Coast Guard: Alaskans in boats more cautious

BIG LAKE - The U.S. Coast Guard said Alaskans are playing more safely on the water.

As recently as 1998, 38 people died in Alaska in recreation fatalities. Last year, there were 14. So far this year, there have been 10.

At Big Lake, where there's a history of fatalities and hundreds of boaters, KTUU reports there were no deaths last weekend.

Coast Guard officials made free inspections and stopped anyone who appeared to be unprepared and escorted them back to shore. Until a boating safety law in 2000 allowed officials to fine boaters, there was little enforcement authority.

Alaska still has one of the highest per-capita recreational boating death rates, and drowning is the second-leading cause of accidental death.