UNITED STATES COAST GUARD AUXILIARY UNOFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
06 SEP 08
THE OSSINING
GAZETTE: New York State Assemblywoman Sandra Gaylef (D-Ossining) announced
last Thursday that she has introduced legislation that would require all
powerboat operators to possess a boating safety certificate.
While the State's eight hour Boating
Safety Course is required for operators of all "personal
watercraft" such as Jet
Skis, she said it makes no sense that a person can "buy a boat on Friday"
and be "out on the water on Saturday" without any prior operator's training nor
safety instruction.
She said she was prompted to act by the
death of a Mahopac man late in July who was trapped underneath a powerboat in a
marshy area of the
Hudson River in Garrison after it flipped over. The operator, it appears,
was going too fast for the nighttime conditions and ran aground.
Ms. Gaylef, speaking at the Shattemuc
Yacht Club in Ossining and
joined by, among others, paid and volunteer forces that patrol the river, said
the legislation would take effect in 2010. It would be phased in over a period
of years, affecting younger prospective boaters first. Persons who had already
taken the course would not have to repeat it.
Greg Porteus of Ossining, a retired
state trooper who is the
owner and operator of Launch 5, a former New York City police boat that
participates in U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary activities, said that
"with the increasing number of people out on the river, we need this more than
ever."
Looking on, Henry Atterbury,
Superintendent of Ossining Recreation and Parks, claimed that such a requirement
is "years overdue".
About five years, ago he started a
sailing club under his department's auspices, kicking it off with a
used boat donated by his father. The department now has three.
Mr. Atterbury says that under his
program, anyone who signs out a boat -"the captain"-must not only have taken the
Boating Safety Course, but also be trained in first-aid and CPR.
According to Ms. Galef, several other
states, including New Jersey
and
Connecticut and the District of Columbia, have such a law on the books.
Said
Westchester County Legislator
Timothy Abinanti, "New York should demand that its boaters operate their vessels
with the same sense of responsibility that we expect of automobile drivers".
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