Latest / Newsradio WGAN / Maine Points: Safe Boating Week

Transcript

Maine Points: Safe Boating Week · Newsradio WGAN

0:00
Item welcome to main points Danny Martin Eddie heard across
0:03
all the stations at Portland Media Group really truly enjoy
0:08
hosting this each and every Sunday morning and getting to
0:11
know all of the amazing organizations that are really
0:15
shaping and making an impact. And as the tourist season is
0:19
already already seeing the lines, already seeing the
0:23
traffic, it's a good opportunity to kind of give some awareness.
0:27
National Boat Safety Week, national boat, National Safe
0:33
Boating Week is underway the 16th through the 22nd.
0:37
And this is a great opportunity to to bring on my friend Stewart
0:41
Gelder. He's a former marine safety
0:43
officer and is a vessel examiner, instructor and boat
0:47
crew member. And he's going to be a resident
0:50
expert in a life jackets and also a good friend of the show,
0:54
Peter Poole and public education officer.
0:57
And he's also with The Maine State, he's The Maine state
1:00
liaison officer working with The Maine Department of Inland
1:04
Fisheries and Wildlife. So of course, you know, kicking
1:07
that off for National Safe Boating Week and good
1:11
opportunity to to bring them both on there.
1:13
So good morning, guys. Thank you so much for taking the
1:16
time to go over this very important week for y'all.
1:20
Good morning, Danny. I really appreciate the
1:22
opportunity to discuss this topic with you, particularly at
1:26
this time of year. You know, we're all eager to get
1:30
out there on the water, especially as the temperatures
1:34
warm up and we tend to focus on getting our boats ready.
1:39
And but we don't always think about some of the other things
1:42
that we should be reviewing in terms of our preparations to
1:49
make sure that we operate safely on the water.
1:53
And oftentimes, you know, we forget a lot about those kinds
1:58
of things over the winter because we're concerned with
2:02
other things. And so it's important for us to
2:05
review our safety practices and also to make sure that we have
2:10
that documented on the boat and that we can share where that
2:15
information is when we have people on the boat.
2:18
And, and it's very, very timely, informative and the Casco Bay
2:22
Flotilla, good friends of Main point I've had on Mike Maloney
2:27
plenty of time to talk about kayak every now we're we're
2:30
looking at the safe boating week, which is underway.
2:35
So changing the gears on it, but very informative information.
2:39
Safe boating campaign.com you'll see the the life jacket on it,
2:45
wear it because it does indeed save lives.
2:49
And going into this, Stuart, I want to bring you on here.
2:53
You know, the boating statistics show that most of the fatalities
2:57
involve drowning. Most of the victims were not
3:00
wearing their life jackets. Why does this continue to be
3:04
such a major issue? And what can we do here as a
3:07
community to bring up more awareness as you 2 and as main
3:11
point is currently doing here? Well there are a couple of
3:15
reasons. One of them is it goes back to
3:19
my father never wore 1 and my other parents never wore one.
3:25
I've never had an accident and I can swim well.
3:30
It's like a driving down the highway and all of a sudden a a
3:38
Ford 150 comes and gives you a head on.
3:41
Well, if you haven't got your safety belt on, it's a little
3:44
late to think about putting it on.
3:47
And it's exactly the same with a life jacket.
3:51
You're guarding against that small chance of being hit by
3:57
another boat or some other incident because once you're in
4:02
the water, it's very difficult to put a life jacket on,
4:06
assuming you even have one. So once you're in the water and
4:11
Maine has only three temperatures, cold, cold air and
4:15
whoa, I should have stayed home. So you just do not have that
4:20
time and you need to be prepared by wearing the life jacket.
4:28
And it's just and it's important by doing that you hit something
4:31
right there because when I had talking about, you know, the
4:36
safe boating week when I had on the Casco Bay flotilla on which
4:40
you can check out over at mainpoints.org, all comes
4:43
together. But we're focusing here on the
4:45
national safe boating week is that I compared it is that every
4:48
time I get in my car and it still sits with me till this day
4:51
many, many years later. I I say thank you, Mr. Peterson.
4:54
And he was my high school teacher and he said, every time
4:57
you get in that car, I want you to say thank you, Mr. Peterson.
5:01
And I still do it to this day. And I remember that.
5:04
And I'm hoping that someone can get out there and learn whatever
5:07
it is when you get on that life, that boat that you put on your
5:12
life jacket because the stats out there are increased.
5:16
And one of the things is preventative.
