Memorial Day weekend is here, and with it the start of a new boating season. On behalf of America’s Boating Club — Midcoast Maine, I’d like to remind folks that the top factors in boating accidents are: operator inattention, inexperience, speed, alcohol, and navigation rules violations.
According to the 2019 recreational boating statistics published by the U.S. Coast Guard, most boating accidents and deaths occur on weekends. The real surprise was that most occur on lakes and ponds, in calm water, during the day, with light wind and warm water. In other words, all boaters need to be safety conscious, whether we’re teaching grandkids the J-stroke on a lily pond or showing them how to trim sail out on the coast.
What can you do to make your boating safer? Why not take the online America’s Boating Club boating course (usps.org/courses-another-version/abc-3)? Or make sure your boat meets Coast Guard safety standards by signing up for a free boat safety check? (Just email vesselsafetycheck.maine@gmail.com.)
For basic safety, all boaters, sail or power, whether you’re a canoeist, kayaker, paddleboarder, or jet skier, should wear a personal flotation device and carry a whistle or something to make noise, if you get into trouble. If you’re boating along the coast, make sure you have a chart (map) and know how to read it.
I heard a story once about a novice sailor who tied his boat to a harbor buoy (illegal) and was using a road map to figure out where he was. My friends, he didn’t need GPS to tell him where he was — he was in trouble, was where he was.
Olga Oros and Chip Holmes have owned and operated the Teciani on the Damariscotta River since 2013. (The ship’s name is pronounced “Tessy-Annie” and she was named after their godson’s mother. Chip’s mother dubbed her The River Tripper.) They’ve taken nearly 5,000 passengers out on the river to learn about oyster farming and the critters who live on and in the river.
Olga and Chip take Teciani’s safety seriously. They carry personal flotation devices for every passenger. The U.S. Coast Guard conducts an annual boat safety check. And every second year, the Coast Guard inspects her when she’s out of the water.
Teciani’s first trip of the 2021 season is this Saturday, May 29. Between July Fourth and Labor Day, she’ll do two tours daily. Her season ends after Pumpkinfest in October. Chip says the only time they don’t go out is when it’s “raining sideways.”
Wondering how seaworthy Teciani is? Well, she’s a retired 50-foot Navy utility boat, built in 1979. Chip says these boats were the “pickup trucks” of the fleet. She has a 210-horsepower diesel engine capable of 13 knots, but cruises at a comfy 6.5-7 knots. She’s licensed to carry 49 passengers.
Chip, a Mainer who got his first boat when he was 8, says his job as captain is to navigate and deliver “the blather” about oysters and life on the river. (By all accounts, Chip’s chatter is as informative as it is humorous.) Olga, originally from Hungary, is The River Tripper’s first mate and serves oysters and beverages and helps Chip tie up at Schooner Landing.
Chip told me folks on the river tell him that Teciani is their “clock.” I know, because about an hour after she leaves harbor we hear the gentle throb of Teciani’s engine as she approaches Merry Island — and Chip’s voice as he points out the eagle’s nest there, then turns around and heads back to harbor with a boat full of people happy to be out on the water. And safe.
“Safe journey and always a handsbreadth of water under your keel!”
(William Anthony is a member of America’s Boating Club — Mid Coast Maine. He lives most of the year in Edgecomb on the Damariscotta River, whose waters he explores in a wooden boat built in Maine.)