Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Holiday weekend busies SML patrols
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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The busy July 4 holiday weekend wasn't quite as dry for Smith Mountain Lake boaters as the previous weekend.
Over the three-day weekend, Virginia conservation police officers arrested six boaters for operating their craft while intoxicated, Lt. Tony Fisher said.
The department also dealt with three reportable boating accidents, including two with injuries.
That was a jump over the prior weekend, when stepped up enforcement efforts around the state netted only a single arrest for boating under the influence in the region that includes Smith Mountain Lake.
The June 26-28 weekend didn't produce a single reportable boating accident in the region, either.
The increased patrols that final June weekend were part of Operation Dry Water, a national campaign organized by the National Association of Boating Law Administrators.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries heavily publicized the campaign ahead of time, and apparently the word got out.
The only arrest for an intoxicated boater in the DGIF's central Virginia region that includes Smith Mountain Lake was at Lake Chesdin.
Other waters in the region that were covered during Operation Dry Water included Buggs Island Lake, Lake Philpott, Leesville Lake and the Staunton River.
Fisher said officers worked 47 patrols in the region and put in 632 hours. Officers, who inspected 482 vessels, issued 112 citations and 117 warnings.
Of the arrests, 11 were for reckless operation, two were for drug-related violations and eight were alcohol related. Of the eight alcohol citations, six were for underage drinking and two were for drinking in public.
In addition to added patrols, the weekend's efforts included sobriety check points at Smith Mountain Lake and several other busy boating waters.
"There was alcohol on many of the boats we checked," said Capt. Ron Henry, supervisor of the conservation police officer force in the region. "But in all cases they were using designated drivers.
"That's exactly what we wanted."
Henry said that boating traffic appeared to be fairly light at Smith Mountain Lake during that final June weekend.
Things picked up significantly for the July 4 holiday.
"It was busy, busy, busy," Fisher said.
Although the weekend wasn't officially designated as one for stepped up enforcement, conservation officers were out in force again.
"On these holiday weekends we don't have anybody off," Fisher said. "Everybody is working."
On Friday, a boater was thrown into the water when his boat hit a wake. The operator wasn't using a kill switch, so the boat continued to run in circles until it smashed into the shore and was totaled.
On Saturday, a collision between two personal watercraft resulted in a broken leg for one of the operators. The victim was on a craft that wasn't moving when another PWC slammed into him.
Sunday, a tuber suffered a laceration on his knee and leg when hit by the boat's prop. The boat operator had pulled alongside the tuber to pick him up, but didn't put the boat out of gear.
Fisher said Smith Mountain Lake was quieter than normal on Saturday evening. Typically, boaters crowd the lake to watch the fireworks. This year's crowd seemed a bit light, Fisher said, and there were no incidents of note.
"We had some rain come through and I think that might have kept some people away," Fisher said.
Fisher said the July 4 weekend is usually the busiest of the year at Smith Mountain Lake, but he expects things to remain fairly steady at the lake through July and August.
While boating activity seemed to be down in general last year, things have picked back up this year, Fisher said.
Many boaters are still affected by the weak economy, but gas prices have not reached the record levels they touched last season and that may be helping some boaters spend more time on the water.
"This year seems busier," Fisher said. "People earmarked their funds. They're still going to recreate."
