NEWS RELEASE

Gift Giving Never Ends

Christmas and Hanukah may have passed but there are birthdays coming up. And Valentines Day. And anniversaries.

What better gift to give a boater than something that they could use to perhaps save their life? A VHF radio, either hand-held or boat mounted could be used to call for help. A compass again either hand-held or boat mounted would help the boater find the way back to shore in the fog. These would be relatively inexpensive gifts that might bring the boater back to the family.

Another idea is a boating course presented by the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. The costs if any are very minimal and are even more fun if the entire family takes it together. Go to www.cgaux.org/visitors/pe_visitors/index.html to locate a Coast Guard Auxiliary unit near you. Classes range from Navigation to Boat Handling to Basic and Advanced Seamanship.

On the other end of the gift giving spectrum is the EPIRB—Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. These electronic units, when activated will send out an emergency signal using satellites that will bring help rapidly and directly to the site of the distress. Some may be small enough to carry on your person and some may be mounted on the boat. Some must be manually activated but the more expensive ones will automatically send out the alarm if submerged in water. Some EPIRBs can be purchased outright and some types are available with a monthly service charge.

As you can see, while the gift giving season may be over----it really has only started.

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard created by and Act of Congress in 1939. The Auxiliary supports the Coast Guard in nearly all of the service’s missions.
www.safeboatingcampaign.com
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AuxGuidanceSkills.Info is geared to providing "Public Service Articles in the pursuit of Recreational Boating Safety" to that end, we will continue to add to our series on Help Wanted, Homeland Security, Public Education, Public Service, Vessel Safety and Environmental Issues, though the use of 'case studies', as our teaching tool of choice. In addition, our Leadership series offers those within the Coast Guard family, as well as outside, an insight into values that will improve their leadership skills.