State boating deaths more than double ’05 count rose to 14, up from 6 in 2004

PORTLAND – Maine recorded 14 recreational boating deaths in 2005, more than twice as many as the previous year, while the toll for the Northeast showed a slight decline, the Coast Guard reported Friday.

Ten of Maine’s deaths were on inland waters and four along the coast, said Al Johnson, recreational boating safety specialist for the First Coast Guard District in Boston. Maine recorded six deaths in 2004 and seven in 2003.

For the region as a whole, the number of fatalities dropped for the second year in a row.

“There were 39 fatalities in 2005, which was a slight reduction from the 41 fatalities that occurred in 2004 and a 40 percent reduction from 1998’s 65 fatalities,” Johnson said.

Manually powered vessels such as canoes, kayaks and sailboats accounted for 20 of the deaths; the remaining 19 involved motorized craft.

Three accidents that claimed two lives apiece contributed to the increase in Maine’s death toll, Johnson said.

Two fishermen were killed in May in a canoeing accident on Cathance Lake in eastern Maine’s Township 14; two men from Owls Head died when their 19-foot sailboat capsized in Penobscot Bay in August; and two men drowned in Mattawamkeag Lake near Island Falls in September when their 16-foot boat swamped while they were fishing.

Noting that most states have some level of mandatory boater education, Johnson said the overall decline in fatalities in the region indicates that boaters and paddlers are being more responsible for their safety on the water.

Most recreational boating and paddling fatalities result from a fall overboard or from capsizing caused by inexperience, inattention or inappropriate behavior, he said.