On Friday, members of the U.S. Coast Guard arrived at the Chicago Marine Safety Station near Navy Pier for the July Fourth weekend shift. The water was relatively calm but the agency is gearing up for a busy Fourth of July weekend and urging Chicagoans who head out on the water to make their trip a dry one.
Operation Dry Water is the Coast Guard’s annual national campaign to prevent drinking and boating incidents over the holiday weekend. The agency will increase its patrols on the water, as will state and local agencies. The Coast Guard said alcohol is the leading factor in all recreational boating deaths. The month of July is typically one of the worst for search and rescue incidents, according to Coast Guard Lt. Rachel Ault. Last year, the Coast Guard responded to 37 total search and rescue cases on Lake Michigan during the week of July 1.
Ault said search and rescue numbers have already been up from pre-COVID-19 numbers this year. “It’s been pretty much just exploding” on the weekends, she said.
The United States Coast Guard patrols the Chicago River on July 2, 2021. Operation Dry Water, an annual national campaign for the Fourth of July weekend, is designed to mitigate the dangers of boating under the influence. (Vashon Jordan Jr./Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Coast Guard equated drinking and boating with drinking and driving. “It’s the same rules that apply,” said BM2 John Huber, who is working as part of the search and rescue team over the holiday weekend. “You have to be under the limit, you have to be capable and competent.”
Ault put it more bluntly. “You’re operating a giant motor vehicle that can kill people,” she said.
FN Brandon Ponzo, also working as part of the search and rescue team over the holiday weekend, said many people falsely assume the lake is safer than the ocean. “In reality, we’ve seen 12-foot waves out here,” he said. “This is not an incredibly safe place for recreational boating in the first place.”
Lake Michigan has seen at least three boating-related deaths so far this year.
United States Coast Guard FN Brandon Ponzo walks on the side of the boat as he patrols the Chicago River on July 2, 2021. (Vashon Jordan Jr./Chicago Tribune)
Alcohol-related boating incidents are often caused by collisions or excessive speed. People are also more likely to fall off their boat or injure themselves on the water if they’ve been drinking. In Chicago, the Coast Guard often sees search and rescue incidents occur when boats are returning from an anchorage known colloquially as the “Playpen” (the no-wake area south of Oak Street Beach), especially later in the night, Ault said.
It’s best not to drink on the water at all, Huber said. Boaters who want to enjoy a few drinks on the lake or river should have a designated driver. Alternatively, they should refrain from drinking until they drop anchor, then stay put until they’re sober. “Once they pull that anchor up, they’re back underway; that’s the same thing as putting your keys in your car, starting it and driving away,” he said.
Passengers who notice the driver of their boat drinking should ask them to either stop or urge them to allow a sober person to take over.
If the Coast Guard determines that a driver is operating a boat while over the legal limit, they can terminate a voyage. Under Illinois state law, intoxicated drivers may also face fines, arrest and jail time. First-time offenders may face a $2,500 fine and up to one year of imprisonment; repeat offenders may face additional fines and jail time, in addition to the possible forfeiture of their boat.
tsoglin@chicagotribune.com
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