CLEVELAND — Memorial Day is the unofficial start to summer, and that means a lot of people out on the water, but the U.S. Coast Guard is asking people to be safe boating or beach-going.
Edgewater Beach was packed with people even early Friday morning, and while the water looked inviting and peaceful, most everyone News 5 talked to had one consensus: it’s cold.
Noah Karnes and Jared Morris are both officers at the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Cleveland. They said Lake Erie’s water is hovering at a chilly 52 degrees, far too cold for swimming.
“When you fall in you have about 10 to 15 minutes before you start losing dexterity in your fingers and an hour to 2 hours before you become unconscious,” said PO3 Karnes.
They’re also asking people who are taking their boats out this weekend, likely for the first time since last summer, to make sure to check the boat before launch.
“Have a list before you go out of all the stuff we recommend taking, like your sound signals, flares, PFDs [personal floatation devices] — make sure they’re Coast Guard approved. Make sure you have a throwable; all those things need to be available,” he added.
And if you are boating, make sure you’re telling people on land where you’re launching from, where you plan to go and when you plan to be back.
They said they want people to have fun but to be safe, too.
“Just be responsible like you would be driving a car; a boat is pretty much the same thing as a car. You can injure or kill someone,” said PO3 Morris.
And while the water may be too cold to take a dip from the beaches this weekend, health officials will be monitoring all Northeast Ohio beaches for water quality and e. coli levels. Find out how to see the results of daily testing at our area beaches here.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
