Water offers peace, peril

With Northwest Montana's many lakes and streams, it's nearly impossible to not go boating. Whether your choice is a motorboat, canoe or raft, water draws people like bears to a bee hive.

At one time I thought that people went to lakes and river to fish and swim. While that is still a primary reason why many residents and tourists visit our waters, the number one attraction to water is just that, the water.

Water has a mystical or tranquil characteristic that captivates people. I've owned a cabin on a local lake for the last 28 years. I am still amazed at the large number of lake homeowners who do not swim or fish.

But they still love the lake.

I now believe the primary reason for owning lakeshore property or camping on a lake is to view the lake. Similarly, sitting on edge of a small creek while listening to the babbling brook is just as enjoyable.

One of my most enjoyable times at my cabin is to sit on our dock early on Sunday morning to read the Daily Inter Lake. The rest of the lake folks are still fast asleep, I have the lake to myself.

After buying a Sunday paper at Happy's Inn, I take a lawn chair and sit on the dock to read. My reading is frequently interrupted by watching a bass swim from beneath my dock. Small schools of perch work through the weeds and downed logs looking for breakfast.

Painted turtles crawl up on a windfall log to absorb some heat from the early morning sun. Usually I'll hear loons flying from their nesting habitat on Upper Thompson to other lakes to feed. This niche of the world seems at peace with itself on those mornings.

While our lakes can provide immeasurable pleasure, the cold water of spring can be a deadly trap. While late spring air temperatures can be in the 60s and 70s, water temperatures are usually 20 degrees colder.

If your canoe or boat capsizes in that cold water, you can quickly get into big trouble.

Hypothermia is a serious medical condition that sets in when your core body temperature drops below 95 degrees. That's less than a 4-degree drop from your normal body temperature. Nothing saps your body heat faster than being in cold water. My fish finder recorded a surface water temperature of 50 degrees last week. At that temperature, if you are in the water for 30-60 minutes, you will likely experience unconsciousness.

In Montana, every person in a boat must have a personal flotation device, commonly called a life jacket. Children under 12 must wear their PFDs at all times while in a boat. It is also a good policy for adults to wear their PFDs, especially if the boat is moving. Several years ago, I was making a spring test run with my 14-foot fishing boat. It was early spring, the water was icy cold and I was the only one on the lake. My PFD was nicely stored under the front seat.

I opened the throttle to clean out the motor's cobwebs after a winter of storage. I hit a wave, slipped off the seat and was nearly thrown out of the boat. Luckily I stayed in.

If I had gone overboard, the boat would have sped off, leaving me in an icy cold lake - with my life vest safely stored on the boat. Hypothermia would have set in before I could have swum halfway to shore.

After that close call, I wear a life vest when in a moving boat, especially if I'm alone.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I invested in good-quality boating jackets with built-in flotation. That's probably the cheapest insurance policy we could ever buy.

So enjoy our lakes, river and spring fishing. But be careful out there. The life you save may be yours.