Contact:

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

Oswego, NY, July 20, 2012 -  The 2012 New York Sea Grant Clean & Safe Sailboat will visit the Antique and Classic Boat Show in Skaneateles July 27-29.

A 17-foot Com-Pac Sun Cat, made available by the Skaneateles Sailboat Shop, is the educational vessel for the 2012 Discover Clean & Safe Boating campaign that educates boaters about all the gear required and recommended for legal, safe and environmentally-friendly boating on New York’s waters.

The exhibit, organized and staffed by New York Sea Grant, includes information about a new voluntary watercraft inspection program being offered statewide. Waterfront stewards located at boat launches in the Finger Lakes, eastern Great Lakes, Hudson River and Western regions of New York State are helping boaters learn how to inspect motorized and non-motorized vessels and properly dispose of any unwanted aquatic invasive species.

Aquatic invasive species – species not native to the local ecosystem - can damage boat engines and steering equipment, reduce native game fish populations, degrade ecosystems, make lakes and rivers unusable by boaters and swimmers, and impact the economies of waterfront communities. National Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers information will be available at the Discover Clean & Safe Boating exhibit.

The campaign also includes a Grumman aluminum canoe from the Marathon Boat Group in Marathon, NY. Educators are encouraging paddle sport enthusiasts to do their part to slow the spread of unwanted species in NY waters.

The 2012 Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign sponsors include New York Sea Grant, The Skaneateles Sailboat Shop, Arney’s Marina, Marathon Boat Group, Morgan Recreational Supply, Taylor Made Products, and the Boating Industries Association of Upstate New York.

For more information on the Discover Clean & Safe Boat, contact White at NYSG's SUNY Oswego office, 315-312-3042 or click through the "News" section of www.nyseagrant.org/marina.  

Photo Caption:

New York Sea Grant’s 2012 Discover Clean and Safe Sailboat will visit the Antique and Classic Boat Show in Skaneateles July 27-29. Photo: NY Sea Grant

More Info:

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 32 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.