Summer’s in Full Swing: Practice Safe Boating
The past week was really hot and humid. That has gotten a lot of people out in the water to cool off, including me. I am part of a 7 Lakes Alliance program called “Adopt-a-Shoreline.” I am a trained Invasive Plant Patrol volunteer, but you don’t have to be to participate in this program. 7 Lakes conducts multiple trainings throughout the summer at multiple locations, including on Sundays at the farmers’ market. Visit their website or stop into the gallery to learn more.
Basically the program is to patrol your shorefront at least twice a summer from a small boat, like a kayak, or by snorkeling, looking for plants that weren’t there before. If you find something that looks suspicious, drop a marker buoy, grab a sample, and bring it to 7 Lakes for an ID.
My area is Tracy Cove on Long Pond, which has over a mile of shoreline. It is an area I fish regularly, paying careful attention to the plants. At least once a year during the heat of summer, I patrol by snorkel. It cools me off, is good exercise, and gives me an up-close look at all the weed beds and “large woody debris” where the fish hang out. I have found a lot of good fishing spots this way as well as a lot of fishing lures lost by other fishermen.
All the plants I found this year were natives, including several milfoil look-alikes, such as water marigold or coontail, which have the same “bottle brush” look as milfoil but have branching leaves, instead of feathered leaves.
I also spotted some large freshwater bryozoans (about the size of a small football) on some submerged tree branches. These are colonial animals with tentacles that look like a weird jellyfish and feed on small invertebrates. They grow only in areas with good water quality. Finally, I spotted a large pile of freshwater mussel shells at the base of a rock. The rock was clearly a favorite feeding spot for one of our local minks. A red-breasted sunfish was ready to drive me off if I came any closer.
As I was snorkeling the shallow areas, I noted many boats, usually towing tubers or skiers bearing down on me, many in violation of Maine boater safety laws. Maine has a mandatory water safety zone within 200 ft. of any shoreline, including lakes, rivers, streams, and islands. Boats should not exceed wake speed in these areas.
Any boat towing skiers, tubers, wake boarders, etc., is required to have a safety observer at least 12 years old watching the towees, who must be wearing life jackets while being towed. For wake boat operations, new regulations passed two years ago require a 300 ft. water safety zone and at least 15 feet water depth.
Maine has mandatory boater safety course required for anyone operating a motorboat (25 horsepower or above) born after January 1999, including anyone supervising anyone under the age of 12 operating a motor boat. Anyone operating a personal watercraft must be at least 16 years old and have completed a water safety course.
Under Maine law, self-propelled hydrofoil surfboards such as the one Matti Bradley of the Great Pond Yacht Club cruises on, are considered personal watercraft, require the water safety course, must be registered with the State of Maine, and must display a milfoil sticker. I know Matti is in compliance with all these requirements, but I have seen quite a few of these lift foils being operated by others that are clearly not in compliance, some by operators under the age of 12.
The word is beginning to get out on some of the newer requirements but we still have a long way to go. These are just a very brief summary of the requirements. Please visit this page for a more complete discussion. If you are renting your camp out to someone with a boat, please ask them to review the regulations at the above sites. And always watch out for swimmers! Even in the middle of the lake.
I also got a visit from my grandson Bub, and we got out on the lake and caught some nice bass in the hot sun. He got the one in the picture below while trolling a white zonker fly over a school of baitfish.
While putting the final edits to this article, I got a nice phone call from Martha Barkley, formerly of Crystal Spring Camps, now of a senior housing center in Menlo Park, CA. She had just received her Edition 3 of Summertime about the impact of the summer camps on our area’s economy and wanted to thank me for all the fond memories triggered by the article and the welcome break it provided from all the day to day stress in the news these days.
Check the 7LA website and Facebook page for upcoming events. Our Thursday afternoon, 3:00 to 4:00, Chewonki presentations are ongoing.
I encourage everyone to take advantage of the wealth of recreational opportunities this area offers. Do like they used to in “the good old days” and take a kid fishing, or on a hike, or paddling in a canoe. It’s how memories are made. Or take a parent, so they can become a kid again.
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