New Wave Deputies Sheriff’s Marine Patrol Begins Annual Quest For Safety, Sanity

The Third Street boat docks were busy Friday as vacationers got an early start on Memorial Day weekend.

Trucks with boat trailers took turns dipping their loads into the lake.

Nearby, a dozen Kootenai County sheriff’s marine deputies made their own preparations. It was the last day of training before the opening day of boating season, and they looked ready in their khaki shorts and sunglasses.

Sgt. Dan Soumas, head of the marine division, asked one deputy who had just motored up to the dock what the situation was on the Spokane River.

It didn’t sound good.

Portions of Greensferry Island were submerged. Surrounding the island were stumps just below the surface.

“At Harbor Island there’s a big rock that’s a foot under the river,” he told Soumas.”The dam’s open, so you have the bathtub drain going,” Soumas said. “We’ve had several boats that have already grounded themselves on Greensferry Island.”

His advice; stay out of the Spokane River until the water level drops and the dam reduces its spill.

One sheriff’s boat will be assigned to the river over the weekend to watch out for problems. In addition to the high water, the lake and river still have a lot of floating debris from the winter and spring flood run-off.

In the Chain Lakes area, the high water will make passage under some bridges difficult, he said.

In fact, the teams of deputies and their boats will visit all the lakes this weekend, Soumas said. The Sheriff’s Department has seven boats and two personal watercraft for patrolling the county’s 44,840 acres of lakes and rivers.

Today and Sunday, marine deputies will be at the Third Street docks giving safety checks.

No one will be cited for lacking life preservers or fire extinguishers during those checks, but “if we stop you out on the lake and you’re missing something, that’s a different story,” he said.

Of the 784 recreational boating deaths in the U.S. last year, 70 percent were people who drowned because they were not wearing a flotation device.

Soumas also made his annual plea for boaters to leave the alcohol at home. Just spending a day on the lake without alcohol has the same effect on the body as a few drinks, he said.

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