Contacts:

• Dave White, New York Sea Grant Coastal Recreation & Tourism Specialist, 315-312-3042
• John Jablonski, Boating Industries Association of Upstate NY President, 315-685-7558
• John Jackson, Marathon Boat Group CEO, 607-849-3211

Oswego, NY, October 6, 2010 – New York Sea Grant, the Boating Industries Association of Upstate NY, and Marathon Boat Group have announced that more than 1,400 New York residents from Clayton and Oswego to Skaneateles, Seneca Falls and Syracuse have taken the Clean and Safe Boating Pledge in 2010, and thousands more were exposed to good boating practices by the 2500-plus mile February-September campaign.
 
The opportunity to promise to follow good boating practices came as the 2010 edition of the Discover Clean and Safe Boat traveled through Upstate NY on its educational mission. The 19-foot “made in New York” Grumman aluminum pontoon boat was equipped with the legally-required and recommended gear for safe boating on New York waters. Marathon Boat Group in Marathon, NY, supplied the boat, also equipped with two electric motors and a generator, for the tour.
 
People of all ages signed their promise to safely operate their boats, minimize wake, prevent fuel and oil spills, practice good cleaning and maintenance, use pumpouts and dump stations, keep waters free of litter and waste, and control the spread of aquatic nuisance species.
 
New York Sea Grant Coastal Recreation and Tourism Specialist Dave White traveled with the boat to sites and events including:

• Central New York Boat Shows in February and September in Syracuse
• The Great Lakes Seaway Trail Reveal Road Show: Ogdensburg, Sackets Harbor, Oswego, Webster, and Niagara Falls, NY, and Erie, PA
• The Antique Boat Museum Antique Boat Show in Clayton
• Festival of Sail and H. Lee White Marine Museum in Oswego
• Oswego County Fair, Sandy Creek
• Skaneateles Antique Boat Show
• Empire Farm Days in Seneca Falls. 

“Visitors to the Discover Clean and Safe Boat asked good questions about how to keep themselves, their children, and their friends safe on the water. Being able to see the various types of personal flotation devices (life vests), and other safety gear is a great hands-on way to learn,” White said.
 
White added some people were surprised to learn how easily they could help prevent oil and fuel spills with two inexpensive items – a bilge sock and a fuel nozzle bib.
 
“The 2010 Discover Clean and Safe Boating Campaign was a new program for Marathon Boat Group. We are pleased to return in 2011 to help New Yorkers learn how to enjoy our fabulous boating waters by following good practices to protect themselves and the marine environment,” said Marathon Boat Group CEO John Jackson.
 
“The partnership of Boating Industries Association members, Marathon Boat Group donating a brand new vessel to help attract interest, and New York Sea Grant as the clean and safe boating educational arm made this campaign possible in 2010. Support from the state, industry and tourism sectors provided boating-related prize wheel items to make the exhibit great fun, and I am excited to announce we already have planning underway for the 2011 Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign,” said Boating Industries Association of Upstate New York President John Jablonski.
 
Morgan Recreational Supply, Taylor Made Products, the Sailboat Shop of Skaneateles, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation, and the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway donated 45 PFDs (personal flotation devices/life vests), 500 boating bags, 220 bilge socks, and 60 Nautical Seaway Trail Chartbooks to the campaign.
 
The 2011 edition of the Discover Clean and Safe Boating will debut as part of the Boating Information Center exhibit at the February 2011 Central New York Boat Show in Syracuse, NY. A different style of vessel will have a new educational focus for the 2011 campaign. Watch for details on the New York Sea Grant Web site or call 315-312-3042 for more information.
 
Sidebar: 2010 Clean & Safe Boat Part of NY History

The Grumman aluminum pontoon boat provided for the 2010 Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign came direct from the Marathon Boat Group assembly line at Marathon, NY, for its educational mission. It can be called a descendant of the engineering that created lightweight, stretch-formed aluminum aircraft use as carrier-based fighter planes during World War II.
 
In the summer of 1944, after portaging a heavy wood and canvas canoe in the Adirondack Mountains, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Vice President William Hoffman decided to create a lightweight canoe. The first aluminum canoe was produced at the Bethpage aircraft plant on Long Island in 1945. By the end of the war, Grumman was making six different length aluminum canoes. The plant moved to Marathon, NY, in 1952 and began producing larger aluminum boats there.