By NANCY HILER
With the continued tightening of New York State marine-navigation laws in recent years, boating safety courses, such as this one given by the Hempstead Bay Power Squadron, have become increasingly popular among local boaters.
Biggest safety issue
"The biggest safety issue on the water is boaters' complete lack of education," the instructor, Power Squadron past District Commander Al Wellander, said as he began the fourth of five two-hour sessions of the "Boat Smart" course. "I'd say less than 10
percent of all boaters have any training at all," he said.
That percentage equals scores of boaters, considering that about 40,000 recreational vessels are registered in Nassau, according to county Marine Bureau records, and 140,000
to 150,000 vessels are registered within the tri-state region, the New York Marine Trades Association reports.
Wellander's wife and past Unit Commander Ann Wellander and the squadron's Executive Officer Gary Jones, both of whom work with him to teach local boating-safety courses, agreed. "Most boaters don't have any training," said Jones.
"It's scary out there," said Carlos Dias of Bellmore,
who was seated up front during the course. "Terrifying," Wellander
agreed as he clicked on an interactive PowerPoint presentation, replete with images of speeding watercraft, blasting warning signals and Mayday calls.
A squadron of
Bellmore boaters
Most course participants came from Bellmore. That isn't surprising, considering that 40 percent of the Bellmore ZIP code
is labeled "water area" -- or 167 miles versus the 287 miles
considered land area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"It's better for all of us that you become safe boaters," Power
Squadron Commander Robert Mastrosimone told course participants. He was pleased that the nearly 60-year-old, non-profit squadron was offering its course for the first time at the Wantagh location.
The local course was also one of two that the Power Squadron ran for the first time in the summer because of increasing demand for classes owing to recently mandated education and licensing for owners and operators of personal watercrafts (PWCs or Jet Skis). Its classes are ordinarily held at adult-education sites during the school year. All squadron members who teach do so as unpaid volunteers.
The Power Squadron course
Mastrosimone said the Power Squadron course is more comprehensive than certification classes that certain municipalities and companies offer. The squadron's course covers topics ranging from basic boating terms (starboard and port, for example) to emergencies.
The course fee is $30, compared with other such classes for which participants could be charged as much as $100. The fee nearly covers textbooks and software from the parent organization, the United States Power Squadron. Each unit of the 92-year-old national volunteer group teaches classes in seamanship, navigation and related subjects, conducts vessel checks in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard, and records data about local waterways to help the National Ocean Service maintain accurate nautical charts.
"We have many young adults and families coming in for our classes just to obtain the required Jet Ski licenses," Wellander said. He said whatever motivates people to attend, even if just to get a reduction in their boat-insurance rates, does not matter to him, as long as they are educated about boat safety.
Admitting that he and his teenage son were taking the course to obtain PWC licenses, David Janosek of North Bellmore said, "The course is very interesting. There's a lot of information."
"My dad made me take the class," Carlos Dias's daughter, Jenn, said, "so I could drive a boat up at Lake George." She said her brother Jonathan was taking the course also so their father would allow him to operate the family's Striper vessel on Long Island.
Serious water hazards
A certified Advanced Pilot on sea, Wellander said that lack of
education creates serious hazards on local waterways. Some boaters even ignite or blow up their own vessels because they don't know how to do basic engine checks or maintenance, he said. Others know nothing about navigation laws, or what he calls "traffic rules for boats," and endanger themselves and others by speeding, running aground or causing collisions.
Nassau County Police Marine Bureau Sergeant Gary Carpenter agreed that the absence of boater training is a major problem. Among the dangers he encounters are boaters speeding in no-wake zones and operating vessels without required equipment. He also sees operators who don't understanding signal lights or horn blasts or don't know how to pass other vessels, often resulting in collisions, and others who don't stay in marked channels, causing them to get lost or run aground.
"At night, these issues are exacerbated," Carpenter added. "On water, there are no 'street lights,'" he explained, "so any violation of
safety rules tends to escalate into a bigger problem." The Bureau
patrols both North and South shores. They answer several hundred
distress calls from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year, Carpenter
said.
Tougher marine laws
Wellander and Carpenter believe that laws passed over the last decade have made a difference in boating safety, as has stricter
enforcement. Several marine-safety measures have passed in New York State since 1995. These include not only PWC education and licensing, but also expanded lifejacket requirements and a lowered blood alcohol content threshold of .08 for boating while
intoxicated (BWI). Most recently this summer, the minimum age for
operating PWCs was raised from 10 to 14 years old, and tougher penalties for BWI were implemented.
Carpenter said BWIs were not a top safety issue in county
waterways. "Usually, we get only a handful of BWIs each year," he said. He attributed the low rates to stepped-up patrols, checkpoints, and "our overall presence and enforcement." He also said new state
restrictions should work toward keeping the rate down. The law, which went into effect on Aug. 6, increases the punishment for first-time offenders from 90 days to a year in jail and the fines for boating under the influence to a range of $500 to $1,000, instead of $350 to $500. It also means tougher penalties for repeat offenders.
At this writing, the only BWI arrest in Nassau County this summer was of a Bellmore man in July in Sound Creek, just east of the Bay of Fundy estuary area, Carpenter said.
For more information or to register for future boating safety courses given by the Hempstead Bay Power Squadron, call Ann Wellander at (516) 293-7773.
Comments about this story? nhiler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext.
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