These sunny days are giving people the itch to head outside and get in and on the water, and with Memorial Day weekend coming up, Smith Mountain Lake is expecting the crowds.
10 News hopped on a boat with the Department of Wildlife Resources to share all the tips before the big weekend begins.
“It’s going to be a lot of boat traffic this weekend, it’s just busy waters, there’s going to be jet skis, there’s going to be kayaks, canoes, power boats, pontoon boats, motorboats everywhere,” Sergeant Michael Morris with DWR said.
With multiple boats and people, DWR’s biggest tip is a life jacket.
In Virginia, DWR said, there were 59 incidents from boating and 8 deaths in 2023, and in 63 percent of deadly incidents no life jacket was worn.
Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest weekends of the year for the lake. They are prepared to have plenty of units patrolling to ensure everyone out on the lake is safe. Whether they are pulling you over for an incident or just to check if you have your safety supplies.
If you find yourself celebrating in the rays DWR wants you to know of the move over law with emergency services out on the water.
“You want to move out, just like on the highway, you want to move out on the emergency boats way, whether it’s us or fire and rescue boats you want to get out of the way,” Morris said.
And even though it’s a big holiday weekend, it can turn serious very quickly.
“Instant, instantaneous, it’s really easy as an operator of a boat to be paying attention to what’s going on inside of your boat and not paying attention to your surroundings and so it’s very important that the operator is sober,” Morris said.
So, next time you are heading to the boat grab your lifejacket, sunscreen, water, ring Bouy, and other necessities to stay as safe as possible.