Thousands of boaters will enjoy rivers and lakes in the Chattanooga area this summer, but there aren’t that many eyes watching if something goes wrong, officials say.

With 60 miles of the Tennessee River running through Hamilton County, and countless navigable streams and lakes flowing from that body, “it’s just physically impossible to be everywhere all the time,” Chattanooga Senior Firefighter Dusty Rose said.

Four agencies stand ready if an on-the-water emergency crops up: Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Chattanooga Fire Department, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Volunteer State Rescue Squad.

“On the average, on the weekend, the busiest time, we might have one or two boats — three at the most — on Chickamauga Lake,” said Matt Majors, a wildlife officer for Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

The unofficial start of the boating season, Memorial Day, is only 12 days away and from then until the end of summer, the law enforcement and rescue agencies stay plenty busy.

“Memorial Day is like literally flipping an ‘on’ switch and then Labor Day is like turning it off,” Mr. Rose said.

Officer Majors, whose employer is the primary waterway patrol agency, relies on others to help and encourages boaters to take safety precautions. Even with that help combined, eight boats and about 30 people are available to assist in an emergency.

Here’s who’s helping:

n The sheriff has one deputy and one boat on local waterways during peak seasons, according to a department spokeswoman.

n Chattanooga Fire has a 3-year-old boat equipped with fire suppression and rescue equipment, a senior firefighter said. It’s parked in a fire station, ready for deployment 24 hours a day.

n The Volunteer State Rescue Squad, with about 20 volunteers and access to four boats, assists those agencies.

The local U.S. Coast Guard installation is a station that repairs buoys on the river and maintains other recording instruments; it does not patrol the water or assist distressed boaters, a commander said. The Tennessee Valley Authority’s marine patrol is charged with protecting its property, a spokesman said, and only assists boaters when emergencies occur in plain sight of the officers.

HELP YOURSELF

On Memorial Day, Officer Majors will get help from Chattanooga police and the sheriff, who often can resolve problems when boaters get to the dock or shore. But he said boaters can do a lot to help themselves:

n Make a float plan or a boating-safety plan. That includes letting someone know where you are going and when you will be back. If the fish are biting and plans change, let someone know.

n Have enough safety equipment: a cell phone, enough life jackets and an operable marine radio. Local authorities, and even a U.S. Coast Guard station in Kentucky, monitors UHF Channel 16 for emergency calls.

n Check your boat. Older vessels that have sat unused for a season or even the winter might not be seaworthy.

n Introduce yourself to a few people if you’re new to a marina or lake. Strangers are less likely to get emergency aid from fellow boaters.

LIMITED SERVICES

Officer Majors said responders simply don’t have enough manpower to pull in disable boats.

“We’ll offer them assistance, we’ll put them in touch with Volunteer State (Rescue Squad), but even they have to make a decision about how many times they can go out to do a tow,” Officer Majors said. “People expect us to do that, though, and they get upset when we tell them we can’t do it.”

In 1983, the U.S. Coast Guard stopped responding to disabled craft for the same reason. From that, private companies such as SeaTow were formed. There’s not a local franchise in Hamilton County, but branches exist in Nashville and outside Knoxville.

“It’s sort of like calling 911 if your truck is disabled on the side of the road,” said Chad Walters, who owns a SeaTow franchise in Lenoir City, Tenn., near Knoxville. “They probably are going to give you a tow company number and that’s it.”

SeaTow charges $175 an hour to tow disabled crafts, Mr. Walters said. He operates the company franchises in Savannah, Ga., and Hilton Head, S.C. He has first option to open a franchise in Chattanooga and has explored the idea, he said, but the timing hasn’t been right.

FEW EYES, ADEQUATE RESPONSE

Even though local agencies that patrol the river admit their services are in short supply, most agree flooding rivers with officers wouldn’t be a good use of resources.

“There are days when one boat on the river would go all day and not be busy,” Officer Majors said. “But other times we could have 20 out here and we’d be just fine.”

Most agencies keep their rescue boats on dry land and then deploy from a dock. It’s often quicker to drive than to boat to an emergency scene.

“You’ve got a very large body of water when you are talking about the Tennessee River, and then there are all the little off-shoots,” said Ed Julian, chief of Volunteer State Rescue Squad. “The chance that you would have someone close-by is not very likely, even if you had a crew out there all the time.”

Still, there’s some room for more patrols, Chattanooga Senior Firefighter Rose said.

“We’re always working,” he said. “The more we grow, the more we’re going to need more marine patrol.”

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