Lake Hartwell will be crowded during Memorial Day, DNR advises boaters to slow down

As people are enjoying their Memorial Day holiday weekend, today there will be a lot of visitors to Lake Hartwell.

That’s why the Georgia Department of Natural Resources wants everyone to remember a few simple safety measures to ensure you and your loved ones have a great and safe holiday.

Lake Hartwell has already seen one boating fatality recently that took the life of a 17-year-old.

DNR Law Enforcement officer Craig Fulghum said with more people visiting Lake Hartwell the chance for a boating accident increases and he is asking all boaters and watercraft users to slow down.

Additionally, Fulghum and fellow DNR officers will be out on the water this weekend checking boating registrations and looking for impaired boaters. Georgia has a zero tolerance for impaired boating, and if caught you will go to jail.

Fulghum recommends that, just as you have a designated driver when drinking on land, you have a “designated skipper” if you plan to have alcohol on your boat.

And the campgrounds around the lake will be packed with campers coming from all over to enjoy the first official summer holiday of the season.

That means campgrounds as well as day use areas will be crowded, which could lead to conflicts.

Scott Lusk is a U.S. Army Corp of Engineers ranger and says it’s important to remember to be respectful of other campers who are also there to have a good time with family and friends.

And finally, Both Lusk and Fulghum remind boaters to make sure everyone on your boat this weekend is wearing a life jacket.

Georgia law requires there be enough life jackets for every person on board your vessel.

If you don’t have enough, Lusk says there are free lending stations at most Corp campgrounds and there is a free life jacket lending station at the Tugalo Park Mega ramp in Lavonia.

Also, a reminder to parents that it is now law in Georgia that all young people on board your boat that were born after 1998 have a boater education license with them.

A free boater education safety course is available online at: https://www.boat-ed.com/georgia/.