Safety on the water is every boater’s responsibility. Keeping your boat shipshape and knowing what to do—not only in an emergency but also when docking, anchoring and passing another boat—is key to having fun and developing a culture of safety on the water.
"You always wear a life vest, adhere to all navigation rules, keep a sharp lookout and be courteous to other boaters," said Art Flora, Flotilla Commander for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
A major focus of National Safe Boating Week is encouraging everyone to wear a life jacket. Year after year, statistics reveal that most people who die when entering the water from a recreational boat were not wearing a personal flotation device, or a life jacket. The law mandates wearing a life jacket in certain situations—water skiing; riding a jet ski; children under 13 years old on power boats less than 21 feet; all children under four years old—but everyone should wear a life jacket at all times to ensure safety. We all know that “Seat Belts Save Lives” on our highways. Well, “Life Jackets Save Lives” on the water.
Most boaters can guess that operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, excessive speed and alcohol use are the top five primary contributing factors in boating accidents. But not wearing a life jacket is the leading contributing factor to fatal drownings. Ninety percent of those who drown were not wearing a life jacket.
Here’s a couple other interesting safety statistics. Eight out of ten boaters who drowned in these accidents were aboard vessels less than 21 feet in length. And in about 88 percent of boating fatalities, the boat operators did not have a nationally approved boater education certificate.
The Top 10 Ways to Become Better Informed, Equipped and Prepared on the Water:
1. Wear your Life Jacket.
2. Get a FREE Vessel Safety Check annually.
3. Take a Boating Safety Course.
4. Boat Sober.
5. Purchase a VHF radio, preferably equipped with Digital Selective Calling (DSC), and register it.
6. Have a Pre-Departure Checklist.
7. Make sure everyone on board is aware of their surroundings at all times, and look out for each other.
8. Prevent Carbon Monoxide (CO) Poisoning.
9. Prevent Hypothermia.
10. Get Familiar with the NEW Coast Guard Mobile App.
To spread the word, the National Safe Boating Council has organized its seventh-annual “Wear a Life Jacket” photo shoot to break their previous Guinness World Record for the most people wearing life jackets at one time.
Thousands of boaters around the globe shattered records for the most life jackets worn on the same day during last year’s sixth annual Ready, Set, Wear It! Life Jacket World Record Day. At 257 events around the world, 10,917 participants inflated their life jacket or wore an inherently buoyant life jacket, breaking the world record.
Locally we will take a picture for Ocean City’s contribution at 10:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the West Ocean City commercial channel next to the public boat ramp. We’re asking everyone to bring their life jackets and join us. It’s a great way to kick off the boating season. The group photo will be submitted to and counted toward the record.
Also, attendees who bring their boats, either by water or by trailer, will receive free safety vessel inspections by a qualified member of the USCG Auxiliary. The USCG Auxiliary is available every Saturday and Sunday morning throughout the vacationing season at the West Ocean City ramp to provide free safety inspections.
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Attendees can also talk to an Auxiliarist about signing up for the Maryland Safe Boating Class. It is open to all and required for anyone born after July 1, 1972, who wishes to operate a boat in Maryland waters. Space is still available in the June and July classes that will be taught at the Ocean Pines library.
The official ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. when the USCG 47-foot motor life boat arrives with the local dignitaries. After proclamations and pronouncements, attendees the group photo and then the Coast Guard motor life boat, the Ocean City fire boat and the Maryland Natural Resources Police boat will be available for tours.
On shore there will be several exhibits on marine safety, ecology, fishing tips and regulations, knot-tying demonstrations and hot dogs for the hungry sponsored by the Kiwanis Club.
Come join us. Bring the kids. Bring your boats. And bring your life jackets to help us kick off the 2016 season safely!
2 comments:
here we go before you know it you will be required to where a life jacket in a boat
Pretty much every dead boater who washes up on the shore isn't wearing a flotation device. But that's not a call to make everybody wear one all the time.
However, every drunken boater and passenger should.
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