|
April 2004 Konza Sailor Page 5 |
|
A further search of the web site revealed that there are no agencies within the Manhattan/Junction City area that teach the required safety course. However, there is an on-line course available. Use the link to the right to enroll for the on-line course. The events in the following article may not have happened if the boat operators had been more safety conscious. |
|
WHO NEEDS BOATING EDUCATION? Beginning January 1, 2001, any person born on or after January 1, 1989 must complete an approved boater safety education course in order to operate a motorboat or sailboat on public waters in Kansas. This requirement does not apply to a person operating a motorboat or sailboat accompanied by and under the direct and audible supervision of a person over 17 years of age who either: possesses a certificate of completion of an approved boater safety education course, or is legally exempt from the requirement. This requirement does not apply to anyone 21 years of age or older, regardless of their date of birth. In addition, anyone ages 12-15 who wants to operate a personal watercraft alone is required to successfully complete a boating safety course. Boating safety courses that are approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) and recognized by the United States Coast Guard shall meet these educational requirements. |
|
Rescue on Tuttle Lake |
|
A group of sailors was discussing the difficulty in getting an immobile person from the water into a boat. The sailors lamented that the situation is even more difficult when the boat is a sailboat with high freeboards. This discussion brought to mind the day we plucked a boater from wind swept Tuttle Lake. The wind did not seem overpowering one fall day in1990 but the surface of Tuttle Lake was alive with large rolling waves. We were sailing our O'Day 22 on the northeast side of the lake when we spied a person frantically waving from the shore. This was unusual because the man was not near any visible habitation and he was barefoot. He was about half way between McIntire (Spillway Marina) and the house that is now located across the lake |
|
from Tuttle Cove. That house had not yet been built, so, there was no land activity within miles of the waving person's location. It took a while to sail within shouting distance of the young man and to hear that his boat had sunk and his two friends were somewhere in the middle of the lake clinging to a gas can. We sailed close to the shore while the man swam out to meet us. After boarding he pointed us in the general direction of the victims. The waves were unusually large so we could not see his struggling friends. The rough water had apparently chased other boaters back to land so we "hurried" under sail and motor toward the victims. Because wave action restricted the boat's speed we had am |