Boating safety course teaches required skills

By Rick Musselman, Belvoir Eagle Sports EditorMay 7, 2014

Fort Belvoir, Va. (May 8, 2014) - The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 25-8 conducts a boating safety course May 17, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Mount Vernon Knights of Columbus Hall, 8592 Richmond Hwy., Alexandria, Va., for boaters planning to operate their vessels in D.C. area waters this year.

The cost is $40 per person or $60 for two students who share a book.

Boating education is required by law of all boaters operating a watercraft in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. and this class meets those requirements.

According to Rich Miller, commander of the Fort Belvoir area Flotilla 25-8, the course introduces boaters to basic skills in seamanship and watercraft operation as well as to the federal, state and county laws that govern safe and responsible behavior on the water.

"Learning to boat safely is important," he said. "In publishing its statistics for 2011 alone, the Coast Guard counted 4,588 accidents that involved 758 deaths, 3,081 injuries and approximately $52 million in property damage. Eighty-nine percent of these fatalities involved people who had not taken a boating safety course. Only 7 percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received boating safety instruction from a National Association of State Boating Law Administrators approved course provider such as the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary."

Miller added that though the specific regulations vary state-by-state, successful completion of this safety course meet the minimum requirements throughout the U.S.

"Each state has different rules about who is required to carry proof of boater education when operating a boat," he said. "The students who take our course receive a card (which must be carried on the watercraft at all times by all boaters operating in D.C. waters) and certificate that are good in all states for life. Students also receive a manual covering the course which is useful for future reference."

Beginning July 1, 2012, all Virginia PWC operators regardless of age must take a boating safety course and boat operators ages 30 and younger need to take a boating safety course. In 2016, all Virginia boaters will be required to take the course.

Currently, all Washington, D.C. boaters must take the course and all Maryland boaters born after 1972 must complete the training.

The PWC Age Restriction is specified by Virginia's Education Compliance Requirement: No person under the age of 14 may operate a PWC. Those operators ages 14 and 15 must show proof of completing an approved and accepted boating safety course either in a classroom or online. The challenge exam or other provisions of the Education Compliance Requirement do not meet the requirements of the age restriction law.

Miller said that students participating in the May 17 course will learn from expert instructors who have extensive experience in water safety and watercraft operation.

"Our course is taught by instructors who have been qualified by the Coast Guard Auxiliary as boat crew or coxswains on Auxiliary patrol boats," he said. "Among our instructors are Coast Guard licensed Merchant Marine officers, active and retired Coast Guard members and other boat owners with decades of experience in local and offshore waters. Of interest to Fort Belvoir boaters, two of the instructors keep their boats at the Belvoir marina on Dogue Creek and will be available to give vessel safety checks to anyone who wants to be sure his or her boat meets all the federal requirements. Decals will be presented to boats which pass the inspection. The decal is evidence to marine police that the boat has met all safety standards and those boats are not often boarded by law enforcement for random inspections."

These local boaters' experience is woven into the class which adds value to the learning experience rather than just what an individual would receive by only reading the manual, according to Miller.

The primary topics covered during the class include an introduction to boating (types and uses of boats, engines and family boating basics); boating laws (regulations and boat registration, required safety equipment, operational safety, reporting accidents and protecting the marine environment); boat safety equipment (personal floatation devices, fire extinguishers, first-aid kits, distress signals and sound-producing devices); safe boating (fueling, steering, docking, entering and loading a boat and alcohol and drug use); navigation (reading a chart, learning the types of buoys and markers, using the right of way rules and avoiding collisions) and handling boating problems (hypothermia, boating accidents and rescues, river hazards, running aground, engine problems and emergency radio calls).

For more information and an enrollment form, contact Rich Miller at (703) 780-3765 or email eagle sailor75@cox.net.