As the peak summer boating season comes to a close in the Lakes Region, game wardens’ patrols of Sebago and Long Lake will go back to their “normal levels,” says Lieutenant Nat Berry, head of the Southern Division of the Maine Warden Service.

This is the first summer the warden service has heightened patrols on the lakes as part of its “enhanced” boating safety effort. These efforts were seen by many as promoting a safer boating atmosphere, though some wardens’ behavior has been criticized by local boaters.

On the Fourth of July weekend, over 30 wardens patrolled the waters on the lookout for unsafe boating. And throughout the rest of the summer, the wardens maintained a high presence on the lakes.

“I think it was very successful. I think the majority of the people seemed to be happy that these details took place,” Berry said. “We received very, very few complaints from the public that the wardens dealt with them heavy-handed.”

About 200 citations were given out during July and August and, though this is a jump in the number of citations, Berry believes it is not that more people are breaking boating laws; it is just that they’ve never been caught before.

“A lot of these laws are not really new,” Berry said. “They’re just not paying attention.”

Berry added that the citations given out were for a variety of safety infractions like lack of life jackets, breaking “headway” speed (the minimum speed allowed near the shore), lack of registration and stickers and reckless behavior on the lake, such as drunk boating.

“Most every weekend, we picked up someone who was intoxicated,” Berry said.

Though nobody likes to get a citation, Charlie Frechette of the Sebago Lake Marina says that the response from boaters he has talked to has all been positive. He is likewise glad to see an increased warden presence on the lake to catch reckless boaters and help educate boaters who are ignorant of the law.

“The best education on the lake is when a warden comes up to you and tells you what you’re doing wrong,” Frechette said.

Though he has not seen many wardens on the lakes, Dan Allen of Causeway Marina in Naples said their presence has been felt. For years, boaters, breaking “headway” speeds as they pass through the causeway, have created wakes that have rocked marina boats and pulled cleats out of the docks.

“Whatever they’re doing has certainly made an improvement,” Allen said.

A bad experience

Kenneth Clark, a boating enthusiast from Windham, had two different situations with the wardens this summer. During one, he was given a courtesy warning for failing to affix boat registation stickers and during another, he, his wife and family friends were left to fend for themselves after Clark’s boat motor died during this year’s Poker Run and wardens allegedly declined to help.

At 4 p.m. on July 23, the Clark’s drifting boat had washed up onto an island in Sebago Lake. Pleasure boaters came to help and Clark requested they search for wardens to help tow him to safety. Wardens quickly arrived and attempted to give him a tow back to shore, but became frustrated after Clark became critical.

“I could tell the guys didn’t have much experience because they were attempting to tow my boat bow to bow with the tow rope attached to their hand railing,” Clark said. “I told them it was never going to work, that they were going to rip their railing off, and I directed them to tow me with their stern. They got a real attitude and said stuff like ‘Who’s driving this boat, you or me?’ I told them ‘hey, I’m just trying to help you here.’ And yeah, I admit I got a little hot, but they obviously knew nothing about towing.”

What happened next caused Clark to file a formal complaint that is currently under internal investigation by the Warden Service. Clark says the warden threw the tow rope back at him after he gave them more advice on how to properly tow.

“He said, ‘You want to get towed off this island or what?’ I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so I said, ‘fine, if that’s how you’re going to be, I don’t want your help,’ and by golly they took me seriously,” Clark said. “They heaved the rope back at me and left us stranded. I never thought in a million years a warden would leave a boat stranded in the middle of Sebago Lake, even if I was getting a little mouthy. They should have been professional enough to deal with a stressed boater. That’s what gets me. First they didn’t know how to tow and second, they didn’t know how to deal with a distressed boater.”

While the matter is still under investigation, Lt. Nat Berry said the Warden Service “is not in the towing business,” and that “there are two sides to this story.” He said wardens are never “obligated” to tow boaters and likened the situation to a stranded vehicle on a highway.

“State troopers aren’t in the towing business either,” he said.

Two lives lost

The increased warden presence was not enough to save the lives of two boaters on July 24 who died in separate accidents on Sebago Lake. John D’Arcangelo died of a heart attack after his jet ski, with two others onboard capsized in Point Sebago. And while warden Jemery Judd was trying to handle the situation, another jet ski, driven by Scott Meagher, crashed into a motorboat.

“Here’s a warden trying to take care of one fatality and another happened,” Berry said.

Though Judd rescued Meagher from the water and gave him CPR, he died shortly after at Bridgton Hospital.

As the warden patrols lessen on the lakes, many wardens who have spent the summer patrolling the Lakes Region are heading north to make sure hunters abide by regulations during bear season.

“We are so shorthanded on people that we have to do this on a regular basis,” Berry said. “We have to move people around as the priorities change.”

Berry said wardens from up north will probably be brought down to help patrol the lakes next summer as well.