Boaters

Three boaters were rescued Monday evening from Middle River by Natural Resources Police after their small boat capsized in choppy, wind-swept water, the agency reported. An officer found Dwayne W. Abbott, 28, of Essex and Jonathan M. Miller, 11, and William H. Miller, 34, both of Middle River in the 58-degree water near Wilson Point with help from the Baltimore County aviation unit. The boaters were transferred to a Baltimore County Fire Department boat and then taken to Franklin Square Hospital for evaluation, the police report said.

Rescue workers planned to continue searching waters near Gibson Island in Anne Arundel County on Wednesday for a missing man who was tossed from a boat in the area during a squall Monday, according to a Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police spokesman. The man, identified as Jason Wesley Ryman, 27, of the Philadelphia area, was on a sailboat with three others when the squall caused the boat to tip, said Sgt. Brian Albert, the spokesman. Ryman and his girlfriend were both thrown from the boat, Albert said.

Sadly, while we Americans rail against big government's intrusion into our personal lives, our unwillingness to stop certain reckless behaviors often invites governmental involvement. Simply put, sometimes we need to have laws passed to protect us from ourselves. If common sense doesn't do it, then the law must. The use of cellphones while driving is a perfect example. States across the nation are scrambling to pass laws prohibiting hand-held cellphone use when behind the wheel.

Rescue workers searched Monday for a 27-year-old man from Philadelphia who fell off a sailboat near Gibson Island during an afternoon squall. According to Sgt. Brian Albert, public information officer for the Maryland Natural Resources Police, emergency workers responded to a call shortly after 1 p.m. Monday about a man missing in the waters off Gibson Island and searched for him until 8:30 p.m. Albert identified the missing boater as Jason...

The last week of May is National Safe Boating Week, and this year's campaign theme — Wear It! —brings attention to the importance of always wearing a life jacket when boating. According to the Coast Guard, 84 percent of those who drowned in 2009 were not wearing life jackets. The Laurel Flotilla of the Coast Guard Auxiliary offers safe-boating classes throughout the year. The next class is June 14 and 18 at the Laurel Library, 507 Seventh St. Call 703-690-8341 to register.

The 27-foot sailboat was David Ward's new toy. He had bought it only hours earlier from a man in Middle River and on Sunday was sailing it, with four friends as crew, to its new berth in a Fells Point marina. Then things started to go wrong. The boat's tiller snapped in the choppy waters of the Chesapeake Bay, and Ward cut the engine while he replaced the broken part. But when he tried to restart the motor, the battery was almost flat — useless. Drifting near the Patapsco River about a mile north of Fort Howard, Ward pulled out his cellphone and dialed the number of a towing company, just as any motorist on firm ground might do. The man who got the call was Capt.

If you were fishing or boating on the Chesapeake Bay the last Sunday in July, you remember how the afternoon went from tranquility to mayhem in a matter of minutes. A powerful storm fueled by near-100 degree temperatures announced its arrival with blinding rain, vicious winds and bursts of lightning. Emergency and mayday calls filled the airwaves and sent rescue vessels out into the caldron. Natural Resources Police responded to 11 calls, ranging from capsized boats to a vessel taking on water.

Drunken sailors should beware this weekend. Every available Natural Resources Police officer in the state will be pulling over boats beginning tonight to look for intoxicated boaters. The goal is to remind boaters that drunken driving rules don't end at the shore. About 280 officers will stop boaters at sobriety checkpoints this weekend. "It is like a traffic stop," said Cpl. Ken Turner of the Natural Resources Police. "We're looking for anything and everything." It is illegal to drive a powerboat, sail a yacht or paddle a canoe while drunk.

The captain of the El Toro II made news this month when he told a Coast Guard inquiry that he had switched off his weather radio before leaving the dock Dec. 5 and never tuned in again. But some local boaters say Chesapeake Bay forecasts are so unreliable that they generally depend on other boaters and their own experiences.The National Weather Service says that it often does not have enough information to compile accurate reports on water conditions and that it is asking to nearly double the number of stations gathering bay weather information.

