Lane County Marine Patrol offers free boat inspections at Bi-Mart
Free boat checks are still scheduled in Florence and Springfield, with deputies looking for life jackets, whistles and permits before summer launches.
Lane County boaters still have two chances to get a free safety check at Bi-Mart before the busy water season gets underway. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol held its first stop May 16 at the River Road Bi-Mart, 2030 River Road in Eugene, and two more inspections remain, May 23 at Florence Bi-Mart, 4310 Highway 101, and May 31 at Springfield Bi-Mart, 1521 Mohawk Boulevard. Each inspection runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and costs nothing.
A Marine Patrol deputy will inspect each boat for required equipment and basic readiness. The county says the checks are a simple way to catch missing gear before it turns into a citation, a breakdown or a dangerous problem on the water. For non-motorized craft such as paddle boards and kayaks, the sheriff’s office says people should always carry a life jacket, a whistle or horn and a waterway access permit.
Those items matter because Oregon’s rules are more specific than many casual paddlers realize. The Oregon State Marine Board says each person on paddlecraft needs a properly fitting, U.S. Coast Guard-approved wearable life jacket, all paddlecraft must carry a waterway access permit, and boats under 39 feet 4 inches must have a whistle or compressed-air horn. The permit requirement expanded on Jan. 1, 2026, after House Bill 2982 was signed by Gov. Tina Kotek in June 2025, bringing kayaks, rafts and stand-up paddleboards into the permit system even if they had previously been exempt.
Lane County says the inspections are especially useful for people who have not gone over their gear since last season, as well as owners of home-built boats. Some boats in Oregon, including home-built vessels that have never been titled or registered in Oregon or any other state, must be inspected by a marine law-enforcement officer before they can be titled and registered.
Boaters who want a separate inspection appointment can call Marine Patrol at (541) 682-8995. Lane County has used the Bi-Mart outreach before, including a 2023 safety campaign that featured Marine Patrol Deputy Eric Churchill, and the repeated stops show the county treating boat checks as routine preparation, not a one-time reminder. For anyone heading to local water this summer, the free stop now is the easiest time to fix what could become a fine or an emergency later.
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