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TWO boat crashes on my lake this weekend

sunedog

sunedog

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The summer is not starting out well on Lake Murray in SC. The lake has gotten noticeably busier over the last few years. There were serious crashes both Friday and Saturday night.

On Friday night around 10:30 pm, a tritoon with 6 passengers hit a cabin cruiser hard enough it injured 5 of the 6 passengers on the tritoon and sunk the cabin cruiser. 2 of the 5 injured were serious with one in intensive care. No one on the cabin cruiser was injured. The crash happened at probably the busiest juncture on our lake and I have seen on social media multiple accounts the cabin cruiser was star gazing and not running any lights. If this is true, that is unconscionable.
Boat sinks, 5 hurt in crash on Lake Murray

On Saturday night, there was another crash involving 3 boats and 3 people were transported. Luckily, all were treated and released. I don't have much insight on this one.
3 injured in boat collision on Lake Murray, officials say

Don't operate a boat if you are under the influence, do confirm your lighting is operational and always keep your head on a swivel.
 
I run the normal lights but I'm not moving fast enough to hurt anyone if something went wrong. I don't know how these folks feel good running so fast in the dark with no lights. But that's just me. Hope everyone has a great boating season this year.
 
This is why we don't go out on Holidays and most Weekends . Too many people not paying attention and rental boaters .
 
The spike in boat sales will inevitably lead to a spike in accidents. Hopefully boater education can be emphasized by localities and enforcement budgets are increased. Trust me when I say I'm no fan of a 20-minute safety check by the local G&F but in the grand scheme of things I'd rather be slightly inconvenienced if it means getting the idiots off the water.
 
I hate to hear things like this but sadly I’m not surprised. Too often I see people being careless, inconsiderate or just ignorant out on the water and it’s multiplied 10x on holiday weekends. My wife mentioned going out yesterday and reminded her of the craziness, she agreed and we stayed on land
 
Wanted to go out.......just didn't. Too many people out on the holiday weekend!
 
I live on Lake Murray a well. Let me start by saying I hate government regulation and intervention but most of these accidents occur in the evening when visibility is almost zero. We need a dusk to dawn 20 mph speed limit. Dusk til dawn I never go over 15-20 mph. As I say at night "never go faster than you are willing to run into something. But rest assured every night sitting on my back patio I see boaters fly by at 40-50 mph. SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY THE RIDE!!! JMHO
 
I hate to see this especially since I’ll be bring my boat down for Reggietronic in15 days. Hopefully we will be off before dark.
 
I live on Lake Murray as well, and we boat frequently at night in the warm months. It's amazing how many boats I see out there with no lights, and more that think running around with docking lights on is helpful (it's not!). IMHO I don't think a night speed limit will help as if they are not smart enough to slow down at night, then they are going to keep doing the same stupid stuff anyway. Night enforement of any rule has never been a priority here. I also worry that if you impose a speed limit at night, what's next? Give them and inch and they will take a mile. Average night speed for us is 15 - we'll get up to 20 if it's a very clear night with a bright moon.
 
Jack M said:
This is why we don't go out on Holidays and most Weekends . Too many people not paying attention and rental boaters .
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Argh! Rental boaters are the scourge of the planet, as are boat club members. No experience, no ownership, and nothing but a partying mindset. There is a boat club with eight boats directly opposite my slip at the marina, in the same lane as my slip. I live in constant fear of these chuckleheads smashing into my boat. It’s a $hitshow watching them try to dock. Yes, I’m thrilled to finally own a boat again, and to have a slip... but now I want my own pier (please don’t post pics of your lake house and pier now :cool:). Boating is great, but I’m starting to dislike boaters. How did I sour so fast??
 
AuthorizedUser said:
Argh! Rental boaters are the scourge of the planet, as are boat club members. No experience, no ownership, and nothing but a partying mindset. There is a boat club with eight boats directly opposite my slip at the marina, in the same lane as my slip. I live in constant fear of these chuckleheads smashing into my boat. It’s a $hitshow watching them try to dock. Yes, I’m thrilled to finally own a boat again, and to have a slip... but now I want my own pier (please don’t post pics of your lake house and pier now :cool:). Boating is great, but I’m starting to dislike boaters. How did I sour so fast??
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After a previous boat of ours was hit in a public marina , (twice in my slip in less than 2 years ). We bought a lot in a sub division in 2015 ,which owns a private marina . With what I was paying for a public slip ,I figured a 10 year payback on the lot . In 2019 we decided to move and built a new home on that lot . Our marina now is secure and right across the street .
 
I hear what you guys are saying. WIth the VRBO next door to our lake house these past 2-3 years, there are constant rental boat people staying at it. So many near misses of our boat over time. One “push off” of our boat as they back straight into it, and of course last years damage when a rental boat broke free from being poorly moored next door and slide along the side of our starboard pontoon.

Every week brings 1-2 new rental groups in, and about 2/3’s of the time, they are inexperienced boaters, or rental boaters. Really just creates anxiety/stress all the time. Thus, even when you spring for your own waterside place, sometimes the proliferation of short term rentals comes in and takes that privacy and security away in the blink of an eye.
 
I have seen children sitting on the bow ,dangling their feet with no PFD . On a 4th of July weekend a few years back ,we were backed up about 20 deep going down the river to Burt Lake , the lead boat ( rental ) stopped for ducks to cross the river . No attention paid to No Wake zones ,and so on .
 
Education and training are the answer.

State laws are mixed but here in VA you just have to abide by the rental businesses' safety checklist which may include watching a 10-minute video. That's it. So people doing dumb things is practically assured, all in the interests of expediency and commerce.

Same with a lot of other dangerous endeavors. Any idiot like me can buy a gun at Gander Mountain and proceed to shoot my buddy in the leg because I acted in an ignorant, unsafe manner. I've been encouraged to take a hunter/firearms safety course which I plan on doing, but as controversial as it may be, making it mandatory prior to a purchase might save a few lives.
 
Potomacbassin’ said:
Education and training are the answer.

State laws are mixed but here in VA you just have to abide by the rental businesses' safety checklist which may include watching a 10-minute video. That's it. So people doing dumb things is practically assured, all in the interests of expediency and commerce.

Same with a lot of other dangerous endeavors. Any idiot like me can buy a gun at Gander Mountain and proceed to shoot my buddy in the leg because I acted in an ignorant, unsafe manner. I've been encouraged to take a hunter/firearms safety course which I plan on doing, but as controversial as it may be, making it mandatory prior to a purchase might save a few lives.
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Here to rent a boat , all you need is a credit card .
We have boating laws ,but they are not enforced . Yet I get pulled over for going 11 in a no "High Speed Zone " ( not a no wake zone, it is clearly marked where they start and stop ) on the same river
 
I try to skip boating on all holidays, just too many with no experience and/or knowledge of the laws. If we do go out it is usually just to throw the anchor and float in a swim area.
 
I feel fortunate on our large lake. It’s fairly round’ish - approx. 5 miles by 7 miles in size. Thus, even on busy weekends and holidays, there are usually areas we can go to that are not too bad. Makes it easier to avoid some of the nonsense we see out there.

For us, since we boat with a lot of friends and families that are guests coming up to our cottage, they are ususally up during weekends and holidays only. Thus, avoiding those times is not an option for us.

All of that said, those few summer weeks when we don’t have friends and family up, then we boat in those non-busy times too: primarily Sunday-Thursday.
 
If we know we are going on a holiday we go out early, anchor in the cove and leave after six or seven in the evening. Most of the yahoo’s aren’t out early from drinking the night before and leave around six or seven to eat ;)
 
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