Boating Safety is Not Rocket Science
The 19th century writer and public speaker George William Curtis once said, “It is not the ship, so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage.”
And Atlantic Canada’s recreational boating community has undoubtedly some of the most skilled sailors you will find anywhere in the world.
However, despite the skill and state-of-the-art equipment possessed by most recreational boaters in our region, tragically, people are still drowning. In fact, drowning deaths were ...
Hurricane Preparedness: No Such Thing as Too Much Planning
Recreational boaters in Eastern Canada will remember names like Luis, Bertha, Hortense, Gustav, Juan, Ophelia, Noel, Kyle, Earl, Igor, Leslie, Arthur, Matthew, Dorian and Teddy.
These, of course, are not names of your recent dinner party guests, but some of the hurricanes and post-tropical storms that have made landfall in our little corner of the Atlantic Ocean.
Even as this commentary is being penned, recreational boaters in eastern Newfoundland are anxiously watching the track of ...
Safety on the Water is Worth Repeating
Each May, Atlantic Boating’s sister magazine, The Navigator, dedicates an entire issue to the critical topic of marine safety.
It may sound a tad redundant to repeat the same message every 12 months, but subjects such as wearing personal flotation devices (PFDs) and proper vessel stability literally could mean the difference between life and death for fish harvesters and can never be overstated.
Now, with COVID-19 public health restrictions finally being lifted across Atlantic Canada, ...
Don’t Forget our First Responders
“Being on a boat that's moving through the water, it's so clear. Everything falls into place in terms of what's important and what's not”: American singer-songwriter and guitarist James Taylor.
As many people in this strange, new world of COVID-19 struggle with the day-to-day routine of our new normal, recreational boaters, for the most part, seem to be doing just fine.
For many, boating is an escape — a getaway from the routine and monotony of life. And while recreational boaters ...
Boating: The New Normal
Welcome to the 2020 recreational boating season and the new normal of pandemic-related sailing.
As every human on the planet already knows, the best way to avoid COVID-19 is through physical/social distancing — staying at least six feet away from the person next to you.
Thankfully, boating is a safe, almost perfect, social distancing activity.
Right now, boaters are not the only people navigating the uncharted waters of living in a world with the novel coronavirus COVID-19. But the ...
Your Most Important Piece of Equipment
The winter season is an ideal time for Atlantic Canadian recreational boaters to check and review their vessel’s equipment.
While most boatowners will take this downtime to inspect hulls, sails and engines, the most important pieces of equipment that should be carefully checked are sometimes taken for granted — lifejackets and personal flotation devices (PFDs).
You are required by law to have a lifejacket or PFD on board for each person on a watercraft. This even includes human-powe...
