CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Some motorists on Interstate 77 have
complained about nude boaters, and others have stopped
to watch. Boaters — with and without bathing suits —
have attracted the attention of drivers in recent
weeks, at times halting traffic at the causeway
between Iredell and Mecklenburg counties and sparking
complaints, said Iredell County Deputy Sheriff Phil
Jones.
"They get right up to that riprap, and they take their
clothes off," Jones told the Lake Norman Marine
Commission this week.
Drivers get a good look at the water as they cross the
causeway. There are rocks, called riprap, where the
water meets land at the bottom of the causeway.
Jones knows of three calls the sheriff's office has
gotten complaining of flashers, and he has heard of at
least one accident blamed on flashers.
Marine commissioner Mark Lancaster of Iredell County
confirmed Jones' report. He said he was in the area
setting up for the July 31 Lake Norman Raft-Up, when
he heard the honking of tractor-trailers and saw
stopped traffic. Then he saw three naked women in a
boat near the causeway.
The raft-up drew more than 1,400 boaters who tied
their vessels together to create a new world record
for such things. Marine commission Chairman Randy
Reece said the N.C. Highway Patrol had asked the
commissioners to consider moving the Raft-Up to a less
visible spot next year.
But marine commissioners and law enforcement said the
traffic problem wasn't limited to the Raft-Up or naked
people. Drivers reported a southbound traffic jam
Sunday caused by drivers watching boaters on the lake.
"I've seen traffic jams looking at the sunset," Reece
said.
Reece said traffic problems started when the N.C.
Department of Transportation took down the causeway
fence and started trimming the weeds and underbrush
that once obscured views of the lake.
Boats gathering at the causeway are a fairly recent
phenomenon because boaters have had to leave an area
in Iredell County where they once gathered, known as
Cocktail Cove. Homeowners had complained about nudity
and obnoxious behavior from partying boaters who tied
their craft together.
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The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable
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