Coast Guard launches Operation Paddle Smart

LYNN – Last year, 58 recreational boaters and paddlers lost their lives in New England waters. Among them were 15 canoeists and eight kayakers who together amounted to 40 percent of the death count.In an effort to reduce the number of victims, the U.S. Coast Guard’s First District, which stretches from Maine to New York, has launched Operation Paddle Smart.The program runs from May 1 to June 30 and promotes the benefit of wearing a lifejacket while highlighting the immediate danger of sudden cold-water immersion, according to Alfred Johnson of Lynn, a recreational boating specialist for the First District.Since 1998, when the Coast Guard began tracking area-specific recreational fatalities, canoe and kayak deaths have averaged 30 percent of yearly losses in the First District – more than double the national average.A 31-year-old Peabody man was among the victims in 2007, having drowned while kayaking near Tinkers Island off Marblehead Neck. He was strapped to the kayak but not wearing a lifejacket.”The waters of the Northeast are extremely inviting but they’re temperamental and can be mercilessly unforgiving to unsuspecting and ill-prepared boaters and paddlers,” said Johnson. “Operation Paddle Smart is a multi-partnered effort to educate and remind new, casual, and experienced paddlers to assess the risks, envision the consequences, and use our waters safely by being properly prepared for what can go wrong.”Johnson explained that boaters falling overboard reflexively gasp as they are submerged in cold water, often ingesting water into the lungs, which marks the start of drowning. A lifejacket will keep victims on the surface where they have better odds of being rescued.Paddlers on waters in Massachusetts are required to wear a lifejacket while underway through May 15. After that date, the lifejacket must at least be in the vessel.In Connecticut, the lifejacket mandate runs through May 30, while in Maine on the Saco River below the Hiram Dam, the safety period extends through June 1.”We’ve designed Operation Paddle Smart to be a focal point for organizations and retailers to work together to promote paddlesport safety, and as an information source for all paddlers and small boaters,” said Cdr. Tom Miller, deputy chief of the First District’s Prevention Division.Organizations, retailers or others interested in joining the Operation Paddle Smart partnership or paddlers seeking additional information can contact the program hotline at (617) 223-8619.