Enjoy yourself but educate yourself

Last weekend, my family and I camped at Red Willow State Recreation Area north of McCook.

Every camping spot was taken with fire pits surrounded each evening by people enjoying the outdoors. Boats sped across the water with kids laughing as the tubes bounced off the boat’s wake. And kayakers paddled in and out of the bays regardless of their age and athletic ability.

I have owned kayaks (and now stand-up paddle boards) for years because they are easy to learn how to use, they are relatively cheap to purchase and at the end of the day, they are simple to maintain with no motor to repair. Everyone knows the saying about boat ownership: What are the two best days to own a boat? The day you buy it and the day you sell it.

But kayak ownership has exploded during the coronavirus pandemic. People are looking for inexpensive ways to entertain themselves and their families while getting away from crowds. And with our abundance of nearby lakes (thanks to the foresight of leaders in the 1940s including Harry Strunk), kayaking and paddle-boarding offers a great way to take advantage of these opportunities.

But as more people have ventured into these non-motorized boating activities, there comes an increased need for education.

For example, wind direction and wind speed are important to know before leaving shore. None of our lakes compare to the Great Lakes, which are so large, they are like the ocean with no land in sight. But it easy to be pushed across the water by a forceful wind and quickly find yourself in the middle of the lake, fighting the waves to paddle back to where you launched.

Even though kayaks are cute and colorful and more closely related to a “floatie” than a speed boat, they are in the eyes of the government considered a boat. While we are not required to license them like others states, we still have to abide by most of the boating rules including having a life jacket on the vessel.

And this past weekend as truck after truck loaded and unloaded kayaks into the lake, we observed a few kayakers receiving tickets for boating without a life jacket on their vessel. Nothing puts a damper on a fun outing like a $100 fine.

They likely tried to plead ignorance and the officer could have given them a warning, but at the end of the day, the rules are in place and it is up to each of us to know them.

Before kayaks became mainstream, they were generally sold at boat stores, where life jackets likely hung nearby and salespeople shared their knowledge about the rules. Today, kayaks can be found in every kind of store, where you can grab a boat, a can of tomato soup and your shampoo all at the same time. Rarely is there someone there to tell you that you need to follow the rules, much less share a little tidbit that could save you time, money and hassle.

This isn’t the first time I have heard of kayakers receiving fines for not having a life jacket. A few years ago, I loaned both a kayak and a life jacket to a friend for a church outing. Another friend grabbed just the kayak from the shore, leaving the life jacket laying the ground.

A $100 fine later, my friend was fuming and vowing never to step foot in a kayak again. As far as I know, I don’t think she has.

And that is a shame. Whether kayaking across the lake or canoeing down the river, we are blessed to have so many different ways to get outside and enjoy God’s beauty which surrounds us. People travel hours and hundreds of miles to enjoy these things we can take advantage of on an average weeknight.

By taking just a few minutes to learn the rules about your activity, you can have a hours, days - even a lifetime - of enjoyment.

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As someone who is counting on the use of our surrounding state parks to entertain herself and her family this summer, I am thrilled to see the some of the sanctions being lifted as of today. In particular, the swim and beach areas will officially be reopened.

While the swim areas have been closed, people got creative to get around the rules. This included floating, lounging and paddling - anything but officially swimming - near the boat ramps or any open water front. Closing the swim area actually had the opposite effect as people avoided the large open swim areas and crammed into smaller areas, negating the six-foot rule.

With the swim and beach areas opening, social distancing will still be in place at the state parks, but at least we will have more room to maintain that distance.

Stay safe and have fun. fun.re and find those life jackets.