National Safe Boating Week Coming Up

National Safe Boating Week begins Monday and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources along with the Georgia Department of Public Safety are urging people to be safe and use common sense when getting out onto the waters of lakes in North Georgia.

As Memorial Day weekend approaches, more and more people are making their way to Lake Hartwell for family weekends on the water boating, swimming and fishing.

DNR Law Enforcement Officer Craig Fulghum is one of the officers who will be patrolling the waters of Lake Hartwell all through the summer months.

Fulghum said with so many people on the water, it’s easy to become distracted and cause an accident.

“We’ve already had one incident this year,” said Fulghum. “And it was basically a negligent operation. We want people to always watch what they’re doing and watch people around them. That’s our biggest issue- boaters not paying attention.”

Free boating safety classes are available on the Department of Natural Resources Web site and Fulghum said it’s a good idea for even experienced boaters to go online and take a free refresher course.

However, he said most young people are required to take the course in Georgia before operating a boat or PWC.

Again, to take the free boating safety course, you can go online to the DNR Web site at: www.goboatgeorgia.com and click on “boating education.”