November 2020
LAKESIDE 17
Former Lanier Harbor Marina redeveloped by City of Buford By Pamela A. Keene Public boat ramps have opened at the former Lanier Harbor Marina under the management of the City of Buford. Now called City of Buford Lanier Har-
bor Park, it opened mid-September and is a day use loading and unloading park for boaters. The park was renovated by Southern Heritage Homebuilders, which will be constructing up to
120 townhome units on the property. The developer also improved Pinetree Drive, which is now a public street. This work is part of the zoning conditions for Southern Heritage Homebuilders approved by the city in August 2018. According to the city’s 2018 Annual Report, “In 2016 the city signed a lease with the Corps of Engineers to manage the former Lanier Harbor Marina property on Pine Tree Drive” the report
reads. “There are recent plans for a townhome development adjacent to the marina, which would include renovating and reopening the park in the future. This is the only part of Buford city limits that provides direct access to the lake.” The Corps finalized the lease in early 2017. “The Corps of Engineers approached us back in 2015 and we moved forward with a lease,” said Bryan Kerlin, city manager of Buford. “Our first step was to
put in public boat ramps and 16 day-use boat slips. We have also paved the area and landscaped. The improving economy and the demand for housing in Buford led to the adjacent townhome project and the opportunity for improvements to the park.” Zoning enacted in 2018 allows the developer to build townhomes on the former footprint of housing proposed around a decade ago at Lanier Harbor. Infrastructure See Lanier Harbor, page 46
Beware of the danger zone when ‘overtaking’ vessels
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One of the main objectives in safe boating is to avoid accidents, especially collisions with another moving vessel. Of the three possible situations that are described with detail in the Rules: “Overtaking” is a special type of safe passage maneuver that is often the most dangerous and sometimes the most unobservable situations a boat or PWC operator will experience. The lack of horizontal or lateral movement between vessels is the main reason. It is much more difficult to assess bearing drift, the primary element critical for collision avoidance, from a narrow angle than to observe from a side view vantage point. The diagram displayed shows the danger zone labeled “Overtaking Sector” which is the area where the hazard resides. The break between 22.5 degrees behind the beam on both sides highlights the demarcation. Further in the Rules it states that you are still not relieved of responsibility as the operator in charge of the overtaking vessel until you are “finally past and clear” of the vessel you are overtaking. That means moving away from and not just crossing
into the 22.5 degree zone on either side of the vessel. The USCG Navigation Rules of the Road is sometimes difficult to properly comprehend and apply. If you should need a refresher in the required discipline please contact me to discover how. The USCG Commandant Instruction on Navigation Rules consists of 38 International and 11 Inland
Differences, all of which support one main, exact requirement – to avoid collision with another vessel in sight of each other. The correct application and interpretation of these requirements yields great results. Thinking ahead and visualizing possible outcomes is paramount to your overall success in safe navigation. If you find yourself in the Overtaking Sector while you are passing another boat please consider these three basic actions: • Make the approach to pass outside the wake pattern of the vessel being overtaken • Slow down or stop to reduce the relative speed between both vessels if you are unsure of how the situation is developing • Be prepared to safely turn away at any time during the evolution. It’s a simple fix to a big challenge and if performed correctly is a tremendous asset. The chief problem is that this position can also be extremely difficult to recognize in a reasonable amount of time to properly react. The best course of action is to avoid it all together if possible. Steve Johnson, US Coast Guard (ret). is with CPO Johnson, Inc.
grees and turned every bit of organic matter inside the oven, including our turkey, into a fine gray powder which you could easily vacuum up. She was desperately trying to get the oven door open without alerting us that there was a problem and thought the tire iron was the solution. Now my brother Haik had run a successful marina with bar and restaurant for years, so he had seen almost every problem imaginable. He simply went over to the breaker box on the wall in the utility room, pulled the master switch turning off all the power in the house, waited 30 seconds and turned it on again. Every clock, TV, VCR, and
timer in the house began flashing zeros, including the oven timer. He went over to the oven and opened the door! Thanksgiving makes us think of things we are thankful for and that one really made me happy that I had a bunch of good friends and a talented resourceful brother! In memoriam: Capt. Haik Mendes, 1955-2015 Mike Gallagher, 1942-2013 Mendes has been sailing all his life and on Lake Lanier for the past 25 years. His family owns a marina/bar/restaurant so he has plenty of real life experiences to draw from. His favorite line: “You can’t make this stuff up.”
Steve Johnson Boating Safety
n MORE INFO:
Steve@CPOJohnson.com, www.cpojohnson.com
22 .5º
22 .5º
Overtaking Sector
• Mendes
Continued from Page 16 cook, so we were happy to let her do it. We all retired to the living room expecting delicious aromas to eventually emanate from the kitchen. Instead we hear this Crash! Bam! Screech! Bam! Crash! Upon investigating we saw Paula attacking the oven with a tire iron! We got the weapon away from her and she tearfully explained that she was unfamiliar with this stove, so after setting the temperature at 350 degrees and the oven timer at four hours she mistakenly hit “Self-Clean” instead of “Start.” The oven door automatically locked and would stay locked for the next five hours while the temperature went up to 1,200 de-
