Veteran boaters share Mississippi River safety tips: 'If you don't respect it, it will eat you up'
The weather is warm, the Mississippi River is high enough to navigate, and Memorial Day weekend is around the corner.
Boating season is upon us.
Perhaps nowhere in Burlington is the season's return more evident than Bluff Harbor Marina, where all but one of 147 slips has been filled by watercraft whose owners are awaiting the perfect weekend to return to the Mighty Mississippi's main channel — if they haven't already.
The marina is owned and operated by John Archer, whose childhood summers were spent at his family's cabin on Otter Island and has been boating ever since. It is managed by 47-year boater Jon Billups, who noted the pandemic seems to have revitalized Burlington residents' passion for outdoor recreation.
"It seemed like COVID reawakened the zeal for fishing or boating or skiing or tubing, and it's great to see families out on the water," Billups said.
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The river boasts recreational opportunities aplenty — from tubing to water skiing to fishing to island hopping to just plain floating — but it can become dangerous quickly for those who aren't careful. The two lifelong river rats have no shortage of safety tips to shar.
"The Mississippi that we deal with is an awesome place," Archer said. "But if you don't respect it, it will eat you up."
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Billups recommended that people double-check the capacity of their boat, which can be found on their boat's registration, and not exceed that number.
"Every boat's rated for a certain amount of passengers, and you don't want to be overloaded," Billups said.
Boaters also should make sure their vessel is equipped with enough life jackets for everyone on board. By Iowa law, anyone on a boat — including kayaks, canoes and paddleboats — under age 13 must wear a life jacket, and that includes infants.
The right-sized life jacket for children is determined by their weight. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, an infant-sized life jacket will fit infants from eight to 30 pounds
"One thing I see occasionally that drives me nuts safety-wise is infants in the boat with no lifejacket on," Archer said. "The parent will say, 'well I have a hold of them really good.' Well you won't have a good hold on them once you hit something. Or people will say, 'My child doesn't like to wear a life jacket.' Well, then your child needs to stay home.
"When your child goes in the water, your child's gone. There ain't no coming back in this water once they're in the current and you can't see them."
Archer said the same goes for children on docks or playing in the water.
"If your toe touches the water, you have a life jacket on," he said. "That's the rule."
Lt. Brad Siegfried, who heads up the Des Moines County Sheriff's Office's boating safety efforts, said not having enough life jackets on board is punishable by a fine of $115.
In addition to life jackets, Siegfried said, watercraft must be equipped with a throwable device, such as a throw cushion, on board.
"A lot of people have all that stuff, but it's buried in the bottom of some tote that's buried in the bow of the boat or something," he said. "Technically, that's not legal. It's got to be accessible."
Boats also must be equipped with a sounding device, like a whistle or horn, and motorized boats must have a fire extinguisher.
Boats that will be out after dark also must have necessary lights: a white anchor light on the rear of the boat and a red-and-green light on the bow.
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Siegfried also noted that this is a registration year, meaning all boat owners must re-register their boats. In addition to random checks throughout the season, Siegfried and other local law enforcement officers will be conducting a large-scale safety check at boat ramps this month to ensure that watercraft are meeting all of the above criteria.
"We encourage people to make sure they have their floatation devices and make sure they wear them," Siegfried said. "That's the main cause of most accidents if they fall in the water and don't have one."
Billups advised that those without a slip who must use a dock to get their boats in the water be patient, especially as the city's docks are not yet fully installed.
"I think a lot of times people get in a rush, especially this year," Billups said. "You need to take your time and take the proper steps when loading or unloading your boat. Make sure your emergency brake's on."
Should your dog wear a lifejacket?
For many, boating wouldn't be the same without their faithful companions.
Much like dogs enjoy sticking their heads out the windows of moving cars, they also prefer to sit at the front of the boat, meaning they likely would be the first to be thrown overboard.
Asked whether people should equip their dogs with life jackets, Archer said it depends on the dog. His Labrador and retriever are good swimmers, so he doesn't see the need for them to wear the safety devices.
"But I've seen retrievers that should be able to swim that, the first time they swim, they need a life jacket because they are terrible," he said. "Some dogs swim really well and some dogs don't."
Archer recommended giving dogs a test swim along a beach with a gentle, not steep, bank to see how they do.
"If they don't do well, then they probably need one," he said.
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Drive responsibly, be courteous and be aware of your surroundings
Archer pointed out that, unlike cars or airplanes, there is no test written or otherwise required to be able to drive a boat.
"All you have to do is buy a boat and figure it out on your own," Archer said.
"There's no lanes out on the river or the lake. Courtesy is the No. 1 thing for safety. Be aware of your surroundings. When you go to turn, look in that direction first to make sure somebody's not close to you or passing you, just like if you're looking in your mirror."
Archer said when two boats are on plane, meaning their noses are tilted up due to acceleration, they must keep a 50-foot distance between them. If one boat is off-plane and another is on-plane, that distance should be 100 feet.
