Flotilla 11-09, the Vineyard’s U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary group, will offer a boating safety class on Saturday, Jan. 28. The class will take place at West Tisbury’s fire station No. 2, and run from 9 am to 5 pm. The cost of the course, which is limited to 25 people, is $50, and that covers all course material. For additional members from the same family, the course costs an extra $40.
“Students will receive a certificate of safe boating education, and paperwork will be processed for a Massachusetts boating license,” a press release states. “Students under 16 that complete the course will meet the state requirements for a boating license.”
The course is not just for beginning boaters.
“The course, newly designed and reviewed by the Coast Guard, also covers rules and regulations that even experienced captains may not know,” the release says, “including a new law requiring engine shutoff switches for boats under 26 feet that took effect in April of last year. It has also been tailored for transiting the waters around Martha’s Vineyard.”
Boating topics covered by the course include:
- Introduction to Boating: Types of powerboats, boating vocabulary, sailboats, paddle boats, powering boats, and engine types.
- Boating Law: Boat registration, regulations, hull identification numbers, required safety equipment, federal boating law, state boating law, and reporting accidents.
- Safety Equipment: Life jackets, fire extinguishers, sound-producing devices, visual distress signals, anchors, and other safety equipment.
- Safe Operation and Navigation: Buoys and beacons, aids to navigation, navigation rules, docking, and the dangers of alcohol on the water.
- Boating Emergencies: Hypothermia, boating accidents, man overboard, capsizing, emergency radio calls, carbon monoxide dangers, and weather.
- Trailering, Storing and Protecting Your Boat: Types of trailers, lights, hitches, towing a trailer.
- Sports and Boating: Water-skiing, hunting and hunting gear, personal watercraft operation, and other boating tips.
“With the pandemic, everyone realized being on the water was a way to enjoy the outdoors while also being away from people; the result is a huge influx of new boaters, and with it, an unfortunate increase in boating accidents,” public affairs officer Brien Hefler said through the release. “The course is a great way to learn the ‘rules of the road’ and help keep everyone safe on the water. If you are on the water, it can truly be a lifesaving decision.”
Hefler told The Times he’d like to see folks sign up for the course by Jan. 18. Folks who are interested are encouraged send an email to vineyardcgaux@gmail.com.