Art and crafts

Courtesy of Peter Coriasco

Art Cournoyer of SML Sail & Power Squadron performs vessel safety checks on the She-Doos' personal watercraft at a free clinic in May 2008.

When Art Cournoyer joined the SML Sail & Power Squadron five years ago, everything was low-tech.

"We went with show-and-tell equipment like life jackets and anchors," he said of the aids used at the group's boating safety seminars. "We had a VCR tape."

But the squadron members didn't have electronics for the old VHS, so the students had to provide equipment.

"I thought that was kind of chintzy," said Cournoyer. "So we went out and procured donations for the Power Squadron for equipment."

The membership was able to purchase two computers, a projector, a projection screen and a trailer to store it all in.

"It's about $5,000 worth of equipment including the trailer," said Cournoyer.

Now, the Power Squadron is high-tech. The upgrade came at a good time, because the squadron has more safety presentations scheduled than it ever has.

With the boating-education law that went into effect last year and will phase in through 2016, the Power Squadron's classes have grown from about 25 students to upward of 90.

And the members are preparing for their largest class yet: about 200 Franklin County middle school students.

"A lot of these kids will be riding Waverunners this summer," said Cournoyer. "We're starting from the ground up."

In November and December, he and two other Power Squadron members taught 12 condensed safety seminars to more than 600 students at Benjamin Franklin Middle School and the Gereau Center.

"It was 13-, 14-year-olds with short attention spans," said Cournoyer. "To keep their interest, it [the presentation] had to be a spontaneous thing. Three of us were making presentations. We would bounce off each other."

He said students mostly were interested in personal watercraft and wakesports or had questions about the new boating safety-education law. About 200 of them will take the Boat Virginia course on Feb. 13.

It'll be the largest group Cournoyer has prepared for the test since he and wife Rosalie moved to the lake five years ago and he became invested in the Power Squadron. A former professional photographer, Cournoyer owned a studio in Salem for 35 years.

The couple had been vacationing on the lake since 1970, so "we saw the lake grow," said Cournoyer.

"In the past eight, five, 10 years, Smith Mountain Lake has mushroomed," he said. "There are more boats on the lake. It's probably the biggest lake on the Eastern shore."

As the lake got busier and its accident rate climbed, Cournoyer became more safety-conscious. After becoming a full-time resident, he wanted to funnel that interest and share it with the community.

"I was very interested in boating safety," said Cournoyer. "I checked in with the Power Squadron and told them I'd like to teach boating safety on the lake."

Soon, he was licensed to teach and test Boat Virginia, which the Power Squadron has been teaching on the lake for several years. In Cournoyer's five years as an instructor, he's never missed a class.

Cournoyer also is a licensed vessel safety-check inspector. This summer, he'll help the Power Squadron check boats and personal watercraft on five set dates. But he also checks vessels by appointment.

"One of the things that I've been successful with on the vessel safety check is doing neighborhood checks," said Cournoyer.

He'll visit neighborhoods and spend two or three hours inspecting several boats from a central dock.

"My prerequisite is to have at least half-a-dozen boats," said Cournoyer.

Once, however, he traveled all the way from his home near B41 past B1 to check one boat. Granted, it was a houseboat. The owners were moored at Parkway Marina, but were traveling to the Virginia Dare Marina that day to empty their holding tank.

Last year, Cournoyer was recognized by the U.S. Power Squadron for conducting the most vessel safety checks in District 5, which includes 38 squadrons in five states.

The classes and safety checks are all part of the Power Squadron's motto: Safe boating through education. The roughly 65 members also hold docking clinics and speak to Franklin County elementary school kindergartens about water safety.

When the Power Squadron isn't advocating safe-boating techniques or teaching captains how to dock their boats in high winds, the members hold social events that involve the whole family.

And when Cournoyer isn't traveling around the lake for inspections and classes, he may be doing any number of things. He's a member of the SML Woodturners, the SML Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society and the Water Safety Council.

Then again, he may be relaxing on the water. Among his fleet are three sailboats, two personal watercraft, a pontoon boat, a speedboat and a canoe. It's not hard to tell which ones he favors.

"I haven't taken my pontoon boat out in two years," said Cournoyer. "I have a speedboat that's been in the rack for five years."

Instead, he's hoisting the sails on his 22-foot Chrysler, 14-foot Hobie Cat Catamaran or 10-foot homemade skiff.

"I love sailing," said Cournoyer. "It's a lot of fun.

Oh yeah, he teaches sailing, too.