No BUIs on Lake Allatoona, 3 Deaths on Georgia Waters Throughout Holiday Weekend

An Atlanta man, 23, drowned Sunday after diving off a boat at Red Top Mountain State Park in Cartersville.

Brande Poulnot, Patch Staff

Posted Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 11:41 am ET|Updated Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 11:45 am ET

Three people died on public waters across Georgia during 2013's Labor Day holiday weekend, when rangers also issued 18 BUI citations, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Two of the fatalities were on Sunday, including a 23-year-old Atlanta man who drowned after jumping off a boat near Red Top Mountain State Park's swimming beach in Cartersville.

A 45-year-old Atlanta man drowned in Amicalola Creek near Dawsonville after swinging into a swift pool from a rope swing, according to Cumming Patch. He went under swimming back to shore.

The third was Saturday after the body of a 61-year-old man who went missing on the Savannah River near Augusta was recovered at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday in the river, according to the DNR Law Enforcement Division.

Ralph Edward Taylor of Augusta was paddling in a kayak with two companions, also in kayaks. The two went around the side of an island where the rapids were more challenging. Taylor went down the other side.

The companions later spotted his empty kayak.

A Richmond County Water Rescue dive team member found his body in the water the next morning. The investigation is continuing.

Personal Watercraft Crash Throws Operator Into Windshield

Statewide, of four other boating incidents, two involved personal watercraft and one included minor injuries.

Lake Allatoona saw no boating incidents throughout the holiday weekend, except for the drowning, but on nearby Lake Lanier, a PWC hit a metal object in the water in the mouth of Shoal Creek Sunday, puncturing a hole in the hull and throwing the operator into the windshield.

A PWC operator also was hurt Sunday while jumping a boat wake on the Skidaway River in Chatham County. The operator was taken to Memorial Hospital in Savannah with a cut on his forehead.