The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pilot helps boaters avoid driving drunk
Certified captain gets you safely back to port, avoiding a BUI charge.
A certified master captain, if given a call, can get boaters safely back to land from Lake Lanier,
In the wake of Georgia’s new boater safety laws, a Suwanee man has launched a business aimed at taking in customers before authorities do.
Jeff Perfater specializes in rescuing impaired boaters, at least those who are smart enough to realize they may have had one too many.
For $125, Perfater, a U.S. Coast Guard certified master captain, will hop aboard his 10-foot inflatable Zodiac and rendezvous with any impaired boater on Lake Lanier. Once aboard, he will pilot the vessel back to its home launch and tie it off. No questions asked.
Perfater’s venture, SafeNav, began in May, about one year after the lake saw two separate tragedies that helped spark tougher boating laws across Georgia.
Two young brothers, Jake and Griffin Prince, were killed in a June 2012 collision with another boat operated by a man alleged to have been intoxicated. Less than a month later, Kyle Glover, the stepson of musician Usher, died when he was struck by a craft while in the water.
“There was a lot going on last year ... and I had just come up on my (master captain) license but wasn’t sure how I was going to use it,” Perfater said. “I just said, ‘This is exactly what we need to do.’”
Stepped-up patrols and safety were on Kyla Iwinski’s mind two weekends ago when she and a group of friends held their annual boating day at Sunset Cove. The group’s host of its kind at Lake Lanier. One of the reasons, Perfater said, is that once people find out what it costs to carry a $1 million liability policy, they drop out.
His certification entitles him to a more reasonable rate, he said. “We’re not looking to make a big buck on this,” he said. “We’re trying to keep the accident quotient down on the lake.” The cost of a BUI could cost many times the fee Perfater charges.
Don Parent, a Lake Lanier Islands certified master captain who also runs yachts along the East Coast, said he knows of no other service in the country like SafeNav.
“When you’re a professional mariner, it’s easy to spot people out there who are intoxicated,” he said. “It would be nice if everyone knew what Jeff is doing, and it’s a very reasonable price when you consider it against what a BUI is going to cost you.”