5:18
You look at 2024, the Coast Guard verified 3887 incidents
5:24
that involved 556 deaths, 2100 and 70 injuries and
5:29
approximately $88 million of damage to property as a result
5:34
of recreational boating incidents.
5:36
And we'll get into that. What are the contributing
5:38
factors? But the first thing is you get
5:40
in a boat, you should be putting on that life jacket and
5:44
continuing this conversation. By the way, go online, as I just
5:48
mentioned, safe boating campaign.com.
5:52
That's where you can find all the statistics.
5:56
Sticking with the cold water here, Stewart, that's one of the
5:59
biggest. You said there's cold, there's
6:01
colder, and then there's whoa. Temperatures are starting to
6:05
rise. It's going to be in the 70s.
6:07
Everyone wants to be out there, but put your feet into the water
6:11
and you know just how cold it is.
6:15
What can happen to someone who unexpectedly ends up in cold
6:19
water even on a warm day? Most people will go into a
6:23
marine store and they'll look at the life jackets and the feeling
6:29
is, well, I don't really need it.
6:31
And some of these decisions are actually made by people for very
6:37
good reasons. And one of them is they don't go
6:41
into the store and try on before they buy it, especially if they
6:45
get them from online. As a result, they try it on,
6:50
it's not comfortable and they find all the best reasons they
6:55
can for not wearing it. So the first thing is when you
6:59
go into the store, try them all on and if it just happens to be
7:04
the right color to match your canvas array or your whole
7:10
color, that's a bonus. So look at the availability of
7:17
the life jackets. And the second thing is the
7:21
Coast Guard goes to a lot of trouble to print on the inside
7:26
the characteristics of that life jacket.
7:29
For instance, how much buoyancy does it have?
7:33
And the more important one, in my opinion, is what is this life
7:39
jacket approved for? And in some cases it's approved
7:43
for general sailing, general boating, but not for a personal
7:48
watercraft or not for being towed behind the ski boat.
7:53
So if you get the wrong one and you have an accident, then you
7:59
can actually end up being worse off than not having one at all.
8:04
So making sure that A it fits comfortably and B, that it
8:11
you're using it for the right reasons in your boating
8:15
experience and that you have the approval of the Coast Guard.
8:21
And you want to, again, take a break here real quick.
8:23
By the way, there's a great feature on this.
8:27
If you go to SAFE boatingcampaign.com and you
8:31
actually go under getting the facts about the life jacket, you
8:35
can get all the facts. The best life jacket is the one
8:39
you'll wear. There's multiple varieties.
8:41
Frequently asked questions about this, and I love to preach about
8:46
this because seeing and and seeing it in front of you,
8:49
you're able to say, oh, that's what they mean.
8:52
More of this important conversation.
8:54
This is Danny Martin, Idio host of Main Points.
8:57
Stewart Gelder and Peter Pullin are joining me here going over
9:01
National Safe Boating Week, underway until May 22nd.
9:07
Get all that information, write your fingertips at
9:09
safeboatingcampaign.com. We'll be right back.
9:12
More on this conversation. Hi, this is Mike Maloney with
9:16
the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.
9:18
Have you downloaded the US Coast Guard's Boating Safety app to
9:21
your smartphone? Using the app, you can e-mail
9:24
your float plan to a trusted friend or family member.
9:27
If you are overdue, the float plan helps search and rescue
9:29
personnel locate you and your vessel in the shortest amount of
9:32
time possible. For more information on boating
9:35
safety, visit thecascobayflotillawebsite@cascobayflotilla.org.
9:40
And remember, safe boating is not an accident.
9:45
Are you looking to take the next step in your career or recruit
9:48
your next employee? Check out Worksource Maine, a
9:51
new digital workforce hub designed to serve every corner
9:54
of Maine, providing job seekers and employers with personalized,
9:57
accessible and comprehensive career and recruitment support
10:01
anytime, anywhere. Worksource Maine is Maine's one
10:04
stop online destination for job seekers, students, parents,
10:08
educators and career counselors looking to achieve their career
10:11
goals. Designed to be interactive,
10:13
engaging, and easy to navigate, Works Source Main helps users
10:17
explore career options. Find education and training
10:20
programs that open doors to your next opportunity.
10:22
Plan your future with personalized tools for career
10:25
exploration, job planning, and academic pathways.
10:28
Connect with Maine employers and access workforce resources from
10:33
multiple agencies, all in one convenient place.
10:36
Visit worksourcemaine.com to get started.
