NYSG's Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign made a return visit to New York City last fall for SUBMERGE, a family-friendly day devoted to raising awareness about New York's coastal waters. The 11-year-and-running educational campaign first expanded into this region in July 2013 during The Waterfront Alliance's City of Water Day on Governor's Island. Credit: Staff Photographer/Hudson River Park

Note: May 19-25, 2018 is National Safe Boating Week in the U.S.

Contacts:
 
Dave White, New York Sea Grant, Recreation and Tourism Specialist, P: 315-312- 3042, E: dgw9@cornell.edu

Kara Lynn Dunn, NYSG Great Lakes Publicist, P: 315.465.7578, E: karalynn@gisco.net

Oswego, NY, April 30, 2018 - A 12-foot boat that folds. A paddleboard in a backpack. A kayak that blows up like a balloon. These folding and inflatable vessels are attracting attention as
the Inflate-A-Fleet that is the centerpiece of the 2018 New York Sea Grant Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign.

“These unique floating vessels are considered boats and are subject to applicable boating laws and standards,” says Dave White, a Great Lakes coastal recreation and tourism specialist with New York Sea Grant, Oswego, NY. “Every year we select a different style of boat to educate the public about how to be safe, in compliance with boating law, and environmentally-friendly on the water, and the Inflate-A-Fleet is doing that in 2018.”


New York Sea Grant Great Lakes Recreation and Tourism Specialist Dave White in the folding boat that is part of the 2018 Discover Clean and Safe Boating Inflate-A-Fleet educational exhibit. Credit: Brian P. Whattam

With a "Get Out on the Water: Everyone Can Enjoy Boating" theme, the new traveling exhibit will visit boat shows, marinas and events to show how easily people, particularly the younger generation, can get involved in boating.

“As more and more people learn about the fabulous boating resources in New York State, it becomes increasingly more important to educate people of all ages about the best practices for safe, legal, and clean boating. New York Sea Grant is perfectly positioned to extend those educational resources to the public in both the Great Lakes and marine districts,” comments Katherine Bunting-Howarth, associate director of New York Sea Grant and assistant director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, Ithaca, NY.

The exhibit that made its debut at a New York City waterfront festival last fall includes signage noting all the gear required and recommended for boaters to be legal, safe and environmentally-friendly on New York State waters. That gear includes such items as life vests and reflective decals for paddles.


Over 6,500 people visited Pier 26 in TriBeCa, New York to experience the many hands-on science activities of September 2017's SUBMERGE. NYSG's Dave White (pictured above in blue polo shirt) and NYSG's Jamaica Bay Coastal Resilience Specialist Helen Cheng (not pictured) informed attendees about, respectively, the many benefits of boating clean and safe and having a plan in place before a severe storm hits. Credit: Paul C. Focazio/NYSG

New York Sea Grant has received New York State, National Association of Boating Law Administrators, and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary awards for the Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign. The program has educated more than one million people, including deaf boaters, emergency services first responders, anglers, sailors, and paddle sport enthusiasts, since its inception in 2008.

New York Sea Grant partners in the Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign include the Boating Industries Association of Upstate NY, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, New York State Marine Services Bureau, and marine industry businesses.


This and other inflatable watercraft are part of the New York Sea Grant 2018 Discover Clean and Safe Boating Inflate-A-Fleet educational exhibit. Credit: Helen Cheng/NYSG

More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG produces a monthly e-newsletter, "NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog. Our program also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.