The McHenry County Sheriff's Marine Unit is responsible for patrolling 28 miles of inland waterways, including the Fox River and Pistakee Lake in northern Illinois. The region is part of the busy suburban Chicago area and is extremely popular in the summer for recreational boating. With so many boaters out having fun, the Marine Unit makes sure the fun is safe and regularly responds to calls of boaters and swimmers in distress.
"The whole purpose of the waterway is to have fun. We want people to do it in a safe manner. That's why the Marine Unit is there," Sheriff Keith Nygren says.
The 26.5-foot patrol boat that Lake Assault built for the Sheriff's Department is one of five boats that department operates on the waterway from May to November. Work includes patrols for unsafe operation, including drunken boating, as well as safety checks, wellness checks and distress calls. The Marine Unit makes more than 400 inspections a year and annually writes more than 150 tickets for safety and operating violations.
Boats on the waterway range from yachts to houseboats, cigarette boats, jet skis, kayaks and canoes. Per acre, the Fox River and Chain O' Lakes area is one of the busiest inland recreational waterway in the United States.
Beam: 8 ft. 6 in.
Standard features:
Features
26.5′ L x 8.5’W
Full Cabin
Single 250hp Mercury Verado Outboard
