June 01, 2004

Deputies oversee boating season

By Brendan Scott
Times Herald-Record

On the Hudson River – The Orange County Sheriff's Marine Unit had barely left the dock at Gully's yesterday when Deputy John Trazino spotted something troublesome off the port beam: a 20-foot Boston Whaler cruising south at full-tilt with a pair of kids standing up in the bow.

"That's really dangerous," Trazino explained, tapping the cabin roof to alert his pilot, Deputy Jason Davis. "Those kids could go over real easy."

Without a word, Davis lit Marine Unit's flashing blues and fired up the twin 150-horsepower Yamaha outboards that pushed it through nearly 3,000 patrol hours last year. A few siren chirps and a few hundred yards later, the deputies were docked alongside the pleasure craft.

Fortunately, the captain, his wife and three kids were all wearing life jackets. And the Irvington man only got a warning before again making way to try his luck in this year's miserable striped bass season.

"People don't know what they're doing," Trazino had said earlier as the crew kicked off the start of this year's boating season in the crowded waters off Newburgh Landing. "Anybody can buy a boat, just put it in the water and go. The laws are only there to keep people safe."

Enforcing those laws along Orange County's 18 miles of Hudson River shoreline has become a full-time job for the Marine Unit and the 10 deputies who will operate it this summer. In the boat's first four months of service last year, deputies inspected 48 boats, responded to 92 complaints and ticketed or arrested 34 boaters.

The $90,000 sheriff's boat – a Parker 25020XL – and exclusive docking rights were donated by Dynergy, which operates two power plants in Bellvale. While terrorism alerts and rising fuel costs may drive the boat patrol's expense to $266,000 annually, as much as half should be reimbursed by the state.

Nonetheless, such unforeseen costs, coupled with plans to purchase a smaller, shallow-water boat, has led some county lawmakers to accuse Sheriff Carl DuBois of "empire building."

Legislator Roxanne Donnery, D-Highland Falls, says those lawmakers obviously don't live on the Hudson. She's concerned with everything from reckless boating to drug trafficking to potential terrorist targets, such as the U.S. Military Academy and the Indian Point nuclear power plant.

"The river has been like the Wild West," said Donnery. "We see that boat out there and it makes us feel good."

DuBois agrees. "We have to invest in prevention for something we hope never happens," he said during a visit to the dock.

As the Marine Unit darted up and down the Hudson yesterday, Front Street dock master Vinnie Cina noticed something that has happened less since the deputies have been in the water. Fewer people are docking illegally in his slips.

"They've made a huge difference," Cina said. "If I had the money I'd hire them myself. They're not just out there pounding their chests. They're providing a service to the community."

Dangerous waters

In 2002, 4,062 U.S. boaters were reported injured and 750 killed in boating incidents.

That same year, 284 boating accidents were reported in New York state, including 26 deaths and 152 injuries.

Alcohol was involved in 38 percent of reported boating fatalities.

Open motor boats were involved in 56 percent of all reported fatalities. Personal watercraft were involved in another 10 percent .

Capsizings or falls overboard led to 417 deaths in 2002 – 56 percent of all recreational boating deaths that year. About 90 percent drowned.

Some 80 percent of all boating fatalities in 2002 occurred on boats where the boat operator had not attended a boating safety course.

Sources: U.S. Coast Guard, New York state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

2003: A deadly boating season

June 1: New Jersey high school student Obinna Okoro, 17, drowned in the Delaware River while on a rafting trip with his school. Officials said the teen had removed his life jacket.

June 18: John Lamont Myrick, 22, of Kingston, drowned after his boat capsized while he was fishing at an old sand and gravel quarry off Hurley Mountain Road in Ulster County.

July 4: A 51-year-old canoeist on the Delaware River drowned near Barryville after his canoe flipped over. Also, two boaters were injured in an accident on the Hudson River north of the Marlboro Yacht Club.