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On Maine Ice, Sledders Face Serious Risk

February 16, 2010 - BELGRADE LAKES -- The day Nicholas Dane and his mother plunged into the frigid waters of Messalonskee Lake while snowmobiling is one he will never forget.

It was around noon Feb. 5. Dane, 21, was driving his snowmobile 60 feet offshore a bit ahead of his mother, Lisa Alanis, 47.

He noticed the dark water a little too late, and then everything happened really fast.

"I kind of stopped and signaled to her to stop," Dane recalled recently. "I put my snowmobile in reverse, and while I was going backward, I saw her go in."

Her snowmobile sank. He jumped off his sled onto the ice, and his instinct was to rescue her.

"I crawled toward her, and then I ended up in the water," he said. "Basically, I finally got her hand and the ice went out from under me."

Every time he tried to get onto the ice, it broke. He stayed calm and kept yelling for help. A man working on a nearby camp, Darrell Warren, appeared and started running toward the struggling pair, who were in water 15 feet deep.

"I told him to stop and grab something – anything, really," Dane said. "He came back with an air hose and was tossing it to her."

Dane finally got onto the ice by splaying his arms on it, pulling one leg up and then the other, and rolling on the ice. He pushed the hose toward his mother, and Warren pulled her out.

Alanis and Dane walked back to their nearby home, where they were met by rescue workers, got warm and dry and were deemed OK.

The accident happened in "the narrows," a part of the lake between the mainland and an island where there is a current and the ice is typically thin.

Looking back, Dane said he knows how fortunate he and his mother were, because many people don't survive when they go into the water.

"I think we both feel lucky," he said. "We were lucky (Warren) was there."

GRIM STATISTICS

Drowning is the leading cause of snowmobile deaths, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

It's a frightening thought, considering the popularity of the winter activity.

"It is definitely a sobering statistic," said Maj. Gregg Sanborn, deputy chief of the Maine Warden Service in Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

"Compared to other types of incidents, if you end up fully submerged in water while you're snowmobiling, your chances of survival are greatly reduced."

This season, one person has died from plunging into the water while snowmobiling on thin ice, according to Deborah Turcotte, spokeswoman for Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The body of Tim York, 45, of Waldoboro was found Jan. 14 in Damariscotta Lake.

Another man was killed in Maine this season when he was driving a snowmobile in the road and a car hit him.

In several cases, snowmobiles and trucks have gone into the water and the occupants survived.

However, Richard "Shaw" Jackson, 18, has been missing since he left work on his snowmobile Jan. 1 at Pinkham's Corner Fuel off Route 32 in China and headed home. A search for Jackson has focused on China Lake, but it is uncertain whether his snowmobile fell through the ice.

"Until we find him, we don't know for sure," Sanborn said.

Sanborn flew over China Lake after the search was discontinued and it was completely frozen over, which it had not been a week earlier, he said.

"It took this incident for people to say, 'I'm not going on that lake,' " he said.

This is an unusual year, according to Sanborn. Usually there is a cold snap in January, and while we had some cold weather, it was not the typical painfully cold weather, he said. Then there was a rainstorm at the end of the month.

"So, you didn't have that prolonged cold to build the thickness of the ice, and then you had the January thaw."

CHECKING THE ICE

The Fisheries and Wildlife Department urges people to check the thickness of ice before venturing onto it by using an auger or other tool to make a hole.

Make several holes, starting at the shore and moving out, officials say.

Check the ice with another person or wear a life jacket if you are alone. If ice at the shoreline is cracked or squishy, stay off it. Watch out for thin, clear or honeycombed ice and dark spots, and avoid areas where there are currents and pressure ridges. Stay away from areas around bridges.

"We want people to get out and recreate and have a good time," said Sanborn, of the warden service. "We encourage people to enjoy our waterways in the wintertime, but you can't have a good time if you're dead – and no brook trout is worth risking your life over."

Sanborn urges people to stay away from inlets, outlets and beaver "flowages," places where beavers stock up their food underwater and cause water to freeze unevenly. He also says people should realize that while winter is still here, spring is rapidly approaching.

"The ice conditions this weekend (Valentine's Day weekend) will probably be the best they've been this winter, but we urge people to use common sense and realize that January was not a typical January. They need to take responsibility for themselves."

Sanborn recommends people going out on the ice carry life picks, available online for about $20, that can be worn around the neck and used to pull oneself out of the water. He also suggests wearing a jacket called a "float coat," which is a life jacket for snowmobilers.

"Any time you venture on the ice, you run the risk of going through," he said.

By AMY CALDER, Morning Sentinel February 14, 2010


Lakes: Messalonskee Lake
Regions: Belgrade


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