28 AUG 08

Gaylef Proposes Certification For Power Boaters

The Gazette

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".

To see the original Gazette article as it appeared Click Here.

For more information about Launch 5 go to www.launch5.com or www.ratlines.com

www.ratlines.com Revised: 09/06/08

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