10:43
Jenny Martinetti. Over at Main POINTS, and if you
10:46
missed this episode, you can listen to Main Points on Demand.
10:49
Listen to thepodcastpage@mainpoints.org.
10:53
That's main points.org. You served behind the desk.
10:58
You served in combat. You did four years and got out.
11:02
You were drafted. You gave 20 years.
11:05
You gave exactly what your country needed.
11:08
You are a veteran. You are a veteran.
11:11
You are a veteran and you deserve support.
11:14
If you're struggling with life after service, don't wait.
11:18
Reach out. Find resources@va.gov/reach.
11:22
Brought to you by the United States Department of Veterans
11:24
Affairs and the Ad Council. And welcome back to Main Point,
11:28
right across all of our stations each and every Sunday morning.
11:30
Continuing the conversation, National Safe Boating Week is
11:35
underway. Good friends over at the Casco
11:38
Bay Flotilla are are joining me here for this important
11:41
conversation. Steve Gelder and Peter Poland
11:44
And Steve, it was mentioned in the last segment about life
11:49
jackets and I was given that website, but I, I, we had to go
11:52
to break, continue that and pick up about the life jackets if you
11:57
can, because I know there's a variety of individuals, even
12:01
children's life jackets and finding the right one that fits.
12:05
That's correct. And with children, the important
12:09
thing to realize here is they go by weight and because children
12:15
vary significantly while in weight given their age, This is
12:21
why you go with the weight and not age.
12:25
And again, it's even more important for the children to
12:30
try on all of the types of life jackets that are available.
12:35
It's very easy and I've had experience with my own grandson
12:40
where probably the best life jacket was not made for his neck
12:46
and as a result he wouldn't wear it if I had bought it.
12:51
But I only found that out by trying it out in the store.
12:55
Another one. Another feature to be aware of
12:58
is having a crotch strap. Otherwise, you grab the handle
13:04
on the top of the life jacket, you pull the child out, the
13:08
child's arms go up and then it slides right out the bottom.
13:12
So making sure that they have all of those contacts around
13:17
their body will then ensure that they will be removed from the
13:21
water rapidly and safely. In the you couldn't have said it
13:28
better on that and and the warnings choose the right life
13:31
jacket. I know we're giving a lot of
13:33
information out here, but don't worry because on the safe
13:37
boating campaign.com website, when you actually go on there,
13:41
there's a whole section dedicated in regards to life
13:45
jackets. Please do go on there and just
13:49
Get the facts. You know, you mentioned you
13:52
wouldn't be driving without a seat belt.
13:53
You shouldn't be getting in a boat without a life jacket.
13:57
And I don't think, period, I don't think we need to go
13:59
further with that. And it's important because it
14:01
helps save lives. Switching the gears here with
14:06
the saving lives, alcohol remains the leading contributor
14:10
factor in a lot of the fatal boating accidents.
14:13
How does boating under the influence affect judgment
14:16
differently than, say, drinking and driving?
14:21
Well, there's a multi multitasking situation when
14:29
you're on the boat that is different than when you're
14:31
driving a vehicle. And because of that and because
14:36
of your exposure to sun and heat, alcohol has a greater
14:43
effect on a person than you would normally expect.
14:48
And when you combine all of those factors together, alcohol
14:53
becomes a significant factor in operating a vessel if you're
14:59
under the influence. So, you know, we typically tell
15:02
people the time to bring break out the alcohol is when you're
15:06
back at the dock and you're ready to relax.
15:10
You may think, for instance, that it's OK for other people to
15:14
drink while you're operating the boat.
15:18
But ultimately what happens if something happens to you and
15:21
then you have people that are under the influence left to take
15:25
care of you and and bring the boat back.
15:26
So another reason why it's extremely important to pay
15:31
attention to the use of alcohol when in boating.
15:36
And staying on that, with a lot of the deadly accidents not
15:41
necessarily related to alcohol. Another high number of deadly
15:45
accidents involve operators, and this one alarmed me, who really
15:48
never took a boating safety course.
15:52
What would you tell people what you know, you don't
15:54
underestimate about operating a boat safely?
15:57
We, we have to take a driving course.
16:00
How crucial is this and how important it is just to go over
16:03
the basic necessities of a boating safety course?
16:09
I think, you know, people don't realize that there's a lot of
16:15
information that you should be aware of when you get on the
16:20
water with a boat. And even with respect to the
16:24
boating law, now we have a requirement in the state of
16:27
Maine for boaters born after one 199.
