITICAL HABITAT AREA." They are soliciting signatures worldwide to try to extend the ban in Kachemak Bay (Homer). They manufacture terms like "critical habitat area" to make it seem somehow different than every other piece of waterfront in Alaska. They come up with wording like "Jetskis have irratic noise signatures that 'take' seabirds" (their twisting of phrasing in ADFG regulations concerning game birds, they equate running a ski too close to a bird to 'taking' it.) In short, the appeal is no more well thought out or backed by fact than their first comments - which were insufficient to persuade the DNR to ban the race. THE DNR, IN FACT, GAVE THE RACE IT'S SEAL OF APPROVAL, but this war is not yet won. It is a war on freedom. It has fronts on every aspect of our lives. They will not quit until WE exhaust THEM. Further, Kachemak Bay, the so-called critical habitat area, is not even on the race course! These freaks are doing this just because they lack some other thing to kibitz. They have no dog in this fight other than that they don't like powersports! They have the money of every naive college girl in the world. We have reason, right.
I am ignorant of how to best help at this stage. I am writing to our politicians. I am writing to Dan Sullivan, the commissioner of the DNR, who HAS ALREADY RULED IN FAVOR OF THIS RACE. Straight shooter Mead Treadwell, Dan's boss, Alaska's Lieutenant Governor, I am writing to the papers. However, my voice is just one voice. If you are at all interested in seeing this race happen or are simply interested in shutting these environmental whackos down, or are interested in supporting freedom (because your locale comes next!), please find a way to support this race. Write to Commissioner Sullivan and let him know how you feel. Write to our Governor Parnell, for shitsake, and tell him how many people you are planning to bring to Alaska for the race and the amount of money you think you'll spend on the race. Stay tuned... I had a meeting with John Lang and Tom Krueger tonight. These guys are willing to fight for us but they will likely need our support. In the short term, write.
An example of what "passionate, informed" people will support if it is put in their face. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3erdgVVTw

[Mark]

Did we all write letters?

Governor Sean Parnell http://gov.alaska.gov/parnell/contac...-governor.html

Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell http://ltgov.alaska.gov/treadwell/contact/email.html

DNR Commissioner Dan Sullivan http://dnr.alaska.gov/commis/ Bear this in mind: Alaska Constitution provides that "It is the policy of the State to encourage the settlement of its land and the development of its resources by making them available for maximum use consistent with the public interest." - This is right off the DNR's websight.

Anchorage Daily News http://www.adn.com/help/letters/

Homer News, leftist propaganda rag of center of bleating liberal universe letters@homernews.com <letters@homernews.com>

One could also write to every city on the Wet Dog Race course and thank them for embracing the race. It is important to let them know that they are making the right decision. Whittier, Valdez, Cordova, Seward, Port Graham, Anchor Point, Kenai, Port Williams, Williamsport, Kodiak, Larson Bay, Old Harbor, Alitak, Chignik, Perryville, Sand Point, King Cove, Cold Bay, False Pass, Port Moller, Port Heiden, Egigik, Naknek, Igiugig, Iliamna. Many of these places are not much more than a cannery or a village and they are welcoming the race for no other reason than that they are good folk. Damn near everywhere but my own Homer - what an embarrassment.

Don't be apathetic, because this nightmare will visit your neighborhood next. Work together harder than the progressives who would ban skis entirely given the chance. Let's take back our freedom! Thanks for puttin up with me and reading this.