Region’s Lakes at Highest Level in Years

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Higher water and lower price tags have South Holston Lake marina owners, boat dealers and the boating public eagerly stocking up for a banner summer season.

“This year will be the best year on the water that lake enthusiasts can expect,” said Shadrack Watersports General Manager Stan Bowman. “Our business is good.”

Bowman said sales turned a corner in April after a worse-than-normal slow start accredited to the failing economy. But his manufacturers are now offering discounts
of as much as 40 percent on some products, just as the summer boating season kicks off and the lake hovers around its full pond elevation of 1,729 feet for the first time in three years.

Cheap boats

The consumer credit crunch and the economic downturn it spawned hit boat dealers like Bowman and Laurel Marina General Manager Dale Thomas especially hard this winter.

“We’re in survival mode,” Thomas said. “The economy has impacted the whole boating industry just like everything else.”

Thomas said his dealership’s sales from 2008 were 11 percent below 2007. Laurel Marina’s sales for this year’s first quarter – from January to March – were down 30 percent from where the same period last year, he said.

At the end of April, however, the boating business turned a sharp corner, he said, as manufacturers like Bentley Pontoon Boats, Harris Flotebote and Premier Marine started offering deep discounts on older-model products.

Bowman said those companies specialize in pontoon boats, which are the most popular boats on South Holston Lake. Without the discounts, he said, pontoon boats typically sell between $15,000 and $30,000 depending on their top speeds.

Thomas said the discounts are designed to clear dealership floors and make room for 2010 models. He also said many manufacturers have had to lay off staff, stop making current models and take other steps to shrink operations.

“It’s a great time to buy a boat if you can find something that’s in stock,” Thomas said.

It’s also a great time to buy if you’ve got good credit and the cash to make a down payment. Bowman said some banks are offering loans with interest rates of 4 percent to 5 percent. But the loans are hard to come by, he said, because the banks are tightening their criteria when it comes to boat loan applications.

“This has been the toughest year we have had to get our customers financed,” Thomas said, adding that he’s seen more credit denials this month that he typically sees in an entire year.

But even with the increase in denials, Thomas and Bowman said, as long as a customer has good credit they should be able to qualify. They will, however, have to
come up with a down payment of as much as 10 percent to 15 percent of the loan value.

Bowman said he didn’t think that would cause problems for his customers. It might actually help them in the long run, he said.

“That’s really the wisest way [to purchase a boat] because the balance on your bank loan is immediately less than the value of your boat,” he said.

Many of his customers have been paying for their boats in cash, too, he said, which means they were able to find financing on their own and did not need the services his dealership provides.

High water

Twice a year, Tom Abelseth and about 15 of his friends spend a weekend camping on one of the lake’s islands. But this year’s trip will be different, he said, because the lake is at its full pond depth for the first time in three years.

“I love it,” Abelseth said as loaded his pontoon boat with his three dogs and a cooler full of food and drinks Wednesday. “We just went out here last weekend for four days and we’ll be out here for six more [this weekend.]”

Plentiful spring rainstorms and the winter’s snow have added a considerable amount of water to the lake, which last year peaked at 1,719.8 feet above sea level.

Abelseth said the higher water level makes it easier for people to get their boats in and out of the lake. It also covers up debris that could potentially damage
propellers, and makes it easier for Abelseth and his friends to get to their favorite camp sites.

“Last year, if you stayed on an island or a point or anything, you had to walk 30 or 40 feet to get to your boat,” he said.

Painter Creek Marina Manager Jon Brown said the excess water has been a boon for his business, especially when combined with one of the nice sunny days the region has sporadically seen this spring.

“When there’s plenty of water, there’s plenty of people,” Brown said. “Everybody must have cabin fever because as soon as the sun comes up they come out here.”

Brown said the marina’s business has been a lot better this year and has even gotten to the point where Painter Creek had to shift its schedule to meet the
demands of an increasing number of patrons.

Last week, Brown said, the marina shifted its restaurant’s hours form five days a week to seven. Most years, the seven-day scheduled doesn’t start until after Memorial Day, he said, because this time of year normally lacks enough business at the marina to justify the extra hours.

“Everything’s picked up here on us,” he said.

Big worries

While it might be good for business, the increased boater traffic expected to hit the lake this summer has one Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officer worried.

“The more boats you have on the water, the greater chance there is for a mishap,” said George Birdwell, a boating officer with the agency’s Northeast Tennessee office. He said the best ways boaters can avoid an accident is to pay attention to their surroundings, drive slowly and be courteous to other drivers.

Operator inattention, careless boating and congested waters rank among the top five contributing causes for boating accidents on Tennessee lakes in 2008, according to a study conducted by TWRA.

Driver inattention was the most-common reason behind mishaps, listed as a cause for 30 of the state’s 106 boating accidents in 2008. Careless boating came second, blamed for 24 accidents.

Congested waters was fifth, listed a cause for 19 accidents. Hazardous water and alcohol use rounded out the top five reasons, coming in second and fourth respectively, being listed as a cause for 28 and 20 boating accidents last year.

Completing boating classes seems to be one way to reduce accidents, according to the report, which found that 101 of the boat operators involved in an accident last year hadn’t had any boat safety courses. On the flip side, only 15 of the boat operators involved in accidents had passed the state’s boater education program, which is a required class for any boater who was born after 1989.

Birdwell said another way to reduce boating accidents, or at least make them less severe, is to keep personal flotation devices such as life jackets on board and readily accessible. TWRA also recommends boaters keep a throwable personal flotation device with them if their boat is more than 16 feet long.

Drowning is the most common cause of death for boating accidents, Birdwell said, while head injuries is the most common cause of death for accidents involving personal watercraft or jet skis.

That’s why state law requires people to wear life jackets at all times when they are operating a personal watercraft, no matter what their age, he said. Among boaters, only those boaters 12 years and younger are required to wear a life jacket when they are out on the water.

Though despite his doom and gloom, Birdwell said he’s expecting people to have a good time when they hit the water this summer, especially during the Memorial Day weekend.

“The weather’s supposed to be nice and it looks like gas prices are going to be down to a reasonable level,” he said.

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