Boater Education Classes to be Offered at Brandon Regional Library

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and Hillsborough County's Brandon Regional Library have partnered to present critical information boaters at all experience levels need to be safe on the waters of Tampa Bay, the Gulf of Mexico and inland lakes.

Called "Keep Your Boat Afloat," the program summarizes Coast Guard Auxiliary boating safety education classes offered year round at auxiliary flotillas in Tampa, Brandon and Ruskin and recently enacted laws and policies that affect all boaters using state and federal waters.

The "Keep Your Boat Afloat' program is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 23 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Brandon Regional Library, 619 Vonderburg Drive in Brandon. There is no cost to attend.

Full Coast Guard Auxiliary courses are offered in Hillsborough County in either one-day, eight-hour sessions or in 12-week, two-hour per week sessions. Both formats are designed for new boaters seeking to develop skills and for old salts wishing to hone their "nautical know-how." Boaters at all levels learn how to protect themselves, their passengers and vessels, how to handle on-the-water emergencies, how human and environmental factors affect boaters and more. 

Topics include:

• Boat handling - Anchoring, docking, heavy weather handling, man overboard retrieval.
•  "Highway" signs - Buoyage systems, chart symbology/reading, electronic navigation.
• Rules of the Road - Inland/international rules, stand-on/give-way concepts, emergency procedures.
• Navigation - course plotting, compass/chart use, GPS technology, speed-time-distance calculations.
• Weather - Understanding wind, waves, currents and other factors affecting boats, avoiding storms.
• Boat equipment - Operation/safety items, BUI/substance abuse, PFDs, first aid.
• Lines, knots and hitches - Basic marlinspike skills, knot tying, types of lines.
• Marine radios - Operation; DSC technology, distress/urgency/safety calls.

Auxiliary boating education courses meet the new Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) regulations that now require residents born on or after Jan. 1, 1988, and operating a vessel of 10 HP or more (including personal watercraft) to complete an approved boating education course. More information is available at myfwc.com.

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is the nation's most active boating safety educator -- more than 100,000 boaters participate in its programs annually.

Locally, auxiliary flotillas have trained thousands of boaters since the 1960s from locations in South Tampa, Brandon and Ruskin.  

Founded in 1939, the auxiliary is the civilian, all-volunteer arm of the U.S. Coast Guard, providing boating education and Coast Guard mission support.