Boats beached by Saturday's storm

FLATHEAD LAKE — After beautiful weather the week prior, Mother Nature reminded boaters just how unpredictable she can be Saturday when strong winds, snow and rain pummeled fisherman on Flathead Lake.

While Lake County authorities weren’t required to pull anyone out of the lake, choppy conditions and high winds caused several boaters to run their vessels aground to avoid the poor weather. Reports indicate that waves reached as high as five-and-a-half feet during the height of the storm.

“We didn’t wind up sending anybody out [Saturday],” Lake County Undersherrif Dan Yonkin said. “There was a guy in one of the calls that was dealing with a boat that had partially sunk out there by the dock.”

In fact, several boats were either beached or swamped by the boat launch on Salish Point Saturday afternoon, forced to land there after a motorboat had gotten stuck on the ramp due to the high winds.

Polson Fire Public Information Officer Karen Sargent said the department responded to the swamped boat on the ramp, but the firefighters decided to wait out the storm rather than risk moving the boat. Sargent said the water level is too low this time of year for the ramp’s breakwater to perform its function.

“We assessed the situation and realized that until the storm cell went through, the wind stopped and the wave action died down, there really wasn’t anything we could do for him,” Sargent said.

Steve Mason, a fisherman from Stevensville, was one of the boaters who was forced to beach his vessel.

“With so much water coming in, you couldn’t get your boat on the trailer,” Mason said. “We just kind of idled around for awhile and decided [the risk] wasn’t worth it, so we beached it.”

Mason said his only option was to return after the weather improved, pump his boat dry and trailer it then.

According to Polson Fire Department experts, the safest thing to do if you’re stuck on the water is to point the bow upwind and stay away from rocks and shoreline.

Sargent said boaters should always be mindful of the weather before they go out on the lake.

Precautions like not boating alone, giving someone on land an itinerary before your trip and having your boat up to safety code (such as carrying proper flotation devices) are a must for safe boating.

“We know it’s Spring Mack Days, and we want you to go out and have fun,” she said. “But just be careful and don’t take chances, especially this time of year.”

If emergencies do arise, though, the Sheriff’s Office and Polson Fire Department are trained to be ready.

“We’re pretty readily available to respond to emergencies that come up on the lake like that,” Yonkin said.