16:32
They must have a boating safety course to operate on inland
16:36
waters and coastal waters. And so it's important to get the
16:41
word out on that because we want people to be safe on the water.
16:47
But typically people don't understand the state laws.
16:52
They don't understand how boats handle on the water.
16:55
They don't understand the importance of a capacity plate.
16:59
They're not necessarily clear on the safety issues of fueling a
17:03
boat and the operator responsibilities or how to
17:07
navigate using charts and buoys and how to file a flow plan.
17:11
These are just some of the topics that we cover in the Boat
17:15
America course and other courses that we teach, and they're
17:19
extremely important to knowing how to operate a boat safely.
17:23
And no one is is half the power. The knowledge is writing their
17:28
fingertips safe boating campaign.com and really having
17:34
the experts on here this morning.
17:36
Peter Pulling, public education officer and The Maine State
17:40
liaison officer working with The Maine Department of Inland
17:43
Fisheries and Wildlife. Of course, Stewart Gelder, he's
17:46
the former marine safety officer and is a vessel examiner,
17:50
instructor and boat crew member and really is that expert on the
17:54
life jackets and having the plan.
17:58
I think this is a float plan. Can you go over the importance
18:03
that having a float plan and why do rescue crews say it?
18:08
You know having that float plan because it makes that difference
18:13
in the event something happens. It is critical for us to have
18:19
the ability to deploy a rescue operation.
18:24
If we have a flow plan, we at least have an idea where you're
18:28
boating and what kind of boat you have and who's on the boat
18:32
with you. Now there's some misconceptions
18:35
about, you know, what is a required flow plan.
18:39
If you're just going out for the afternoon, you can call a
18:44
shoreside and establish A shoreside contact that has that
18:48
information, and it doesn't even necessarily have to be in
18:52
writing. If you're just going out for the
18:54
afternoon, you can share that information with your shoreside
18:58
contact. The issue here is, does the
19:01
shoreside contact know what to do if you don't report back?
19:06
And that's a very critical piece of information that if you, for
19:11
instance, download the US Coast Guard Auxiliary Float plan that
19:15
you can find online, on the third page, there's a flow chart
19:18
that tells you what to do if something goes wrong.
19:22
And on the other hand, if you're going to be gone for a week,
19:26
then it's important to file a written flow plan that indicates
19:32
your destinations and your routes to get to those
19:36
destinations so that if you do get in trouble that we have an
19:41
opportunity to narrow the scope of the search to try to find and
19:46
rescue you. By the way, I do have to say,
19:49
Peter, the website with the Casco Bay Flotilla, so it's
19:53
Casco Bay flotilla.org. It does have a great checklist.
19:58
There's vessel check insurance, but if you're looking maybe to
20:01
take a boating safety course, there's a lot of resources if
20:05
you go on to safe boating campaign.
20:07
Dot com where you're able to then say, what's my skill set?
20:12
What where am I with doing this? Because obviously there's a
20:16
checklist involved, you know, wearing that life jacket,
20:18
dressing properly, checking the weather, make sure your boat is
20:22
prepared with all of the safety mechanisms and, and taking that
20:26
safety course because you're going to walk out of there with
20:29
more knowledge and say, Oh my gosh, I did not know about the,
20:33
the float plan or maybe even checking the temperature because
20:36
the water temperature as we know, and cold, cold and and
20:39
Burr throughout the season. But having that float plan
20:43
really saves a life. Telling someone where you are,
20:47
Hey, mom, dad, I'm going out and maybe leaving your GPS tracking
20:51
on. We have technology here that
20:53
allows this now, right, Peter? Yes, absolutely.
20:57
And I wanted to mention also that we have a portal for our
21:03
public education program and we teach the most courses of anyone
21:07
in New England. And that portal is AUX boat
21:12
BOATE d.org, ox boathead.org. But for instance, this past
21:20
Saturday I taught a course on anchoring.
21:23
We have a course this weekend on weather for recreational
21:27
boaters. We teach line handling, not just
21:31
knots. That's the name of the course.
21:33
I teach NOAA custom charts. We have another program called
21:38
Weekend Navigator. We have a lot of courses that
21:43
are suited for a variety of different skills, but they all
21:47
mention the importance of safety, so we weave the safety
21:51
message by offering you some very practical information.
21:56
And thank you for that because I always appreciate looking at it
22:00
from the national level and looking at it locally where this
22:03
is a national campaign locally here.
22:06
That's what the Casco Bay Flotilla offers on that.