Billups cautioned against sudden motions and quick turns when people are near, but noted that boaters should be prepared to move quickly to avoid a collision.
"You want to be aware of your surroundings, aware of where the other boaters are and get the heck out of barges' ways," Billups said. "If a barge is coming down the river, please be aware that they can't stop that thing on a dime. So if you're in their way, your best bet is to get out. Pull up anchor, get out of the channel and let the barges pass."
Archer also said boaters should be aware of their wakes and respectful of nearby vessels and docks.
Beware the murky waters and where your passengers are sitting
Archer said it is not uncommon to see people sitting in fishing seats on the front of boats while they're in motion.
Because of the fishing seat's position in the boat, as well as the fact that it sits higher than the rest of the vessel, these passengers are more likely to be knocked into the river should the boat hit debris.
While he does not condone sitting in fishing seats while boats are in motion, he said smart driving can prevent such instances, as well as accidents in general.
The presence of debris is not always apparent, though Billups said they can sometimes be spotted by watching for differences in how the water is flowing that might indicate something is just beneath the surface. He also recommended going slow in uncertain areas.
Archer also urged caution when navigating backwaters.
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"Just because you see water doesn't mean you can go there," Archer said. "You can't always tell what the depth is. You don't know what's in front of you, and just because somebody else has gone down this backwater doesn't mean that you can go down it for a couple different reasons. Maybe they know the path and what side to take that you don't hit an underwater object, or they're really lucky."
For those less familiar with the river, Archer recommended sticking to the main channel.
"There are markers throughout the channel, so if you're unfamiliar, you should stay in the channel, because obviously, if you have little ones up front and you hit something, it could throw them out of the boat," he said.
The channel is preferred by Billups, who enjoys boating out to the middle of the river and cutting his engine, allowing the current to carry him downriver.
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Archer gets nervous every time he sees someone tubing or skiing under a bridge, and for good reason.
"You don't pull your kids tubing underneath bridges, because when the water current goes past the pillars of the bridge, it creates an eddy or a whirlpool," he said. "I see people pull their kids skiing or tubing under the bridges and it's extremely dangerous. If they fall right there, even with a lifejacket on, you probably won't find them."
He said people should avoid tubing and skiing close to parked barges for the same reason.
What to do if you get caught in a current
As a child, Archer's summertime Sunday mornings were spent swimming from Otter Island to the Illinois side with his father, Jack, a swimmer who qualified for the Olympics, while his mother, Nola, kept a watchful eye for vessels from the family’s boat.
Because of his experience, Archer has never found himself unexpectedly caught in a current, but it did give him the know-how to talk others through it.
“The No. 1 thing with anything is be calm,” Archer said.
If you’re wearing a life jacket, allow it to do its job, but don’t fight the current, Archer said.
He further explained that you should lean back to keep from ingesting water and to face the direction you’re being carried so you can watch for upcoming obstacles.
“If I have a parked barge, I need to make a decision,” he explained. “If it's parked, it's parked on the shore or close to the shore, so I either need to swim away from it toward the channel or I need to swim into the bank to safety, grab ahold of somebody's dock, a line or something you can grab hold of.
“Another thing is, especially if the water's a little rough and people who are boating can't see you in the waves, so you need to be aware of boats around you.”
You should call for help if near people or boats and try to wave them down.
It's important to remember that currents aren't isolated to the main channel or under bridges.
"There's still current even in some of the sloughs, so if you've got your kids, even if they're in a jacket, make sure they don't get too far away from you," Billups said.
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Heading to an island? Here's what to look for.
The Burlington area has plenty of sandbars from which to choose, depending on the river level.
There's the popular Jon Boat Beach north of the marina through one of the chutes, "but right now it's underwater, so nobody can find it," Archer said.
Once the water recedes to about 10 feet, it should reappear, though there's no telling how big it will be.
"The river changes every year, so one year, you could go to this one spot and now you can't because it's filled in," Archer said.
While Jon Boat is accessible — or at least will be in the future — only through backwaters, other islands, like ISU Beach, are on the main channel.
"ISU beach is a good beach because it's right there off the channel, and it's all easy to get to, no obstacles to get through," Archer said. "On the Illinois side, there's Otter Island, which is a good area because it's on the channel. There's no debris and it's easy access."
Archer and Billups recommend going to beaches that already have a fair number of boats.
"You know that those 15 boats made it there safely, so the odds are you'll make it there safely," Archer said. "If you see one boat at a little beach, you might question, were they lucky getting there or do they know the route."
For a complete list of boating laws and safety guidelines, check out The Handbook of Iowa Boating Laws and Responsibilities by visiting boat-ed.com/iowa/handbook.
Michaele Niehaus covers business, development, environment and agriculture for The Hawk Eye. She can be reached at mniehaus@thehawkeye.com.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Mississippi River boating safety tips from Burlington river rats
