St. Tammany News

On a recent day in Madisonville, Senior Agent Lee Davis steadied himself and reached for his ticket book.

With white and blue strobe lights firing behind his head and passersby slowing down for a better look, he began his ticketing procedure.

Senior Wildlife and Fisheries agent Lee Davis writes a ticket for not having a fire extinguisher on the first day of National Safe Boating Week. The owner of the boat was initially pulled over because a passenger was dangling her feet over the side of the small boat, a potentially lethal activity. (Staff Photo by Stephen Maloney)

"I need to see your registration, fire extinguisher, life jackets and a throw cushion or ring," Davis said to the owner of the small boat.

"You know why we stopped you?" Sgt. Chuck Strain asked from nearby as he stood with one leg in each boat, steadying the watercraft against the Tchefuncte River's current. "Somebody was sitting with their feet hanging in the water. You know what happens if you fall into the water from that position? You get sucked right through the propeller."

Davis and Strain, both experienced Wildlife and Fisheries agents, have seen mistakes as seemingly innocent as this lead to deadly accidents on the Tchefuncte River and elsewhere.

The two officers had their hands full on this particular day, with recreational boats clogging the wide river for one of the first warm weekends of the season, which also marked the start of the 2006 National Safe Boating Week, which ends today.

"We're not here to spoil anybody's fun," Strain said. "We just want to make sure you stay safe."

Safe Boating Week, organized by the National Safe Boating Council, seeks to spread awareness of safe boating practices to the millions of recreational boat owners nationwide.

Approximately 310,000 watercraft were registered in Louisiana in 2005, ranking the state 15th in the nation for registered boats.

That year, 169 boating accidents produced 34 fatalities and 101 injuries.

So far this year, one fatality and 14 injuries have been reported, and with the warm weather just beginning, Davis and Strain remain constantly vigilant.

Piloting their 21-foot, 300-horsepower Boston Whaler up and down the Tchefuncte's 52 miles of marshland, Strain keeps a look out for unsafe jet ski operators.

"Personal watercraft have the structural integrity of a bullet," Strain said. "They are 9 or 10 feet long with 100 horsepower. If they hit a boat just right, they'll cut right through it."

With advertisers selling the jet ski's ability to spin 180 degrees and jump boat wakes like skateboard ramps, Strain said people get the wrong idea when they are out on the water.

"You were getting pretty close to getting an unsafe operation ticket," Strain warned one jet ski operator who said he had spent a total of three hours on his new toy. "You have to treat it exactly as you would any other watercraft. If you want to spin in circles and jump wakes, go out in the middle of the lake where no one else is around."

Another common ticket handed out on the Tchefuncte punishes boaters for driving while intoxicated, a charge just as serious on the water as it is on dry land.

"If you have two DWIs on the road and we give you a third on the water, we will confiscate your driver's license," Strain said. "The penalties are exactly the same."

"DWIs fall under title 1498 of the criminal code," Davis said. "It's the same one whether you are on the water or on the road."

A combination of vibrations from the boat cutting through the water, fatigue from the heat and the fact that boats don't have brakes and handle differently from cars contribute to alcohol fueled accidents, Strain said.

"People who wouldn't think of having even one beer and driving their car don't think twice about throwing a case of beer on their boat, drinking it and driving their boat up and down the river all day," he said. "It's amazing."

Alcohol contributes to many unsafe practices on the water, including not utilizing life jackets, an offense punishable by a $50 ticket for first offenders.

"Children 13 and under must have a life vest on at all times," Strain said. "If you're older than that, you have to have one easily accessible, but you don't have to wear it all the time."

Strain said one of the offenses that warrant an automatic ticket, no matter what the situation, is a child not wearing a life vest.

"I consider that child endangerment," he said.

The theme for this year's Safe Boating Week is "Wear It," referring to life vests.

Seventy percent of people who died in boating accidents last year in Louisiana drowned, and 90 percent of those people were not wearing life vests, according to Wildlife and Fisheries reports.

"You're supposed to have fun out here, and we want you to have fun," Strain stressed. "We just don't want anyone to get hurt or killed."