Return to Archived NewsBriefs - Newsletters MMTA ENews: April 24, 2006 Spring Focus on Safe Boating Boat Smart From the Start Celebrate National Safe Boating Week Safe Boating & Maritime Education Providers Tips, Tidbits and Tie Ins from the USCG Reminders & Links of Interest BOAT SMART FROM THE START MARK YOUR CALENDARS: MAY 20-26, 2006 IS NATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEK Spring is here and many of us are venturing offshore for the first time in months. The water remains cold and reports are that Sea Serpents lurk beyond the edge of your nautical charts. Now is the time to remind your new and old customers and employees to BOAT SMART FROM THE START. MMTA members are strongly encouraged to spread the message of safe and responsible boating. In 2004, the United States Coast Guard recorded the lowest number of recreational boating fatalities in the history of the statistics. The hard work and dedication of national safe boating campaigns and marine industry professionals-dealers, retailers, brokers, educators, surveyors and repairers-has helped to make this possible. If you would like to use the Safe Boating Campaign materials in your company's newsletter, link here to free Safe Boating Campaign materials available for download: http://www.art4use.com/06campaign/06-campaign/web-content/free-resources.htm As you prepare, deliver and acquaint new or seasoned boaters this season, encourage everyone to: Wear a life jacket Take a boating safety course Ride in safe boats and Boat sober Set a good example for YOUR customers and employees by Boating Smart From the Start. Retailers, Brokers and Repairers make the first and powerful impressions on new and seasoned boat boaters. You can demonstrate through your own behavior that wearing a PFD and taking a boating safety course IS COOL and that riding in unsafe boats and boating while under the influence IS NOT COOL. As a refresher, Massachusetts Boating Laws Include: --Minimum Age Restrictions. No person under 12 years of age may operate a motorboat, unless accompanied on-board and directly supervised by a competent person 18 years of age or older. Personal watercraft (PWC) users must still be at least 16 years of age in order to operate, with no exceptions. --Safety Education Certification. Youth who are between 12 and 15 years of age must complete an approved basic boating course in order to operate a motorboat without adult supervision. Upon successful completion of such a course, students are issued a state "boating safety certificate" which must be in the possession of the certified operator when underway. Personal watercraft users who are 16 or 17 years of age must also complete such a boating course. (Persons less than 16 years of age are not allowed to operate personal watercraft.) Link to Massachusetts Boating Laws, Boating Safety Tips and Safe Boating Education Courses here: http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dle/boatrvsafe.htm Kickoff Safe Boating Week Events on May 20 May 20, 2006 10 AM - 4PM Town of Wareham: Onset Pier at Onset Bay First Annual Safe Boating Day Federal, State and local branches of Marine Law Enforcement, Cape Cod Stranding Network, Local Fire and EMS Departments, will be on site to answer questions. Courtesy exams will be available from the USCGAUX. There will be displays of Fire/Rescue equipment, an Oil Spill Response Trailer, Meet local Marinas, Dive Shops and boat rentals. There will be Life Jacket Demo's and we will be accepting all expired marine flares. Parking will be available on the Onset Pier, or feel free to come in by boat. The Onset Dockmaster Monitors Channel 09 & 16 VHF or call 508-295-8160. Please call for directions. For more information contact Garry Buckminster, 508-291-3100 ext 3187, GBuckminster@wareham.ma.us May 20, 2006 10 AM - 3PM Cape Cod Canal at Sandwich Marina Cape Cod Canal Water & Boating Safety Day Get ready for a fun and safe summer by joining the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Coast Guard and many others for a day full of water and boating safety activities for all ages. Activities include dock side tours of US Army Corps of Engineers, US Coast Guard and State Police boats at the Sandwich Marina, water and boating safety games and prizes for kids, a performance by the New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus, free vessel safety checks by the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, boating safety programs by the Cape Cod Sail and Power Squadron and more! Free. For more information contact: Samantha Mirabella, 978.318.8622, samantha.a.mirabella@usace.army.mil Safe Boating Education and Professional Maritime Education Providers: MMTA Member Firms appear in Bold Boatwise, (800) 698-7373, http://www.boatwise.com Boston Sailing Center, (617) 227-4198, http://www.bostonsailingcenter.com New England Maritime, (508) 790-3400, http://www.nemaritime.com Northeast Maritime Institute, (508) 992-4025, http://www.northeastmaritime.com Boat Safe Martha's Vineyard, (508) 627-7960, ishcable@gis.net Duxbury Bay Maritime School, (781) 934-7555, http://www.duxbayms.com U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, (800) 848-3942 X 8309, http://www.uscgaux.org/~013 U.S. Power Squadrons, (800) 336-2628, http://www.usps.org Vineyard Maritime, (508) 693-7030, http://www.vineyardmaritime.com Tips, Tidbits and Tie Ins from the US Coast Guard Highlights from the April issue of Waypoints include: Spring Fashion Report: Wearing the Right Life Jacket Can Make a Bold Statement Spring into Boating with BoatU.S.' Commissioning Safety Checklist Is Your Boating "Earth-Friendly"? Simple Tips Can Help Boaters Honor Earth Day April 22 Link here to view the latest issue of the USCG newsletter Waypoints: http://www.uscgboating.org/waypoints/waypoints_index.htm Coast Guard puts brakes on smaller LNG tanker plan EastBayRI.com, March 23, 2006 SAKONNET AREA - The Coast Guard has serious concerns about new plans by Weaver's Cove LNG to use smaller tankers in an attempt to navigate past the old Brightman Street Bridge en-route to its proposed Fall River terminal. Click here to read complete article: http://www.eastbayri.com/story/304456493890483.php Whodunit? A Coast Guard chemist identifies the unique fingerprints of oil spills to help determine who is responsible The Boston Globe, By Beth Daley, March 27, 2006 The oil seemed to materialize out of nowhere in Chelsea's Island End River in the early morning hours of Jan. 10. By day's end a small greenish film had expanded to several hundred square yards of viscous diesel fuel. As cleanup crews positioned booms around the estimated 10,000-gallon spill and began vacuuming it up, Coast Guard investigators set out to find its source. Two weeks later they got an answer: The oil appeared to be a perfect match with fuel from a nearby ExxonMobil pipeline. In a real-life version of the television drama ''CSI," a chemist at the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Laboratory in Groton, Conn., had painstakingly traced the same unique mix of molecules in the two samples, chemical ''fingerprints" that didn't exist in three other possible sources nearby. That, along with other evidence, pointed to ExxonMobil. To read the complete article, click here: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2006/03/27/whodunit/ April Boating Tip: How to Approach US Navy or USCG Vessels without Creating an International Incident Boaters should be aware of proper procedure when it comes to approaching U.S. Navy or U.S Coast Guard vessels. Slow to a minimum speed within 500 yards and do not approach within 100 yards of a Navy vessel. If your boat needs to pass within 100 yards for safe passage, you must contact the Navy or Coast Guard vessel on VHF Channel 16. The weekly boating tip is provided courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 59 in Stuart, Florida. ONGOING REMINDERS TO MEMBERS AND LINKS OF INTEREST REMINDER! 2006 MMTA MEMBERSHIP FEE OVERDUE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTICE to MEMBERS: MMTA Online Dues Payment Are Now Being Made Through PayPal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOATER'S INFORMATION PIPELINE MMTA is asking members to share their customer email lists. These addresses will be used to inform boaters of important issues and legislation affecting them. 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