News Release

NEW YORK-The Coast Guard, along with the National Safe Boating Council, is encouraging boaters to take part in National Safe Boating Week, May 22 - 28, 2010.

The purpose of National Safe Boating Week is to promote safe boating practices for recreational boaters, in an effort to reduce preventable accidents and deaths.

Many people agree riding a bike without a helmet or being in a car without a seatbelt can be risky behavior; however, each year boaters take to the lakes, rivers and seas without wearing the most fundamental element of safe boating – life jackets.

These decisions lead to 459 possibly preventable drowning deaths in the U.S. during 2008, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Recreational Boating Statistics Report.

The Coast Guard encourages boaters to take a safer approach during the 2010 boating season by ensuring they have a Coast Guard-approved lifejacket and wear it while on the water.  Other safety measures that can save your life are:

• Have your vessel inspected by the Coast Guard Auxiliary or Power Squadron.
• File a float plan with someone who knows when you are leaving and when you plan to be back.
• Make sure you have working sound producing devices in the event of an emergency in low visibility.
• Ensure flares are not out of date or damaged.

Follow this link to view crewmembers from Coast Guard Station New York participating in the Inflatable Lifejacket World Record Inflation Day, as part of National Safe Boating Week, May 20, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHl-McXjSaM

For a comprehensive list of boating safety checklists and instructional information, please visit: http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/default.aspx

For more information on life jacket safety as a part of National Safe Boating Week, take a look at the National Safe Boating Council’s website: http://www.safeboatingcampaign.com/

For a vessel safety check, visit the Coast Guard Auxiliary website at: http://www.cgaux.org/

 **Editors Note**

Coast Guard Station New York will help educate children on life jackets at PS 53 - Bay Terrace Elementary School, during a safety demonstration that will include a 25-foot rescue boat and helicopter on Staten Island, N.Y. May 26, 2009. 

Media interested in attending should contact Public Affairs Detachment New York at 212-668-7114.

New York State Parks and Recreation will also participate in a Kickoff to Safe Boating event at the Mitchell Park Marina, Southold, N.Y., May 22, 2010.

The event is open to the public to educate boaters on safe boating practices.  An award will be presented by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)  to an individual for their actions in saving lives last year; also a drawing will take place to give away 100 inflatable lifejackets. Attendees will be the U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary, Sea Tow, Float Tech, New York State Parks and Recreation, and members of the town of Southold, N.Y.   Media interested should contact Brian Keefe, N.Y. State Parks and Recreation, at 518-486-1868.