The recent fuel crisis in the southeast has brought to light some dangerous and deadly situations related to fuel and fueling. Incident #1 A cruiser with six persons aboard and a jet ski exploded at a fuel dock on lake Lanier resulting in serious burns to a woman and two teens. The fuel dock was…
A recent experience I had while Coop Charting on the Tugaloo River brought home the absolute necessity of being covered by towing insurance. I and two crew members launched my 22’ Boston Whaler “Crawdaddy” at Glen Ferry below Interstate 85 and proceeded upriver checking navigation aids. After two hours or so we were nearing the…
The Lake Hartwell Boating Club℠ has received a letter of appreciation and certificate from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 2017. The Squadron’s contributions to the Cooperative Charting Program on Lake Hartwell during 2017 were the reason for the honor. Squadron Commander Jim Carroll said, “We appreciate this latest in an annual series of…
Would you like to learn more about Lake Hartwell and the importance of navigational aids to safe boating? If so, you qualify for a free 3-hour boat tour of a section of the lake. The Lake Hartwell Sail & Power Squadron (also known as the Lake Hartwell Boating Club℠) cruises the entire lake three times…
I spent my youth fishing Northern Michigan’s inland lakes for pan fish and bass. We had an old 12 foot wooden boat with “oakum” shoved in the cracks to minimize leaks and a unique anchor. We made our anchor by filling one gallon paint can with ready mix and tying a 10 ft. line to…
A costly event occurred on Lake Keowee at High Falls Park public dock on the afternoon of the eclipse. Involved were the pontoon Big Easy and the cruiser Take Two. Damage to Big Easy was caused by a wake boat passing too close to a landing and public dock in a cove. As the Big…
There are key words in seamanship that are very useful but sometimes confusing. There is a fanciful legend that early boaters used a board to steer their vessels. Since most were right handed, the right side became known as the “Steer Board” side. Because the Steer Board Side would not be placed against a dock,…
Even in this era of safety regulations touching every aspect of modern life, no one should ever take water safety for granted…even on a unitized, self-contained vessel such as a Personal Watercraft (PWC). A recent event proves this and underscores the life-saving wisdom of wearing PFD’s and knowing how to swim. Chris Wilkins’ son had…
After some recent outings on rough or rapidly moving water, I have been thinking about those comfortable and convenient inflatable life jackets. It seems that are at least two types, namely, those that require the wearer to activate inflation and those that detect the water and self-inflate. If you were suddenly ejected from your boat,…
Capt. Robert McCullough of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said sheriff’s deputies and representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were training together on Lake Hartwell when Hodges was critically injured about 9:30 a.m. “It appears that three people were ejected from a boat and that the empty boat came back around…