Tag Archives: U.S. Coast Guard

OK, for the moment, don’t think of yourself as the boater in peril. Instead, imagine yourself as the loved one concerned for an overdue boater and unsure. When to worry? What to do? Maybe that loved one is contacted by a first-responder agency. The boater’s empty trailer and tow vehicle seem abandoned at a ramp, with no sign of the ...

Crack up your car, and the responding police officer, sheriff’s deputy or state trooper files any required report. If you’re the operator or owner of a boat involved in an accident though, you must complete and file an official accident report with your state’s boating authority. It’s not busywork: The U.S. Coast Guard compiles and maintains statistics drawn from boating ...

Running the inlet, navigating the channel, backing into the slip: So much of what constitutes seamanship involves forging ahead with confidence. (Poetic license allows me to use the phrase “forge ahead” to reference the phrase “backing in.”) Well, there are times when taking one’s time, if not stopping altogether, proves the best and most seamanlike course of action. Let’s start ...

In talking with boaters, be they readers, marina mates or folks I meet on the water, it’s become apparent that some are baffled by buoys. The crux of the problem, as I’ve discerned it, is the supposition that navaids tell loads of detailed information — that they are supposed to be interpreted, only after long experience, like hoodoo chicken bones, ...

You’re on your way home, feeling the last warmth of the sun as it kisses the horizon, when the cellphone rings. A buddy, with his wife and three kids aboard, can’t get his motor started, and there isn’t a commercial towing vessel nearby. Consider this advice before offering a tow back to port. Boat and Gear Limitations Your cleats and ...

In his Seamanship column for Boating’s July 1960 issue, Elbert Robberson wrote: “In daylight, objects around you are easy to identify. They are big or little, short or long, round or square, and they appear very plainly to be bridges, docks, land, beacons, buoys, or boats of various kinds heading one way or another. But at night, all of these ...

With the passage and subsequent presidential signing of the 2018 Frank Lobiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act last month, the U.S. Coast Guard will now seek to develop a clear and effective procedure on how emergency maritime distress calls are dispatched to authorities, which could result in a quicker, more efficient response and countless saved lives across the country. According to ...

The NMMA honored Giuseppe Carnevali, Founder and CEO, Navionics, with the 2018 Alan J. Freedman Memorial Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals who’ve made outstanding contributions to the marine accessories industry through leadership, creativity and personal motivation. “NMMA is proud to honor Giuseppe Carnevali with the Alan J. Freedman Award for his ingenuity and lifelong commitment to the marine industry, most ...

The Coast Guard Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to the education and welfare of all Coast Guard members and their families, announced that in 2017 it has awarded a record 166 new scholarships. Combined with 10 multi-year scholarship recipients and three Fallen Heroes Scholars, the foundation is currently assisting 179 students with a half-million dollars in support this year. In ...

The U.S. Coast Guard’s National On-Water Standards Program grant management team and the American Boat & Yacht Council announced the release of a new “How-to” guide for providing On-Water instruction in sailing. The SAIL Standard Technical Support Document was developed to assist education providers, course developers and instructors in designing and implementing skills-based instruction and assessment in recreational boating that ...