Month: June 2014
Stocking Your Boat's First Aid Kit
A first-aid kit is not a Coast Guard requirement, but it is highly recommended and appears on Coast Guard Auxiliary checklist. If it’s well kept, your first-aid kit can be a lifesaver and a great comforter in times of necessity. Too often, first-aid kits, those made up by mariners or sold in […] Read More
The Complete Listing of Marinas and Locks on the Inland and Gulf Intracoastal Waterways
Coast Guard Rolls Out ‘Virtual’ ATONs
The U.S. Coast Guard is beginning to deploy a new generation of aids to navigation (ATONs) that broadcast AIS information to boats — which, in some cases, may come to replace actual physical buoys. Some are criticizing the Coast Guard’s efforts as haphazard and undertaken without due consultation. While a Coast Guard […] Read More
Lock Closure Included in WRRDA Stirs Concerns
The waterways industry has been effusive in its praise of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) that was passed overwhelmingly in both houses of Congress and now awaits only President Obama’s signature to become law. But that doesn’t mean that every provision is equally welcomed by every segment of the […] Read More
Coast Guard Awards $4.8 Million in Grants for Recreational Boating Safety
The Coast Guard announced in June the awarding of 24 competitive grants totaling more than $4.8 million for recreational boating safety initiatives. Fourteen national non-profit organizations received cooperative agreement funding to advance the National Recreational Boating Safety Strategic Plan objectives designed to reduce the number of accidents, injuries and deaths on America’s waterways […] Read More
Coast Guard Advises Safety for Ohio River Valley Boats
The Coast Guard has issued a statement advising safety for recreational boaters along the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers, near Point State Park, due to congestion in the waterway. “To help ensure safety and facilitate commerce on our three rivers, we would ask all recreational boaters to remain outside the navigable channel […] Read More
What to Look for in a Marina Contract
Even the fairest marina contract will be slanted in favor of the marina as it — or more likely its lawyers — wrote it. This doesn’t mean there’s no option but to sign on the bottom line. Not everything in a contract is written in stone, and many adjustments can be made with both […] Read More
Lovin' The Loop! Part 3
It’s not often that we can’t sleep while anchored out. But the excessive heat and humidity lead to an endless, restless night. We’re sitting near the mouth of the Bohemia River on the upper Chesapeake Bay hoping for a breeze, but there is none. It’s early July, the beginning of another uncomfortably hot, Chesapeake summer […] Read More
The Complete Listing of Marinas and Locks on the Inland and Gulf Intracoastal Waterways
Profile: Guttenberg Municipal Marina
There’s something special about little Mississippi River towns. Guttenberg, Iowa, population 1,980, is one of those. It combines a new municipal marina with a number of attractions and points of interest, many of which honor its German heritage. The marina is the result of a 10-year effort by the city to obtain […] Read More