Contact:

Dave White, New York Sea Grant, Recreation/Tourism Specialist, P: 315.312.3042, E: dgw9@cornell.edu

Watertown, NY, October 24, 2013 - A new law takes effect next year that requires some people to take an eight-hour boating course.

New York Sea Grant's Recreation/Tourism Specialist Dave White says the law applies to all personal watercraft operators and all boat operators born after May 1996.
 
The law goes into effect in May 2014.
 
As White tells the newscasters at Watertown's WWNY-TV 7 News This Morning studios, it's better to take the course before next year's boating season because, by then, most of the instructors will be out on the water and unavailable to teach.

"The current law is that if you want to operate a motorized boat alone on New York's waters and you are 18 or under, you need to take and pass an educational course," says White. "Also, anyone who operates a personal watercraft has to have taken the course and received certification. The new law that will come into effect in May 2014 is everyone born after May 1996 will have to take the course."

"For folks who are going to need to take the course, most boating classes are taught during the winter, because people who teach them are out on the water during the summer. So, if you are going to need a course, now is going to be the time to think about it."
 
A complete list of courses can be found on the New York State Parks and Recreation Web site.

For more on this topic, as well as a helpful clean boating tip, check out the video clip.



And there's more "NYSG Great Lakes Boating & Marine Trades" News available via the "News/Topics" link in the left-hand sidebar at www.nyseagrant.org/marina.


Since April 2006, White has been bringing Sea Grant's "message" to the morning masses at WWNY TV 7, a Fox affiliate in downtown Watertown, during one of the highest rated TV blocks in the "wake-up hours," the 6:30-7 am stretch.

Sea Grant's 'five minutes of fame' - which potentially reaches around 10,000 viewers in New York's Jefferson and Northern Oswego Counties - has featured topics over the years such as boating safety, aquatic invasive species, diving in search of sunken wrecks, the dune and Salmon River stewards program, shoreline land issues, tourism, and marine safety. 

More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for NY Coastlines, its flagship publication, which, in 2014, merges with the program's e-newsletter, Currents. NY Coastlines is published several times a year.