The water will likely be crowded on Beaver Lake this weekend, but accidents so far this year have been few.
Arkansas has a lot of water, said Capt. Stephanie Weatherington, boating law administrator for the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. Weatherington estimates there are 600,000 registered boats in Arkansas, and that doesn't include those belonging to visitors.
At A Glance
Before Hitting the Water
• Lifejackets: Everyone onboard must have a life jacket. Children 12 and younger must wear a life jacket while on the vessel unless they are behind railings and the boat is stopped. Anyone being towed either on skis, an innertube or other device must be wearing a life jacket. Boats longer than 16 feet need to have a life ring that can be tossed overboard.
• Personal Watercraft: Anyone operating or riding personal watercraft is required to wear a life jacket. The operator is required to wear the ignition safety switch or “kill switch.”
• Passing: Boaters must give way to vessels that are anchored, disabled, sailboats or commercial fishing. If two power boats meet head on, both should keep to the right, or starboard, side.
• Fire Extinguishers: Vessels on federal waters are required to carry a fire extinguisher if there is an inboard engine, closed compartments housing fuel tanks or permanently installed fuel tanks.
• Alcohol: Boating with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent is considered boating under the influence. Anyone convicted will not be allowed to operate a motorboat for for 90 days and face a possible fine of $1,000 and up to a year of jail time.
Source: The Handbook of Arkansas Boating Laws and Responsibilities
“Fourth of July weekend it would be really easy for us to say we had a million boats on our waterways,” Weatherington said.
The 31,700-acre Beaver Lake is smaller than people think, said Capt. Brian McKinzie of the Game & Fish Commission’s District A1.
“If you think about it, Beaver Lake is just a big river running through the mountains,” McKinzie said.
Game & Fish will be increasing patrols with five boats on the water over the holiday weekend, but game wardens also have hunting responsibilities as dove season opens Sunday.
The Army Corps of Engineers will also be on the lake this weekend, checking for life jackets, boat registration and to make sure there's a fire extinguisher on board, said Alan Bland, a park ranger.
“If a boat is stopped in the water, we’re going to check all that,” Bland said.
Children younger than 12 are required to wear a life jacket, but people are often unaware they are required to carry a throwable life preserver on boats longer than 16 feet, he said.
Rangers enforce federal laws, but if there’s an alcohol violation, they can call a game warden or a sheriff’s deputy.
Deputies will patrol Beaver Lake on boats and personal watercraft this weekend, said Sgt. Lynn Hahn, head of lake patrol/DWI enforcement for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
Drinking in public is still against the law, even though alcohol sales are legal in Benton County, Hahn said. While deputies will not be ticketing everyone they see with a beer, if someone is boating while intoxicated or is allowing minors to drink, they will be stopped, he said.
At A Glance
Drowning Dangers
Several people have died in swimming accidents on Beaver Lake this year.
• David Hart, 20, of Springdale drowned May 25 while swimming with friends in the designated swimming area at the Rocky Branch Marina.
• Michael Burton, 28, drowned July 28 while free diving in Carroll County.
• Frank Robbins, 50, of Seligman Mo., drowned Aug. 6 after diving off a private dock in Dry Hollow Cove.
• Brandon Batchelor, 38, of Springdale, drowned Aug. 17 while swimming in “Party Cove” near Pine Top.
• Doug Jones, 60, of Rogers fell into the water Aug. 20 from a personal watercraft near Heritage Bay.
Source: Staff Report
He urged anyone who will be near the water to bring a life jacket. Children running near the water need careful attention. The weekend will be hot and boaters should make an effort to stay hydrated, Hahn said.
Bland urged caution on the lake.
“It’s going to be crowded being the last hurrah of summer, so slow down and be safe and be careful,” Bland said.
There have been three accidents on Beaver Lake this year, McKinzie said. One was an unoccupied pontoon boat that burned in the dock from a mechanical failure, but was classified as an accident because the boat was on the water.
Alcohol played a factor in an accident when a 55-year-old man drove his boat into a dock in mid-July. The accident damaged the dock and the open cab boat. The man had broken ribs and a gash in his head requiring 22 stitches, according to the accident report.
A woman swimming too closely behind a bass or ski-type boat was cut with the propeller last month, McKinzie said. The boat bounced backward as it hit the dock, cutting the woman.
The Game & Fish Commission documented 21 accidents on Beaver Lake last year. Drought conditions were partly to blame as people hit once submerged islands or underwater debris, Weatherington said. During periods of high water, the number of accidents decreases because people have more difficulty getting boats in the water, she said.
Statewide the number of accidents is comparable to last year, but there have been more fatalities, Weatherington said. A dozen people have died in Arkansas waterways in boating accidents this year and another is still missing, she said.
Seven of this year’s fatal injuries were related to falls overboard, Weatherington said. None of the people who died were wearing a life jacket.
“You can’t go wrong wearing a life jacket,” Bland said.
There were 86 accidents and nine deaths statewide in 2012. Four of the fatal accidents involved alcohol or drugs, according to the Game & Fish Commission 2012 Boating Accident Year-End Report. Most accidents occur Saturday or Sunday afternoon, according to the report.
Human error accounts for most boating accidents, whether it's running aground or hitting a skier as the boat circles to pick them up, authorities said.
Instead of looking where they’re going, boaters may be watching the skier behind them, McKinzie said.
“It’s just human nature for the driver to also turn and look at the skier,” he said.