SOUTHOLD, N.Y. – Reports from around the United States show Life Jacket Loaner Stations are helping save lives on waterways all throughout the country, according to the Sea Tow Foundation – a nonprofit organization dedicated to the education of safe boating practices.
These Life Jacket Loaner Stations – of which there are more than 500 nationwide – are set up at marinas, docks, boat ramps and other marine hot spots where boaters and their friends and families can borrow life jackets for the day, free of charge. In filing the required annual reports, several of the station hosts reported instances of Sea Tow Foundation life jackets helping to save lives on their local waters.
“When we started sorting through the reports, we were blown away at how many instances our hosts were reporting where our life jackets helped save lives,” said Gail R. Kulp, the Sea Tow Foundation’s executive director. “We’ve been working hard to get these stations set up on popular waterways all throughout the country, so being able to see that it’s making a difference in these local communities is so incredibly rewarding.”
On Virginia’s John H. Kerr Reservoir, an overturned kayak left a boater helpless until local park rangers were able to toss him a Foundation life jacket before he was pulled back to shore.
Halfway across the country at Colorado’s Jackson Lake State Park, rangers responded to reports of a capsized vessel with all of its passengers thrown overboard. Once they arrived on-scene, they found each of the boat’s occupants wearing the distinctive yellow Sea Tow Foundation life jackets.
“If even a single life was able to be saved because of our Life Jacket Loaner Stations, all of the funding from the U.S. Coast Guard and the hard work we’ve put into the program would be worth it,” Kulp added, “but to know that entire families are now safe because of this program takes it to a whole new level. It really validates everything we’ve done since the program was first launched a decade ago.”
Perhaps the most notable tidbit from the Foundation’s reporting comes from 35 miles northwest of Atlanta at Georgia’s Allatoona Lake. For the first time in decades, government officials reported that the lake – which hosts more than 6.5 million visitors each year – did not witness a single boating-related fatality on its waters.
“Even if it’s impossible to prove our stations were directly responsible for the lack of loss of life on Allatoona Lake, we do know they have been used as an important learning tool for boaters of all ages around the lake,” Kulp said. “Just being a piece in the boating safety puzzle makes it all worth it.”
To learn more about the Sea Tow Foundation’s Life Jacket Loaner Program or to find a Station near you, visit www.boatingsafety.com.
Sea Tow Foundation
With a focus on safe boating practices that result in fun on the water, the Sea Tow Foundation – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization – was established in 2007 by Sea Tow Founder Capt. Joe Frohnhoefer. After his passing in 2015, Captain Joe’s legacy continues as the Foundation brings attention to the number of preventable boating-related accidents, injuries, and deaths, and directly addresses prevention methods through education and awareness. More than 500 life jacket loaner stands are now available across the United States and the Foundation’s Designate a Sober Skipper program continues to grow. For more information, please visit BoatingSafety.com.
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