No life preservers on boat that tipped

FINGER LAKE — A Wasilla man drowned over the weekend because no life preservers were at hand when a small boat in which he was riding took on water.

“They started the engine and as soon as they started the engine, the bow went under water,” said Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen.

Jason C. Covey, 29, was one of three people on board the 8-foot boat with a 3.5-horsepower motor when it started sinking shortly before 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

“The other two in the boat were father and [7-year-old] son; I guess they’re friends with Covey,” Ipsen said.

The plan was to camp overnight on a small island across from the boat launch near the Elks Lodge.

Cliff Silvers, who heads the Mat-Su Borough’s Dive Rescue Team, said that after Covey failed to turn up, he and eight of his divers went to the scene. The rescue effort to pull the two surviving boaters out of the water had stirred up mud on the bottom of the lake.

It also didn’t help, Silver said, that Finger Lake, for whatever reason, has generally been pretty cloudy this year. Add the lack of daylight and there wasn’t a whole lot more divers could do in that situation and stay safe, Silvers said. So, they called off the search at 4 a.m.

“We all went home, got an hour and a half of sleep, and came back out when the sun was out,” he said.

Back on the scene at 8 a.m., he said, divers used yellow ropes to progressively lay out a grid pattern.

“About the fifth or six lay, one of the divers found the gentleman,” shortly before noon, Silvers said.

Both Silvers and Ipsen urged boaters thinking of recreating this summer to bring life preservers. Ipsen quoted state law that says children in an open boat must wear life preservers and a boat must be equipped with enough life preservers for everyone on board.

“The best life jacket is one that’s being worn, especially with Alaskan waters,” Ipsen said. “They’re so cold it only takes a matter of minutes before hypothermia sets in.”

Even though he and his team couldn’t bring Covey back alive, Silvers said he was glad to have helped find Covey.

“We do those recoveries like that so we can help the families put closure on it,” he said. Silvers likes to think it helps. The next day, he got at least a small indication it had while the dive team participated in Wasilla’s Fourth of July parade.

“My one responder was driving the van and he got out and got a hug from [Covey’s] niece,” Silvers said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.