Keep Your Distance From US Naval Vessels! Steve Holtzman learned something about paddling near US Naval Vessels. It is against the law to paddle within 100 yards of one. If you have to go closer in order to insure safe passage while adhering to the Nav Rules, you are required to call the ship or the Coast Guard escort vessel on VHF Channel 16. Violation is a FELONY and can carry a 6 year jail sentence and/or fine up to $250,000 Fortunately, he didn't learn this the hard way.

PFD Safety Not just another PFD story. - Wayne Spivak Branch Chief - National Training Department, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

PFD Zipper Don't attach anything to your PFD zipper, the object may get caught on your boat during re-entry and unzip your PFD. - Steve Holtzman

Bow & Stern Lines on Racks I just wanted to share an incident that happened New Years Day that brings home the importance of using bow and stern lines when securing your boats to a car rack.

Just before we left Channel Islands Harbor to go home, the winds really kicked up. The gusts felt like they were probably going up to 50 miles an hour. They were so bad, that Chris Wood and I had to help another kayaker load his SOT onto his car so that it wouldn't blow away.

After we had lunch and I was driving the freeway home, I noticed that not only was the car blowing all over the road, but one of the kayaks on the car appeared to be moving. I pulled over to the shoulder to check things and found that the high wind gusts together with the fast freeway speeds had caused the camlock straps holding my boat to the rack had loosened. The only thing that kept the boats from coming off was the bow and stern lines and the boat had slid as far forward as the stern line would allow it.

You can rest assured that I will always use them in the future and resist the temptation to say, "oh it's only a short drive--I don't need the bow and stern lines". - Steve Holtzman

By the way, camlocks are not maintenance free. I found that about every year or two I need to clean the gunk out of the groves and teeth in the camlock to prevent the strap from slipping. It also doesn't hurt to wash the straps then to prevent more gunk build-up. - Duane Strosaker

Disposing of old flares. What do we do about the second generation (older than 6 years) of retired flares? The question you need to ask yourself is; "Do I think they will ignite?" If you don't feel confident with keeping these second generation retired flares, then you will need to dispose of them, safely and legally. Old Flares breed a dilemma by Wayne Spivak Branch Chief - National Training Department, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

Become visible to other boaters. Use reflective tape, preferably, DOT C2 red and white tape to make sure you are seen on the water in low light conditions, especially early AM or on the late evening - night paddles. Sometimes a white light is just not enough visionary help for other boaters. - Dan Talboy

What to Carry. Read the discussions of the list of things that you should carry with you on the water.

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