More boats, more traffic: Captains anticipate busy holiday weekend and summer

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Following a busy year for boat sales, people are anticipating extra busy waterways for the upcoming holiday weekend and this summer.

In April, Atlantic Marine said they were struggling to keep up with the demand and their sales had jumped 25% in recent months alone and SeaTow has seen more action in the water.

SeaTow Captains Rich Mason and Jon Geiss say 2020 was their busiest year by far and they expect the same traffic, if not more, for this year.

“People aren’t working or they have a little more free time recently because of the pandemic and everything that’s been going on. Life has changed for a lot of people,” Geiss said. “They have a much better opportunity to come out here and do something that they’ve probably wanted to do for a long time so they finally bit the bullet, bought a boat, and now they’re here.”

Captain Jim Sabella with Plan 9 Fishing Charters has noticed the increased traffic as well. The biggest concern for him being inexperienced boaters.

“It’s different types of laws on the sea than on the land and people just don’t take the time to learn those things,” Sabella said.

Although, he’s not bothered by sharing the waters.

“It’s a free country and I enjoy that and the fact that you can do it makes me happy,” Sabella said. “I can do it, he can do it, everybody can do it, but I want everybody to be safe. I don’t like hearing the statistics. I don’t want to see people become statistics.”

Safety and courtesy for other boats in the water is a message that the SeaTow captains echo.

“Our narrow waterways and the tide changes that we have. At low tide, the waterways get really narrow. There’s a lot of people tied up on the beach, there’s a lot of people swimming around,” Geiss said. “Mainly just boater safety. Everybody just slowing down a little bit, taking their time, just really being courteous and safe.”

According to Captain Rich Mason, one of the key factors to boating safety is knowing your boat.

“Know the basic functions of everything on board. If you keep the boat in the water, make sure your water equipment works, bilge pumps serviced regularly, float switches are checked,” Mason said. “If you have intakes to livewells, a lot of fishermen, make sure those valves are working right. Just keeping a well-maintained, sea-worthy vessel.”

If you are unfamiliar with your boat or the waters, you can call SeaTow and they can help put you in contact with captains that can take you out in your vessel to teach you all its bells and whistles or give you a rundown about the local conditions.

Make sure to tune in to WWAY News at 6 pm on Thursday night as WWAY’s Sydney Bouchelle hits the water with N.C. Wildlife to learn more about how to make sure you are being safe on the water.