| Sunday, September 2, 2007
Lake Travis: Mansfield Dam and Devil's Cove
Posted by Jill Kreindler
It is hard to believe the summer has come to an end and that today was our final Nobody’s Waterproof event of the year. Cloudy skies in the morning did not keep our team or eager holiday-weekend lake visitors away. Mansfield Dam Park filled up quickly, and people interested in our booth were coming to check it out even before we had finished setting up. Soon after, the boat crew headed out to Devil’s Cove. There were tons of houseboats that were still out in the cove enjoying the lake from Saturday and even some that had been out since Friday! The low-key but crowded morning allowed us to talk for a while with each boat and give away many prizes that they were excited to receive.
This is Jill’s second year on the Nobody’s Waterproof team. She's a veteran lifeguard who loves to spend her weekends at the lake. Jill encourages all lake visitors to play it safe whether on a boat or just swimming off shore. Look for Jill and other members of the Nobody’s Waterproof team on the Nobody’s Waterproof boat this summer. |
Just before lunchtime, the Texas Parks and Wildlife boat joined up with ours in Devil’s Cove. They took some still photography shots of each boat interacting with lake visitors. After lunch, our boat picked up a FOX 7 reporter and cameraman. We took them out around Mansfield Dam before heading back to the cove. By this time, it was packed full of boats and people linked together. With only a few items left, we were able to make a big impression with promotional items as we swept down a line of boats tossing prizes to the screaming boaters. The FOX 7 cameras caught all the excitement, and the story aired at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 2.
The team made it back and packed up the event just before the rain came! Once again the weather was on our side. We have really enjoyed spending our summer spreading the message of how Texans can have fun and play it safe while on the water. Good luck winning the cool prizes we are giving away like the cool “fanny pack” lifejackets our team wore all summer and the Body Glove wakeboard that was hanging from our boat. See you in 2008!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Lake Travis: Mansfield Dam and Devil's Cove
Posted by Jill Kreindler
After setting up the tent at Mansfield Dam, the boat headed out to Devil’s Cove. It was already close to 90 degrees by 10 a.m. and boats were filling in the cove quickly. We stopped to talk with a few party boats and other lake visitors. All were very attentive and excited to win prizes and learn how to “Play it Safe.”
After a stop back at Mansfield Dam for lunch, we took a KXAN cameraman out to the Cove. He was able to capture the full Nobody’s Waterproof experience as we interacted with several crowded boats before heading back to pick up a reporter for the Lake Travis News. By this time, the lake was really filling up which made the water very rough. We took the Lake Travis News reporter out around the Dam where we gave away the remaining T-shirts and noodles left on the boat.
Everyone enjoyed another successful event on Lake Travis. It is hard to believe there is only one more event left. We look forward to seeing you there on Sunday, Sept. 2!
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Lake Travis: Mansfield Dam and Devil's Cove
Posted by Jill Kreindler
After setting up the tent at Mansfield Dam, the boat headed out to Devil’s Cove. It was great to be back out on the lake after all the rain. A lot of boaters were thrilled to be out again as well. However, the crowds were a little smaller than normal as the weather forecast was still predicting rain. The weather held out all day for us, though. We focused a lot of our trivia questions on the potential lake hazards created by the recent flooding and what to do if bad weather strikes suddenly. All the boaters were very aware of the recent lake closures and were keeping a close watch on the skies.
Later, we went back to Mansfield Dam to pick up a K-EYE cameraman. After completing an interview with him, we made our way back to Devil’s Cove for some additional footage of the lake and our routine. The story ran at 6 p.m. that evening.
The whole team was thrilled to be back out teaching lake visitors how to “Play it safe.” We are hoping the rain will stay away for our next event on August 11 at Mansfield Dam. See you there!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
LBJ Yacht Club at Granite Beach and Lake LBJ
Posted by Jill Kreindler
It was a bit of a slow day at the LBJ Yacht club. Most of the tent visitors were parents with young children. Unfortunately, the sno-cone machine broke early in the day. Some kids came back later to see if it had been fixed. One group visited the tent after hearing about the land-based activities from the boat crew. They were thrilled to learn more about water safety, get their picture taken for the Web site and win more prizes.
