Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 16, 1994                   TAG: 9409160043
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CLAYTOR LAKE                                LENGTH: Medium

SAILBOAT HITS POWER LINES AT CLAYTOR LAKE

Shugart, a boating safety instructor, said the mast of his sailboat struck a low overhanging power line near the Appalachian Power Co. dam, causing an explosion "like a bomb going off" and setting fire to his boat's mast and burning its sails.

"I never knew these lines were there," Shugart said.

The Shugarts weren't seriously injured, but both suffered minor burns and bruises as they worked furiously to put out small fires in the boat's cabin.

The incident happened Saturday at 5:17 p.m., Shugart said. The 25-foot sailboat was about 150 feet away from red floating buoys that warn boaters away from the dam area.

The fire melted some of the wires that held up his 32-foot mast causing it to fall and the wires to fuse onto the boat.

"It's amazing that we made it out of that," Shugart said.

Don Johnson, an Apco public affairs spokesman, said the company has moved quickly to make sure a similar accident doesn't happen again.

"We regret there was an accident regarding our facilities. ... The company has long been concerned about water safety."

The line has been there since the late 1930s and this is the first report of a problem, Johnson said.

The line is now marked with two danger buoys.

"We are in the process of putting a physical barrier to keep boaters out of the area" and that should be complete by this weekend, Johnson said. A cable that is suspended with floating buoys and used as a boat barrier near the dam is being moved up stream in front of the power line.

"We will be taking further action on that line," he said. Long-term plans include raising the line.