Lake Cumberland

I bought a place on Lake Cumberland last year near Conley Bottom Marina. I was a river rat as a kid and really missed the water. I have an absolute blast discovering the lake, boating and fishing for strippers and bass. There isnt much out there that really tells about the area. I did find http://www.lakecumberlandvacationrentals.com and there is a fair amount of information but not a ton. I bought a boat and purchased boat insurance. Two weeks later I watched a little girl die in a boating accident because a family member was pulling too fast with too long of a rope in a cove. A great family having a fun holiday on the lake ended in disaster.  The family like myself were not terribly experienced boaters. and they had no idea what was about to happen as their laughter echoed in the cove quickly converted to screams of terror and for help. We were the only boat that went to help and quite frankly we had no idea how to pull their boat or get her onto our boat without hurting her. The rope pulling the tube had locked their propreller up. We tried calling 911 (reception is terrible on the lake) only to learn there really is no one to come get you on a lake that large in an emergency. We had to find a way to try to get the little girl  to the marina where helicopters were waiting. Obviously we did many things wrong and I have relived that day daily in my mind as I am sure her family has as well. That is in large part why I am here. I could have been pulling a tube in the identical way and probably would have. There was no way without having experience to know what was coming. I then tried to get info about the proper way to pull a tuber on the lake and there is just so little out there. They let me buy a boat and start driving, pulling folks and anything else I wanted without taking a single safety class. I dont even know where there are safety classes. I questioned getting much boat insurance prior this accident until I was interviewed by the coast guard and realized the liability you face even if you know who is behind your boat. Boating is a lot of fun but it is also very dangerous. I will be posting more information in my next post about how to pull a tuber safely. Also about the differences in boat insurance. and jet ski insurance. . I will post about prime stripper and bass spots on Lake Cumberland and general stuff to do while you are there.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 21st, 2006 at 9:55 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.