Field reports: Free boater education classes offered by Spokane County sheriff

WATERSPORTS – A free Boater Education class that’s required for Washington boat drivers is being offered monthly by Spokane County Sheriff Department marine deputies.

The next scheduled class is April 16 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sheriff’s Training Center, 6011 N. Chase Rd.

Preregister online at http://tinyurl.com/SpoBoat.

State law requires Washington residents born after Jan. 1, 1955, to have a card showing they have completed a certified boater education course while operating any vessel with 15 or more horsepower, Sgt. Jim Gladden said.

“That includes all personal watercraft,” he said.

The course also can be taken online through Washington State Parks. However, taking the class locally allows the deputies to offer insight into Spokane County’s special rules.

“We have more restrictive life jacket requirements, speed limits and wake zones,” Gladden said.

For instance, state law for some waters allows children 12 and younger to be on a boat longer than 19 feet without wearing a life jacket, Marine Deputy Jim Ebel said.

“In Spokane County, they must be wearing a life jacket regardless of the vessel size,” he said.

On the upper Spokane River, everyone must wear a life jacket regardless of age or swimming ability, on any vessel ranging from inner tubes to boats, Ebel said.

The most common boating safety violations in Spokane County involve life jackets, he said.

A life jacket must be in the boat for each person aboard.

“It can’t be just any life jacket. It must fit the person and be serviceable, no rips or missing straps, etc., or you’ll get a ticket,” Ebel said.

“The second-most common violation we write up is lack of a state boater education card,” he said.

Other boater education classes are set for May 14, June 11, June 25, July 16, Aug. 13 and Sept. 10.

Snowmobiler injured

in avalanche hoax

WINTERSPORTS – A 19-year-old Montana man who believed his friends were stuck in an avalanche was seriously injured last weekend when he crashed his speeding snowmobile into a metal gate as he rode to their rescue in the dark.

Missoula County officials say the would-be rescuer called 911 at about 11:30 p.m. March 19 to make the avalanche report. Search and rescue teams responded along with a private helicopter, Two Bear Air, the free-service rescue operation based in Whitefish.

Two Bear Air helicopter pilot Jim Bob Pierce said he arrived in the area to search for the avalanche victims using night-vision technology when they spotted a man lying in the trail near a snowmobile. The rescue team hoisted him into the aircraft and flew him to an ambulance.

“The Two Bear Air team then went to look for the avalanche victims but were told that there was no avalanche and that the two men were pulling a hoax on their friend,” Pierce reported.

Officials said the man was thrown from the sled when he hit the gate. He had severe damage to his chest, apparently from hitting handlebars of his sled.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Brenda Bassett said the two men who called the victim said they had become stuck on their snowmobiles but were not in an avalanche. The snowmobiled out on their own to meet the waiting search and rescue crews.