Islip, NY - May 11, 2015 - National Safe Boating Week (NSBW) is May 16th-22nd, 2015. It marks the culmination of months of planning for ways to best achieve our goal of providing exceptional boating safety education to America.  Our message is that education can save lives and reduce personal injury and property damage.

National Safe Boating Week kicks off the traditional boating season, giving us a great opportunity to educate the public and remind them of the importance of safe boating. Changing the public's perception of boating safety is part of job one for all of us.

The odds are that every boater will experience at least one moment where critical decisions will have to be made…decisions that may substantially affect the outcome of their day.  We know an educated boater has a much better chance of success in these emergency situations. As the premier boating safety organization, we must lead by example:

• Always wear your life jacket
• Look for opportunities in your community to promote boating safety courses
• Remember, people of all ages participate in sports that happen to require a boat such as fishing, hunting, and water skiing - but they rarely think of themselves as boaters
• Encourage paddle craft operators to have a vessel safety check and take a paddlesports safety course

National Safe Boating Week is a time of special focus on recreational boating safety. Encourage your marine partners to join you for:

• “Wear Your Life Jacket To Work Day” on May 15th
• “Ready Set Wear It” event on May 16th
• Community outreach at local lakes and parks
• Seminars on knot tying or recruiting

Most of all, please continue to do what you do best – to provide high-quality, boater safety education. And while you're at it, within your community and within your unit, celebrate that what you do has made a difference for the United States Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Auxiliary and the boating public.