National Safe Boating Week
Posted on May 26th 2010
You can be forgiven if National Safe Boating Week (22nd-28th May 2010) came up on you without being noticed. It's actually being promoted by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) over in the USA, but most of the messages apply in this country too.
Virginia has a rich and varied coastline and is home to over a quarter of a million registered pleasure boats, moored in marinas in superb locations like the Chesapeake Bay. There are many large navigable inland lakes under the VDGIF's jurisdiction as well.
In 2007, the most recent statistics available, there were 106 injuries and 13 fatalities on their patch, with over a million dollars worth of property damage. Boat insurance is therefore an important asset to owners in the area.
Inexperience and carelessness show up strongly in the reasons for accidents and National Boat Safety Week tackles these on two main fronts - raising awareness of life jacket use and promoting boat training courses. The VDGIF considers that many of the fatalities would not occur if life jackets and other buoyancy aids were in constant use. The law requires life jackets to be on board, one for every passenger, but does not enforce the wearing of them.
