Local officials hope people will take caution while on the waterways this boating season.
“It’s definitely been hotter and more humid weather so that’s obviously going to draw the boats out,” Anthony Chitwood, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer, said. “This year we’ve got some extreme cabin fever I guess with the late cold weather that we had. Some of these even not-so-prime days earlier in weekends I guess, earlier in May at the end of April, beginning of May, we had a lot of boats out then too. With the first pretty weekend people started hitting the lake.”
Memorial Day weekend unofficially kicks off the boating season, with Rockin’ the Docks typically bringing out droves of people to Lenoir City.
TWRA likes to be present to keep boaters in check, Chitwood said, but also do safety inspections and ensure boaters know where life jackets, throw cushions and fire extinguishers are stored.
“A lot of times I stop and check a boat and they have no idea where the stuff is,” Chitwood said. “A fire extinguisher, the boat’s on fire, if you can’t find a fire extinguisher when I’m sitting there doing a safety inspection you better believe when adrenaline’s going and the boat’s on fire you’re not going to be able to find it. It’s one of those things that, one, we make sure that folks are in compliance, but two, people learn, ‘Hey, that’s right there so if there’s something there I can always get it in a hurry’.”
Needed items include a life jacket for every person on board, a U.S. Coast Guard-certified Type IV throwable flotation device, a fire extinguisher and the boat’s registration, Chitwood said. State law requires youth age 12 and under to wear a personal flotation device when on the open deck of a boat unless anchored, aground or moored.
“I think overall awareness is better than it probably has been, but it never ceases to amaze me when I run across that guy who’s driven a boat for 30 years and doesn’t know what the buoys or any of them mean, channel markers, anything, but overall I think there’s better awareness than there ever has been,” Chitwood said. “Through our education, our boater education courses are touching a lot of folks.”
Lack of awareness is the No. 1 reason for boating incidents, with alcohol typically being another contributing factor, Chitwood said.
As of Friday there has been at least one boating under the influence arrest made and a few damaged-property incidents in Chitwood’s district. A figure for Loudon County could not be determined, but last year Chitwood estimated there were only two or three BUIs.
“In our boat accident report one of the most commonly checked boxes are keeping improper lookout,” Chitwood said. “People driving along, don’t pay any attention, they’re standing around watching the kids on the tube or behind them — that’s why you have to have a spotter — but an operator might be sitting and watching the kids and not paying attention to where they’re driving or just anything. ... Just on a broad, clear, perfect (day), nothing obstructing your vision, people will run over another boat. It’s just, ‘I didn’t see them’.”
Teaching boating etiquette is important, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 12-2 Commander Mike Colacone said, especially with more people moving to Tellico Village and buying boats for the first time.
“I know that several of them upstairs (in class) I’ll bet you if we ask for hands that at least 50 percent of the class has never taken a safe boating class or never had a boat,” Colacone said.
People born after Jan. 1, 1989, are required to show a TWRA-issued Boating Safety Education Certificate as proof they completed a TWRA Boating Safety exam.
Although unable to prove the requirement has made a difference, Chitwood believes it’s making a change for the good.
“I don’t care how long you’ve been boating, you’re going to learn something,” Chitwood said. “You could have a Coast Guard captain license and take this course and learn something. That’s one thing about it, there’s so much information out there, stuff that people had no idea about, so I think it definitely has. It’s definitely educated people on the rules of the road.”
Keeping boaters safe
Each year the local Coast Guard Auxiliary provides help for safe boating, including free vessel examinations along with classes at the Yacht Club.
From March through October boaters can participate in classes ranging from paddle sports, marlinspike, GPS use and cold water boating. Colacone said classes focus on safety.
“... We’re finding that there’s a lot of traffic out there on the lake and, obviously, there’s been some evidence of etiquette lacking on the river, taking into consideration other boaters, particularly those with smaller craft,” Colacone said. “The larger boats will come by and they create a big wake because they’re going too fast, and what they do is they make it very uncomfortable for smaller craft, particularly people who are fishing off to the sides and whatnot.”
Boaters should know they can be held responsible for damage done by their wake, Colacone said.
“We teach them how to negotiate those wakes at a 45-degree angle with their craft instead of going into them head on or being broad-sided by it,” Colacone said. “That’s the proper way to negotiate those wakes so that you don’t swamp your vessel or you don’t have your people thrown overboard, your passengers thrown overboard. So not only that but we also teach them how to abide by the no-wake zones, how to ensure that you take proper care around the shorelines, because there are private boat slips in back of homes.”
On Saturday, Flotilla 12-2 representatives offered free vessel safety checks to boaters at Fort Loudon Marina and WindRiver. As of Friday, there have been 180 examinations since starting in April, Ron Kopp, Flotilla 12-2 public affairs officer, said. There were 300 inspections throughout last year, which Kopp said should be exceeded this season. If boaters pass the check, they receive a sticker to place on their vessel that needs to be replaced annually.
“If people call us we will come down to examine their boats,” Colacone said. “Basically what we examine on these vessels is safety equipment. We want to make sure that their navigation lights work, that their anchor light works, that they have the number of personal flotation devices on the vessel, if they have fire extinguishers, if they have proper anchor line, first aid kits, those sort of things. So we’re not looking at the actual physical condition of their boat. We’re really looking at making sure the safety aspects are operational.”
An emphasis is placed on life jackets, Colacone said. The flotilla, since 2013, had offered a flotation device loaner program to boaters at six stands throughout the Village and Rarity Bay. That program has since been taken over by Tellico Boaters Assistance Response Team.
For more information on courses, visit www.flotilla-12-2-tellico-village.blogspot.com. For reservations, contact Colacone at 352-804-8257 or Dennis Beard at 865-657-3080.
