Lake Safety on the Holiday Weekend

By Jon Show — Lake goers are bombarded with lists of safety tips on holiday weekends that many ignore. Here is some real-world practical advice from a longtime boater on Lake Norman.

Keep an air horn at the helm

The things some boaters do this weekend will absolutely blow your mind. Remember, many people on the water are inexperienced and don’t fully understand basic boating rules, including right of way. Keep an air horn handy in case you need to get someone’s attention.

Surfing, wakeboarding and tubing

Don’t pull your kids on a tube through the middle of the channel. In fact, don’t pull them anywhere that isn’t protected on three sides by land.

By late morning, the chop on the water will make wakeboarding unenjoyable, especially for beginners.

If water sports are a must for your group, stick to wakesurfing and find a cove that’s narrow enough to discourage boat traffic but wide enough to comply with shoreline wake restrictions.

Shoal markers

The water level is up from last month but remains low. Stay at least 200 feet away from shoal markers. Avoid peninsulas or islands with sharp points, and don’t travel between closely spaced islands or shoal markers.

Some advice from The Boat Doctor: If an area looks like it might be shallow, slow to idle speed. If you run aground at idle speed, shut off the engine and don’t trim up the outboard. Keeping the outboard down will often make it easier to free a grounded boat, and replacing a propeller is far less expensive than repairing the gelcoat on your hull.

Swimming

I’ll forever be haunted by sitting in my kayak about 15 years ago and watching a man and two boys head out on the water, only to learn later that day that the two boys drowned in choppy water near Blythe Landing.

After reading about drownings for nearly 30 years, I abide by three non-negotiable rules.

• Limit swimming to smaller coves, not open water. Even calm water can become choppy because of wind and boat traffic.
• Kids of all ages wear life jackets, even if they protest. It’s less safe but I won’t float without a life jacket fastened as a “diaper.”
• Never dive headfirst into the water—there’s no way to know what lies beneath the surface. Too many experienced swimmers have drowned for unexplained reasons.

Liquor laws

Leave the Fireball at home. Liquor bottles are not allowed on Lake Norman. Beer, wine, hard seltzers and canned cocktails are permitted.

Boat operators may have open containers as long as they are not impaired. That doesn’t mean you should try to keep your blood alcohol concentration one-hundredth of a percentage point below the legal limit of 0.08.

Above all, think about someone besides yourself this weekend. Be smart, be safe and make the safety of your guests — and everyone else on the lake — a priority.