Jet skiers kick up wake of worry on Mystic River

SOMERVILLE -- A Boys and Girls Club boathouse on the Mystic River has provided an escape from urban life for children from low-income families for the past 10 years, but boathouse staff and State Police worry that reckless jet skiers may be putting the children in harm's way.

Last weekend, Diane Teixeira, the boathouse director, was paddle-boating with a 7-year-old from the neighborhood when a jet ski emerged from under a bridge, frightening them as it sped past .

`` We both jumped," Teixeira said. ``They were big waves. If we had been 20 feet over, it would have hit us."

Such scenes are occurring more frequently on a 2-mile- stretch of the Mystic River that runs parallel to Interstate 93 between Somerville and Medford, and has one of the few public boat ramps in the metropolitan area.

Rising sales statewide of the small, high-powered personal watercraft, combined with overextended law enforcement on the water and limited public access to open water, are contributing to the tense situation.

Some boaters worry that tragedy could result.

``We've really been focusing on that area, but we're spread so thin. They're out there buzzing around doing doughnuts and jumping wakes on boats," Sergeant Bruce Parziale of the environmental police said, referring to the recklessness of some who ride jet skis. ``It's very easy that an accident could happen."

Environmental police officers have made several trips in recent weeks to patrol the section of the Mystic, which they refer to as a ``hot spot" for jet ski activity. But they say they cannot keep a constant presence. The environmental police force has only seven officers to patrol 75 cities and towns in a 20-mile radius to the north and west of Boston.

The speed limit for personal watercraft within 150 feet of a boat or dock is 6 miles per hour, which makes most of the Mystic a mandatory no-wake zone. Jet skiers know not to speed when officers are nearby, but Parziale said he has written four tickets in the past two weeks for other offenses, such as riding without a registration or towing riders on inflatable tubes.

The commodore at Mystic Wellington Yacht Club said there are more jet skis on the Mystic River than ever. On Memorial Day weekend, Joe DiGirolamo said, about 60 jet skis launched from the public dock near his club, reflecting the rise in the use of the craft statewide.

The number of personal watercraft registered in the state has increased steadily by about 1,600 vehicles since 2000 to 8,749 registered boats in 2005, according to statistics from the environmental police. But Lieutenant Larry Chenier, chief of the vehicle safety bureau, said the number of registered personal watercraft has generally leveled off compared with a huge spike in the 1990s.

Personal watercraft are involved in a disproportionate share of boat accidents -- making up 5 percent of registered vessels but 16 percent of accidents, according to statistics from the Boat and Recreation Vehicle Safety Bureau of the Massachusetts Environmental Police.

DiGirolamo paid two Medford police officers to keep the jet skis under control while State Police officers were busy on the Charles River on the Fourth of July. The officers did not cite anyone on the holiday, but their presence made jet skiers more cautious, he said.

``Just seeing a uniform tends to slow them down," he said.

In Massachusetts, personal watercraft must be registered and must not tow people on tubes or boards. In Connecticut and New Hampshire, laws are stricter -- riders must take a class to earn a boat safety license before using jet skis.

Requiring a safety course for all boaters in this state would help , said Scott Maher, another environmental police officer who patrols the Mystic.

``It's often a small group of uneducated people who treat them like a toy," he said. ``They're not malicious -- it's more ignorance."

Maher said the fines for jet ski infractions -- typically $50 -- have not been increased in more than eight years and do not deter the generally affluent jet ski crowd.

Fabiano Carrijeo launched a jet ski from the Mystic Wellington boat ramp on a weekend this month with a group of friends, when he was given a warning for having his registration number on the wrong part of the vessel. He said he wants to cooperate and follow the rules.

``It's the summertime -- we want to go out on the water," he said. ``We don't drive fast. "

Jana Brady was on the water on a recent Saturday, canoeing with her husband . Although it was quiet, she said last summer she was terrified by a group of jet skiers who were doing tricks near her canoe. ``I was in tears I was so scared," she said. `` There were three or four zipping around."