Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-06-10
BY CHARLES COVELL
Outdoor Editor

By CHARLES COVELL
outdoor Editor
Paul c. Wentzell, supervising
inspector for Tidewater Fish
cries District 6, was an hour
late for dinner. But Mrs. Went
zell, at their tidy little home
near Compton, Md, wasn't per-
turbed. This was old hat.
Hell be along" she said.
Hes probably had to investi-
cgate some accident or vio-
lation."
He had. Wentzell, who fl
nally arrived afte another As
minutes of trying to keep the
food warm, had been at Point
Lookout working with the State
Police on a boating mishap.
The Coast Guard patrol boat
from Piney Point has spotted
a small cupboard cruiser adrift
with one man dead and another
injured and towed it to shore.
Collision to Blame
From the story told by the
survivor, the high-powered out
/ board had cruised from the
Virginia side of the Potomac to
CriSfield, then colided with
something on the way back.
There was some question as to
whether it was the wreck of
the old Hannibal or a buoy. In
any event, it was just one of the
many things to make a Tide
water Fisheries inspector late
for dinner. -
The 9S-year-old Maryland
Department Of Tidewater Fish
cries is an organization of man
fold duties from propagating
oysters to enforcing the crab
bling, netting and sports fish
ing laws. Only since June, 1860,
has it been charged with num-
bering and inspecting pleasure
boats and investigating boat
ing accidents under the States
new boat act.
Wentzell's district covers the
entire Potomac as far as the
District line and the adjacent
Iportion of Chesapeake Bay
from Point No Point to Smiths
Point.
To patrol this big area he
has Is inspectors, seven patrol
: boats from 81 to 63 feet long
! and eight outboards, IA to IL
feet in length with motors Of
10 to rs horsepower. In addi-
ton. a new 27-foot. twin screw
! craft is on the way.
One Of the patrol boats, a As.
footer. is equipped with radar
two have ship-to-shore radio.
telephones while all others have
: Maryland State Police radios
y to remain in constant contacI
! with police units.
These boats are to be sta
? toned during the season a.
= Piney Point, Breton Bay, Cobb
Island, Aqualand near the Pc
: tomac River Bridge, and For
! Washington. In addition. ont
boat, the 45-footer equipped
!, with radar, is on permanent
: night patrol in the whole area
To augment his staff durinl
: the boating season, Wentzel
), has two part-time inspectors Il
:, : check boats on week ends an,
'" holidays.
u Boaters Cooperative
8 How have boaters cooperate
# under the new law? For tn
n most part, they have been yer
cooperative" Wentzell sale
"Out biggest problem is wit
water SkierS. The law require
:. that each boat carry an ov
, server as well as operator an
\ too many ignore it.
, Then theirs always the off
beat character who insists o
. Swimming close by a fishin
boat or doing some other fool
hardy thing. This is no reflec
ton on water skiers as a whol
because the ski clubs have bee
most helpful. but some jus
don't use common sense.
Our next biggest problem
the failure of many boaters t
realize the capabilities of thei
craft, like the seven person
who went out in a l4-foot boa
last summer and got int
: trouble. OF course, there are al
ways human errors. Take tn
man from Washington VIII
tried to crank 35-horsepowe
motor while it was in gear. H
and his companion in the IL
foot boat both lost their live
Teen-ager Rescued
"a happier ending was tn
rescue of a teenager who too
a 14-foot cupboard out on tn
Potomac, was overtaken b
darkness and lost his way bu
who finally ended up on tn
Virginia shore. There a patrC
boat picked him up and towe
the cupboard back"
How about boat inspections
. What are the most frequer
violations?