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

Geneva, NY, August 4, 2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a huge increase in the number of boaters enjoying the Finger Lakes.

Dave White with New York Sea Grant, who visited with Steve Penstone at Finger Lakes Daily News, says about 80% of new boating families tow their new watercraft to one or several of our lakes, but they may not pay enough attention to getting to the lake.

The clip above: It's about the boat and getting out on the water, but they don't think about getting from their driveway onto the water, a lot of times and that trailer is such an important piece of equipment, not only for getting to and from, but for their safety and for others on the road.

White states that the trailer is a very important piece of equipment and using it properly is important for the safety of everyone on the road.

White also says it’s very important to clean the trailer, not just the boat, in order to stop the chances of transferring an invasive species from one lake to another.

The clip above: When you pull that boat up out of the water at the launch ramp, make sure you're doing a good clean, drain, dry, not only on the boat, but on the trailer, because you can get water pockets, you can easily get some of those aquatic weeds that are right there at the launch ramp. And you can be that that boater that transferred invasive species from one body of water to another.

You can view a checklist of trailering dos and don’t from DiscoverBoating.com.

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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 34 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, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.