Coast Guard has paddle safety program

LYNN-The number of kayakers and canoeists has grown exponentially on the North Shore over the past decade, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to launch an educational safety awareness program aimed at paddlers.Operation Paddle Smart was launched for the second consecutive year in the Northeast First Coast Guard District on April 1.The district suffered the loss of 58 recreational boaters and paddlers in 2007, of which 15 canoe and eight kayak fatalities accounted for 40 percent of the death count.Historically, with the area’s long-standing interest in canoeing and the continuing growth in both inland and coastal kayaking, Northeast paddlesports fatalities are more than double the national average, according to the Coast Guard.Paddle Smart is a partnership comprised of the Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Auxiliary and the U.S. Power Squadron and was scheduled to operate from May 1 to June 30 with a public outreach campaign. Due to its success, the program has been expanded to run April 1 to Nov. 1.Overall recreational boating and paddling fatalities declined from 58 in 2007 to 55 in 2008, while paddlesports fatalities dropped from 23 to 14 n a 39 percent reduction.”Multiple factors affect boating statistics from year to year,” said Cmdr. Peter Nourse, director of the First Coast Guard District’s Northern Region Auxiliary. “Though we are unable to conclude quantitatively the full impact of Operation Paddle Smart last year, we do know that it had a very positive, direct affect toward the decrease in paddle craft fatalities.”Auxiliary and Power Squadron members over the next few months will distribute paddlesport safety packets throughout the Northeast. Data will also be collected to determine what efforts worked best and to solicit response, questions and information from paddlers on how the operation can be improved or how it has benefited them.