Jay Lloyd's Getaway: Summertime Boating Safety Reminders
By Jay Lloyd
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- This week, steering toward the Fourth of July weekend, area waterways will be crammed with pleasure boats. Coast Guard and police marine units will have their hands full.
So here are my annual boating getaway tips.
At lunch last week with my US Coast Guard veterans' group, the yarns of rescues and boating miscues were many.
Gordon Bell recalled one type of accident you rarely hear about but which occurs all too often. It happened on the Delaware River: "They turned the ignition switch on and the boat exploded."
The owner had neglected to blow the fuel fumes out of his engine compartment. The injuries could easily have been prevented.
Meanwhile, on placid Lake Nockamixon, in Bucks County, Dennis Hurchalla, on patrol with the Coast Guard Auxiliary, came across an overturned canoe and three women in the water, one in real trouble.
"She had no life jacket on -- none of them did," Hurchalla recalls.
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And if the Auxiliary hadn't been there?
"The one girl would probably not have made it."
After an incident, it's too late to scramble for a life jacket. Wear them at all times.
Now, have fun, but stay safe!
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