Geneva Lake police officers Mike Stern (left) and Jeff Price patrol the lake looking for boaters committing violations.
Geneva Lake police officer Jeff Price pulls a small boat next to the patrol boat after finding it in a small stretch of shrubs on the edge of the lake. The officers believed it was Lake Geneva Mayor William Chesen's boat, which he had reported missing.
WILLIAMS BAY — An impending thunderstorm late Wednesday morning brought dark clouds and a brisk wind to Geneva Lake, churning up choppy waves that threatened to rock small fishing boats and knock a young woman off her inner tube.
Mike Stern of the Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency surveyed the water from his patrol boat. He said even relatively tame waters can be the site of a deadly accident.
“You can go out on a day like today and then, BOOM!” he said.
The conditions Wednesday were mild compared to the afternoon of June 28, when Christina Ann Tully, 28, Winter Garden, Fla., was struck by a boat after she had fallen off her wakeboard.
It was the first fatal accident on Geneva Lake since 2001.
Fewer boats than normal were on the water June 28, said Tom Hausner, manager of the Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency.
“If there’s ever an accident, this was an accident,” he said.
The woman had fallen off her wakeboard and was waiting to be picked up when she was struck by another boat.
The dark-haired woman was wearing a dark-colored life jacket, and it was difficult for the driver of the oncoming boat to see her bobbing in the 2- to 3-foot waves, Hausner said.
Despite the tragedy, authorities say Geneva Lake is not dangerous.
“This lake ranks very low in terms of accidents (that result in injury or death) in comparison to other lakes,” said Ted Pankau, director of the Water Safety Patrol. “Being the busiest, it should rank at the top, but it ranks near the bottom.”
Geneva Lake is the most heavily used body of water per acre in the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Hausner said 2,500 boats might be on the water in a busy afternoon.
Fishing boats, sailboats and cabin cruisers converge with jet skis, wakeboarders and tubers. Pankau said that diversity of use increases the potential for accidents.
“You would expect a lot more serious accidents on the lake than we do,” he said. “A lot of people aren’t used to the lake, and they’re a little overwhelmed when they come out on a busy weekend and see the amount of traffic and all the activity.”
Boat traffic on Geneva Lake is down this year compared to past years, authorities say, giving water seekers more room to spread out. Authorities are hesitant to consider limiting the number of boats allowed on the water at once.
Hausner cited a midnight accident in October 1993.
“There were two boats operating on the entire lake, they collided and a woman died as a result of that crash,” he said. “Does density really have any say?”
That’s not to say the number of boats on the water doesn’t come into play, Hausner said.
“But there doesn’t have to be anybody on the lake,” he said. “As long as you have humans, you’ll have accidents.”