Boating gear tends to cost several times more than you think it should. A simple clam cleat can run about $50. Replacing the winch handle that went overboard can cost about $70. However, as boaters tidy up their vessels this winter, they'll be pleased to know that one perennial expense is now free. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is providing a popular type of electronic chart called a raster chart for no charge on its Web site. Several private companies are also providing the same charts on Web sites as well.

Department of Natural Resoruces Police started a third day's search early Thursday for a 52-year-old boater missing and presumed dead in Middle River creek. As divers stopped searching Wednesday, another body was located in the Chester River across the Chesapeake Bay, according to DNR police. The first person was separated from his boat in the Frog Mortar Creek Tuesday afternoon, said Sgt. Brian Albert, a DNR Police spokesman. Neither the man nor the body had been identified as of Thursday morning.

Rescuers plucked nine people from the sea near Ocean City Saturday morning after their boat sank, according to the Coast Guard. About 10:30 a.m, passengers aboard a 38-foot boat about 46 miles east of Ocean City radioed for assistance, saying that the boat was taking on water, the Coast Guard said. The boat sank about a half hour later. A Coast Guard air crew stationed in Elizabeth City, N.C., which had been helping another boat nearby, helped pull the nine passengers of the boat from the water.

For folks who want to partake in Sailabration by water this weekend, expect tight quarters. "An unprecedented number of boats are anticipated. We could have thousands of recreational boaters all trying to come to one location," said Coast Guard Cmdr. John Burns, who has been part of the planning team for the War of 1812 commemoration. Here's what the armada will find: Big sections of Baltimore's harbor will be off-limits to pleasure boats, and many others are too shallow and debris-filled, too deep to anchor or too far from the action.

Boaters, anglers and anyone bold enough to swim in Baltimore's troubled harbor will soon be able to get timely information about whether they're risking an upset stomach or infection from splashing in water fouled with sewage leaks and other pollution. Starting this month, the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, Tina Meyers, plans to post results online every other week from regular sampling cruises she's making to check conditions in the Inner Harbor and the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River.

Three boaters were rescued Monday evening from Middle River by Natural Resources Police after their small boat capsized in choppy, wind-swept water, the agency reported. An officer found Dwayne W. Abbott, 28, of Essex and Jonathan M. Miller, 11, and William H. Miller, 34, both of Middle River in the 58-degree water near Wilson Point with help from the Baltimore County aviation unit. The boaters were transferred to a Baltimore County Fire Department boat and then taken to Franklin Square Hospital for evaluation, the police report said.

Your editorial stated the justification for the Gov.Martin O'Malley's proposed increase in boat registration fees that are higher for larger boats is that larger boats require deeper dredging and that large boat owners can afford the higher taxes "considering such boats cost as much as $3 million to purchase" ("High and dry," Feb. 23). Your comments suggest naivete of the boating industry, as well as not being factual. This excessive fee significantly impacts the middle class who own the smaller boats.

Channel 16, the boater's distress frequency, was filled with the chatter of "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" as Wayne Holin tried to navigate his powerboat on the Chesapeake Bay yesterday."

OCEAN CITY -- Cecil Decker of Baltimore was jet skiing yesterday with his 11-year-old son, Chris, when he was stopped by Maryland Natural Resources Police near 28th Street for speeding.Mr. Decker received an oral warning from the officers."I do know what you're talking about," Mr. Decker said about the complaints of speeding. "But no matter how far away you are, people still complain."Officer 1st Class Scott Richardson, one of two officers aboard the 19-foot Boston Whaler patrolling the West Ocean City Harbor, agreed.

One can hardly blame the boating public for feeling a bit of sticker shock at news that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources wants to triple registration fees for most boaters. The recession has hit the boating industry hard, gas prices are up, and the General Assembly is already considering a number of taxes and fees to balance the state's budget next year. But there's only one thing the legislature could do to Maryland boaters to make life on the water even worse, and that would be to do nothing at all. Like Odysseus, the DNR is trapped between Scylla and Charybdis with no pain-free choices available.