Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406050036
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Safety officials say there are a couple of simple precautions that greatly lessen a boater's chances of becoming a statistic:
Make sure everyone aboard is wearing a personal floatation device (PFD).
Don't mix boating with alcoholic beverages.
What follows is a summary of last year's boating fatalities as reported by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Our intent in publishing them isn't to dwell on personal tragedies, but to see if there are lessons to be learned. Notice how often wearing a PFD or avoiding alcohol might have made a difference:
\ APRIL 20: A 52-year old boater entered Carter Creek at full throttle, hit rough water, was thrown from his boat and drowned. He was not wearing a PFD.
\ MAY 8: A 29-year old and his passenger were thrown from a boat that was traveling across Smith Mountain Lake at high speed. The operator was killed when the boat circled and struck him. No PFD was worn. The operator's blood alcohol count was .19.
\ MAY 10: One of the pontoons of a small, overloaded catamaran sailboat took on water causing the craft to capsize on the Chesapeake Bay. The occupants swam to shore, but a 21-year old didn't make it. There were no PFDs.
\ MAY 18: A small johnboat overloaded with six people began taking on water on Lake Montclair. When the occupants started swimming to shore an 18-year-old who wasn't wearing a PFD drowned.
\ MAY 29: Parents with an 8-month-old baby in their canoe were frolicking with the occupants of two other canoes on Lake Accotink when their craft capsized. The baby, who wasn't wearing a PFD, drowned. The parents had been drinking.
\ JUNE 4: Three people got into a canoe for a night ride on Chickahominy Lake. No PFDs were aboard. The canoe capsized and one of the passengers drowned. All three had been drinking.
\ JUNE 17: Three youngsters were fishing from a johnboat on a farm pond. One of them stood up when he hooked a fish, capsizing the boat. Two of the youngsters held onto the boat until rescued, but a 15-year old drowned. There were no PFDs.
\ JULY 12: A 66-year-old fisherman out with his wife on the New River fell overboard after standing in his boat. He wasn't wearing a PFD and his wife couldn't save him.
\ JULY 13: A 9-year-old girl fell from the bow of a pontoon boat on Smith Mountain Lake and was hit by the engine. The autopsy report revealed that death was caused by drowning complicated by head injuries. The child was wearing a PFD, but officials couldn't determine if it had been buckled or zipped properly.
\ JULY 16: An angler alone in a canoe on a farm pond fell overboard and drowned. He didn't have a PFD.
\ AUGUST 1: A boat on the York River hit a large wake, tossing two passengers overboard. The operator threw a cushion to one passenger and pulled him to safety, but the other passenger, age 70, drowned. Neither was wearing a PFD.
\ SEPTEMBER 9: Two boats, one with eight people aboard and the other with one, hit nearly head-on at night on Folly Creek. Neither craft was using running lights. The crash resulted in three fatalities, ages 40, 16 and 10. The other occupants were injured.
\ OCTOBER 9: A 17-year old and a friend fell overboard while whitewater rafting on the Russell Fork River. The 17-year-old was wearing a PFD, but a strong current swept him under a large, overhanging rock and held him there. He drowned.
by CNB