22:10
Stuart, I wanted to come back to you in the final minutes that we
22:14
have and kind of families are heading out in the water.
22:17
They'll they'll be out there this summer.
22:18
We covered so much information. What are the some of the top
22:23
safety habits everyone on board shall follow with every trip?
22:28
And I know the first one you're going to say life jacket.
22:30
That's a plus from what I learned speaking with you.
22:33
But recap the importance of of this if you can.
22:38
Certainly life jackets are important.
22:41
The other thing and it comes back to same as being on the
22:46
road and that's operator inattention.
22:50
Your average say 2022 foot centre console boat, perfect
22:56
family boat. Average people aboard would be
23:01
dad, mum, 3 kids out to enjoy themselves, who's actually
23:08
looking out for other vessels. Answer at best, dad, the kids
23:16
are playing, they're in their own world, mums trying to keep
23:19
everything together. And so that person is on that
23:24
boat and in charge of that boat pretty much on their own.
23:29
And that's very difficult to see. 365° all the time.
23:35
Concentrate on speed and all the various other things you need to
23:39
do as the skipper. So drive it.
23:44
Inattention not intended, but it happens and speed is very often
23:51
a factor. Let's go and get to the island
23:56
or the beach as soon as we can. Open up the throttles and away
24:01
we go. The faster you go, the more
24:04
chance you have of hitting something, maybe a piece of wood
24:08
in the water or heaven forbid another boat.
24:12
And this is a situation that we we came across on boat crew a
24:17
couple of years ago where a lobster boat was almost rammed
24:23
by a centre console boat with exactly that component on board.
24:28
And the person when they were informed about what they had
24:33
almost done, was totally blown away.
24:37
He never even saw the boat. And so more attention needs to
24:43
be paid to that. And why not recruit all of the
24:47
children, even if it's only part of the time to look out and then
24:52
teach them what to do, which is that I mum, I think that boat's
24:57
coming towards us and give them a heads up.
25:03
That can be a big help. And now you go from one person
25:07
being in charge of lookout to having four and possibly, well,
25:12
three and possibly even 4. So speed the lookout I would say
25:21
is amongst the private ones. Peter might want to add another
25:25
one. No, but I wanted to make sure.
25:28
I think you know you've had. There are obviously other
25:31
factors that we can consider as well, but one thing I wanted to
25:33
mention before we concluded was the importance of the vessel
25:38
safety check, especially at the beginning of the season, we
25:42
offer the opportunity to have a trained vessel inspector to
25:48
review your boat to make sure you're in compliance with all of
25:52
the federal safety requirements. And we're not here to penalize
25:56
you in any way. We all our interest is, is to
25:59
make sure that you go out on the water safely.
26:02
And if there are some deficiencies in the requirements
26:06
that you have to to fulfill that we help you solve those
26:10
problems. And then once you complete the
26:13
inspection, you get a sticker and that it gives you the Peace
26:19
of Mind to know that you've met the requirements that are
26:23
essentially minimum requirements going out on the water safely.
26:27
So on our website, you can request a vessel safety check,
26:31
but we also go to most of the marinas in the summertime and we
26:36
schedule events with them where you can sign up and have your
26:40
vessel inspected by one of our training people.
26:43
And that's a really good thing to do at the beginning of the
26:45
season. Yeah, and get started and that's
26:48
very simple by going locally here, Casco Bay flotilla.org,
26:53
that's what you can schedule these trainings ahead of time so
26:57
you're in the know and you really get to enjoy the summer,
27:02
all that it has to offer. Safe boating throughout the
27:05
season. National Safe Boating Week
27:08
happening right now until the 22nd.
27:09
Wanted to thank my guests, Stewart Gelder and Peter
27:13
Pulling. Thank you very much.
27:15
There's so much knowledge out there and I really appreciate
27:18
you give us a piece of that to really enjoy what Maine has to
27:22
offer for the summer season and the boating season.
27:25
So thank you both for what you're doing for our Mainers.
27:29
Thank you very much, Danny, for this opportunity.
27:31
And this has been Main Points right across all the stations
27:33
here at Portland Media Group. I'll join you next Sunday
27:37
morning. That's gotten Maine talking and
27:40
really getting you to the conversation, a healthy
27:43
conversation, of course, about you, about Maine and about each
27:47
other. And Danny Martinetti, your host
27:50
here each and every Sunday morning.
27:52
Reach out to mainpoints@mainpoints.org.
27:55
That's main points.org. See you next Sunday.