The coronavirus pandemic has forced shutdowns across the country, but many Tellico Village residents are still finding ways to get out of the house.
While many homeowners are playing a round of golf or taking a walk along scenic hiking trails, some boat owners are taking advantage of warmer weather to cruise down Fort Loudoun, Tellico or Watts Bar lakes.
“It’s interesting because at the beginning of this virus and people were staying home from work, and so I would go by the boat ramps and the boat ramps would be packed with fishing boats, so it looked like a lot of people took advantage of the opportunity when they weren’t going to work,” Wayne Geoffrey, Tellico Village Cruising Club commander, said. “Village-wise, boat traffic is not really ... I don’t see a whole lot of people out at all. We’ve probably gone out about five or six times just on some casual cruises.”
Geoffrey and his family have been able to get on the water several times this spring, but he said boating traffic has gradually decreased over the last few weeks.
Cruising club members were disappointed Saturday following cancellation of the organization’s annual Blessing of the Fleet ceremony that normally kicks off the Village boating season.
“I happen to have two of my three children here from out of state who are working from our home for a change of scenery, and we just go out and have some casual cruises,” he said. “We haven’t teamed up with anybody. We were supposed to have the Blessing of the Fleet, which obviously got canceled, so I’m not sure how this is going to work out going forward when we all go because we all raft up, and when you look at the instructions for rafting up, they’re saying, ‘Don’t tie up during this virus thing,’ so we’re kind of in this holding pattern. I don’t see tons of traffic out there.”
Although boaters can still get out and enjoy the lake on their own, local clubs are eager to return and socialize.
“All of our meetings certainly are canceled, and I think a lot of people really enjoy this club from the social aspect — not just from socializing on our boats during the raft-offs but socializing at our meetings because there’s a lot of tight-knit friends in this group,” Geoffrey said. “We’re starving for our social group and interaction because everyone’s so fun and everybody’s so nice, so that’s impacting everybody. I’m sure it’s similar for every club that people belong to around here, not just the boating club. The good news about ours is we can still get out there.”
Tellico Boaters Assistance Response Team has suspended all normal operations, free tows and classes.
“The bulk of our members are 65-plus and, in general, falls into the most susceptible groups in terms of COVID-19, so almost all of us have a pre-existing condition of some type, so there was some want for caution,” Phil Weis, T-BART public relations director, said. “With that being the primary reason, we decided to suspend operations in terms of the towing of boaters that needed assistance. We have two-man crews, and it’s really kind of difficult to get decent separation on all of our three boats. Also, you’ve got to interrelate with the person being towed in terms of passing paper work, waivers back and forth. That was kind of the background to stop the tows.”
Weis believes T-BART will receive an updated timetable of return within the next 10 days. In the meantime, boaters need to take precautions and be aware of their surroundings while on the water.
If a boater experiences mechanical issues, they can call TowBoatUS at 865-414-1626.
“Some of the things that we have for the general public would include, obviously, personal flotation devices, a lake map ... some type of distress signal, which could be some type of orange flag,” Weis said. “One of the most important things is an anchor because it is a moving body of water in Tellico Lake, and it’s a good idea if you bang up on the rocks and can’t anchor yourself ... and some rope.
“If it’s a hot day, it’s pretty good to have some water with you, something to drink,” he added. “Those are the main things from a safety standpoint, and it’s very important to know where the points of safe harbor are like the Tellico Village Yacht Club, one of the two launch sites, Rarity Bay, Tellico Harbor, Fort Loudon Marina.”
As warmer weather sets in over the next several weeks, Geoffrey encourages boaters to get out on the water for more fun.
“I think the weekend weather hasn’t been that great, but I think once we start to see some warmer weather with this virus, I think there’s going to be a lot of people going out,” he said. “I’m sure everybody’s sick of being cooped up, so I think the traffic may be more weather related than it would be people staying home because they don’t want to go onto their boat with the virus. ... I think we’re going to follow whatever the (Tellico Village Property Owners Association) recommends as far as when they open things back up.”
