NISSWA, Minn. — Nisswa Marine gross sales supervisor Jeremy Wiczek noticed firsthand how the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred Minnesotans to spend extra time on lakes and rivers.
In the previous two years, curiosity in boating has grown by leaps and bounds, Wiczek mentioned, particularly amongst households.
“We went by this era of, ‘How are we going to sell boats?’ to, ‘Oh wow, this is an amazing opportunity for people to spend more time with their family,’” he mentioned.
The brisk gross sales imply some individuals shopping for boats did not develop up on the water — they’ve had to be taught the ropes, to use a nautical time period. Wiczek spends a variety of time educating boat patrons on how to safely function their new buy, together with correct etiquette.
Out on the lake, he’s been identified to supply respectful recommendation to different boaters who’re driving too quick or too shut to different boats. Most of the time, they simply do not know any higher, Wiczek mentioned.
“It’s not essentially that they are making an attempt to break guidelines, or making an attempt to be a foul apple within the tree on the market on the lake,” he mentioned. “I feel they simply do not know.”
Wiczek and another sellers assume it is time for Minnesota to begin educating individuals on the fundamentals of cruising earlier than they get out on the water.
Kirsti Marohn / MPR News
Minnesota is among the many high 5 U.S. states with probably the most registered boats — topping 830,000 final 12 months. But it is one of many few states that does not require any coaching or education for grownup boaters.
Since 2019, Minnesota has added greater than 16,000 motorized watercraft, mentioned Adam Block, state boating legislation administrator for the Department of Natural Resources.
More boats — from paddleboards and kayaks to highly effective pace boats — are bringing extra stress to Minnesota lakes, he mentioned.
“Nobody is in opposition to an individual’s potential to exit and recreate,” Block mentioned. “We simply have to discover a approach of how can we do it that’s respectful to all the opposite customers on any given lake, as a result of there’s many.”
Minnesota requires youth, ages 12-17, to full a watercraft security course to legally function a ship. There’s a rising consensus amongst a various coalition, together with some trade teams and lake associations, that it is time to add comparable necessities for adults.
The state already requires security coaching for snowmobiles, ATVs and grime bikes for operators born after a sure date.
There are extra boats in Minnesota than any of these, however boats behave the least like a standard motorcar, Block mentioned.
“Compared to an ATV, a ship does not have brakes. And in the event you’re not underway, you usually get no response from the steering,” he mentioned. “That’s a concept that people have a hard time visualizing sometimes, if they haven’t had exposure to it.”
Today’s boats are also bigger, more powerful and hold more people, providing lots of opportunity for distraction, Block said.
“There’s not many motor vehicles where you can have a dozen people in your vehicle with you,” he mentioned. “If you might be, you are driving a bus, and you’ve got a special degree of coaching and a license. But that is not true in a pontoon.”
There had been 17 boat-associated fatalities in Minnesota final 12 months, probably the most since 2015 — a sign that boat security is trending within the mistaken path, Block mentioned. Alcohol intoxication is the main contributing think about boating accidents.
Many lake residents additionally help requiring boater education, bored with ignorant or careless boaters driving too quick or too shut to the shore, docks or different boats.
Some lake associations even have raised considerations concerning the rising recognition of wakesurfing boats, designed to create a big wave to surf behind. Large wakes have the potential to trigger shore erosion and different injury.
A latest research by the University of Minnesota discovered that wakesurfing boats would want to keep so far as 500 ft from shore to ensure that their waves to dissipate to the identical degree as these from conventional boats.
A invoice that will have required wakesurfing boats to hold at the very least 200 ft from shore failed to achieve traction on the Legislature final 12 months.
Many lake advocates nonetheless hope to see restrictions on wakesurfing, however consider an education requirement has a greater probability of passage, and will assist handle a few of the conflicts.
Jeff Forester, govt director of Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates, envisions a coaching course that will cowl not simply security, but additionally the ecological impacts of cruising.
“When the wake leaves the again of their boat, they do not take into consideration the place it is going, or what it’d do,” Forester mentioned. “We want to recreate in a approach that does not degrade the useful resource over time.”

Christine T. Nguyen / MPR News file picture
The Minnesota Coalition of Lake Associations helps requiring boater education, mentioned board member Tom Watson, a seasonal resident of the favored Whitefish Chain of Lakes north of Brainerd.
Watson mentioned requiring boater education wouldn’t resolve all issues, however has the help from teams that don’t at all times agree.
“Even though it may be baby steps, at least it’s moving forward,” he mentioned.
There are limitations, Watson mentioned, together with how successfully the DNR may implement the requirement.
Also unclear is whether or not it might apply to resorts, rental firms or boat-sharing golf equipment, which have been rising in recognition.
It may appear shocking that the boating trade could be on board with extra laws.
But Matt Gruhn, president of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, mentioned educated boaters are extra possible to be safer, lifelong boaters who really feel comfy out on the water.
“It raises your confidence, and it lowers the chance of errors – bumping right into a dock, or bumping into one other boat or one thing like that,” Gruhn mentioned.
Jill Sims, Great Lakes coverage and engagement supervisor for the National Marine Manufacturers Association, mentioned with extra individuals working from house, spending time at lake cabins and out on the water, there’s a collective curiosity in making boating safer.
“With that increased use, we want to keep people on the water,” she mentioned. “We want to help them be safe on the water, and we want them to be a good steward of the water as well. So it just seems like the time is now.”
Wiczek thinks a number of of his prospects at Nisswa Marine would possibly grumble about having to full a web-based education course, however most will not thoughts.
“It’s simply going to be a collective path, I feel, for everyone to have a greater expertise on the water,” Wiczek mentioned.
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