CREST HAVEN – National Safe Boating Week, the last week in May, should linger all summer. Its goal, Coast Guard Auxiliary member Lois Grimes of Flotilla 86, Lower Township, told freeholders May 27 is “To remind people to use common sense when out on the water.”
Grimes, attired in an auxiliary uniform, had hoped to address a full room, but instead spoke to far less about how the organization of volunteers does its part to promote safe boating to save lives.
Utilizing a four-pronged approach, the auxiliary:
• Conducts safe boating classes required in New Jersey for anyone over age 16 who intends to operate a vessel 12 feet or longer.
“This applies to teenagers who love Jet skis. We want them to be safe and go back another day to have fun,” Grimes said. Those one-day, eight-hour classes are taught by auxiliary members. At the session’s end a test is given. If passed, a card is presented which must be carried at all times when operating a vessel. Those classes are $45.
• Provides courtesy vessel safety checks. Grimes said auxiliary members to all marinas to offer those free, non-required boat inspections. Among items checked are the boat’s registration numbers displayed near the bow, life jackets for all aboard, flares, three each of both day and night flares.
Also checked is for a whistle or something aboard to attract attention if trouble arises. Additionally, a fire extinguisher, first-aid kit, knife and 60 feet of town rope are among safety items to be checked.
Vessel owners whose boats pass the inspection are issued a sticker to be affixed on the boat’s side. That will show to N.J. Marine Police or Coast Guard patrols that “You are thinking about what you are doing on the water,” said Grimes.
A “float plan” is among the last items that mariners should get into the habit of “filing” before casting off from the dock.
“Does this mean you fill out a form? No, it means that you let family members know where you expect to go and when you expect to return,” said Grimes. It can be as simple as leaving a note on the windshield of one’s car at a marina. “If you don’t come back they will check your car,” said Grimes.
Grimes said the Coast Guard Auxiliary is marking its 75th year this year. Last year, Flotilla 86 celebrated its 50th anniversary.
“We are an all-volunteer organization,” she said. She said one of the flotilla’s members teaches a safe boating class to recruits on base. “The Coast Guard appreciates that we create awareness and we also like to think it helps save lives.”
While auxiliary members go on patrol, they are not authorized to issue fines, Grimes noted. “We can stop people who may have children on board who need to be wearing lifejackets and remind them, but we cannot arrest or fine them.”
Freeholder E. Marie Hayes told Grimes “In my former life, my husband and I owned a boat marina. The auxiliary was wonderful. We liked to have the auxiliary come on board. When they went out on the water they were respected by different law enforcement agencies.”
“Second, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to register that (float) plan when you are going out,” Hayes said. She cited an incident that involved her brother who had filed a float plan, encountered a sinking, and was located “because of that plan, they had an idea where the boat went down.”
Additionally, Hayes said the marina would receive calls from concerned family members who would ask if their loved ones had returned, and where they were going. Hayes said if no plan was told to them, they had no idea where the boater might be.
“The part you play is so important,” Hayes told Grimes.
Freeholder Will Morey asked if the auxiliary advocates or endorses use of personal beacons for location.
“Yes, radios and GPS (global positioning system) beacons are good. When you get offshore, your $400 phone won’t do you any good,” Grime concluded.
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