Wow, can you believe that this is the same Buffalo River that we knew ten years ago? From the sporadic adventurous kayaker, to a waterway teeming with personal water crafts and motorboats, it’s a completely different story these days. Earlier today a few of us stopped by The Tewksbury Lodge across from RiverWorks, to check out all of the action. RiverWorks looked and sounded like it was running on all cylinders, but it was the actual river that was the main attraction. As far as we could see there were aquatic vessels hugging the riverbanks and cruising through deeper waters.
In the end, the influx of boats managed to attract the attention of the Sheriff’s Department, which was busy pulling up to boater after boater. At first we thought that there was some sort of reason that the boaters were being stopped. The longer we watched, the more we felt for the boaters. For what appeared to be no rhyme or reason, a number of vessels were being ‘boarded’, all of which looked to be on their best behavior. Now I understand that having a security presence on the river is of utmost importance, but there comes a point where the ‘aquatic frisking’ is completely overbearing. Not only was there a Sheriff’s cruiser stopping boats, there was also a Sheriff’s WaveRunner assisting.
The last thing that anyone wants is chaos on the Buffalo River. At the same time, there’s a big difference between patrolling the waterway and boarding random boats left and right. I’m sure that most boaters are happy to see that the Buffalo River is being patrolled. That alone will help to keep boaters in check. Then there’s the overkill of pulling over numerous unexpected boaters. When cruising down the river is akin to asking for a random hassle, it’s somewhat disconcerting. The Sheriff’s Department should be looking for speeders, or reckless boaters, or crafts that appear to be causing some sort of noticeable nautical infraction… not simply messing with law abiding boaters that are simply out enjoying a day on the Buffalo River for the first time in decades.