Lake LBJ was less crowded. Most of the Lake LBJ boaters were families out with skis, wakeboards or tubes rather than “party barging” and floating like the crowds tend to do in Devil’s Cove. The lake visitors we saw were also practicing many of the safe boating tips the Nobody’s Waterproof crew recommends: wearing lifejackets while swimming, drinking water instead of alcohol and staying aware of their surroundings. This made our job easy! We were happy to reward the safe boaters with a variety of prizes.
Although it was a fun change to be out on another lake and visit with some folks in Marble Falls, we are really looking forward to spreading the Nobody’s Waterproof message on Lake Travis for the crowded Independence Day weekend on Saturday, July 7. See you there!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Mansfield Dam Park and Devil's Cove on Lake Travis
Posted by Jill Kreindler
The threat of rain and mostly cloudy skies kept the usual weekend traffic low on Lake Travis. However, the smaller crowds allowed us to spend more time talking to boaters and having more involved conversations. This helped make the media ride-a-longs very educational and representative of what the outreach crew does.
We began our morning with KXAN aboard the boat and headed to Devil’s Cove. I completed an interview with KXAN on the way to the cove. We then demonstrated the trivia games with a few party boats out early in the cove before heading back to the dam.
Next we picked up the crew from News 8 Austin before returning to the cove to interact with a few more boats that had made their way out on the lake. We answered questions for them on the ride back to Mansfield Dam.
After returning, we invited Fox 7 News aboard the boat. We stopped near the dam to ask some questions and give away prizes to a boat, and then we continued on to the cove. There, the reporter was able to interview a few boaters and swimmers to get their take on the effectiveness of the event. We also had an outreach team member jump into the lake to demonstrate the staff’s CO2 cartridge powered lifejackets for a group of swimmers and the Fox 7 team. Everyone was very interested in where they could get one of the lifejackets. We answered some questions for Fox 7 after returning to the land based event.
For our final trip out to Devil’s Cove, we picked up a crew from KVUE. By now, the cove had filled up considerably more, so the team was able to stop and talk with several boats before finishing the day. All were very interested in what we had to say and winning prizes. After the ride-a-long, I demonstrated how to manually inflate the lifejacket for the camera team.
After interacting with the media crew and helping spread the awareness of the Nobody’s Waterproof campaign, I hope you will visit us when we stop at Lake LBJ on June 23!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Mansfield Dam Park and Devil's Cove on Lake Travis
Posted by Jill Kreindler
The day got off to a bit of a late start after we first went to Bob Wentz Park at Windy Point. Part of the park was closed, so not as many people were there as planned. We quickly decided to relocate to Mansfield Dam. Crowds were already there due to a triathlon training group practice and other tents run by its sponsors. We set up the land-based activities including the safety toss game, sno-cone machine and promotional items. Park visitors almost immediately began to stop by the tent to play the toss and trivia games. As boaters waited to put their boats in the water, we walked over to them and discussed water-safety tips.
Soon after the land-based site was set up, the Nobody’s Waterproof boat arrived. After affixing the branded flag and packing the boat with promotional items, the water-based crew headed out to Devil’s Cove. We reached every boat in the cove including several large party barges before heading back to the park for lunch. Many boats were entering the cove as we left, and we knew it would be crowded when we returned.
The rest of the event on the water flew by. Every time we turned around a new group of boaters was ready to test their water-safety knowledge and win prizes. We took photos of each boat and hope to post those soon so lake visitors can look for their pictures and learn more about how to “play it safe.”
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Mansfield Dam. More and more boats entered the cove as we were leaving. They were all staring at the boat and hoping to win prizes. We were able to quickly pass out all the remaining promotional items aboard the boat as we left the cove.
Keep on the lookout when we visit Mansfield Dam next on June 16, 2007 from 10 a.m. 3 p.m.!
|
