USCG Auxiliary District 7

16/02/2026

The National Safe Boating Council provides an array of resources. From print material to graphics support - many of these resources are free, some for purchase. Check them out!

Abby from the Boating Safety Sidekicks says “WEAR IT!”

Feel free to use this boating safety poster (proportional to 8.5” x 11”) for your organization’s life jacket safety messaging. This design provides a blank area at the bottom for your organizational logo and/or website-social media.

For information about the Boating Safety Sidekicks activity books: http://boatingsidekicks.com/

12/02/2026

Great opportunity for gear!

Our annual Marine Yard Sale helps fund training, gear, and rescue operations for Eckerd College Search and Rescue. This week’s feature: a brand new jet ski anchor, ready to keep your adventures steady on the water.
March 14th | 0900–1200 Come out, support EC-SAR, and snag some great finds!

09/02/2026

AI answer to the question… “How do I influence people to wear life jackets?”

That’s a great question—and honestly, a hard one. People know lifejackets save lives, yet still don’t wear them. The trick isn’t more facts; it’s changing the vibe around them.

Here’s what actually works in real life 👇

- Lead with example (this matters more than you think)
If you consistently wear a lifejacket—without apologizing, joking, or explaining—it quietly resets what’s “normal.”�People copy behavior more than they follow advice.
- If the confident, competent person is wearing one, it stops feeling optional.
- Make it about comfort, not danger

Fear-based messages (“you could drown”) often backfire—people tune them out or get defensive.

Instead:
- “This one’s actually super comfortable”
- “You forget you’re even wearing it”
- “Way easier to move in than the old bulky ones”

If possible, offer better jackets: inflatable, slim-profile, or activity-specific PFDs. A bad lifejacket kills compliance.
- Use social proof
- People don’t want to be the odd one out.

Try:
- “Most people on this boat wear one”
- “Everyone’s putting theirs on before we leave”
- “This is how we do it here”

Say it casually, like it’s already decided.

Frame it as responsibility to others

This is powerful and less preachy:
“I don’t want to be responsible for something happening”

“It makes me feel better knowing everyone’s wearing one”

“If something went wrong, rescue is way easier”

You’re not saying they are reckless—you’re saying you care.

Reduce friction to zero
- People skip lifejackets when it’s inconvenient.
- Have them easy to grab
- Pre-adjust straps
- Put them on before boarding or casting off
- Avoid “optional later” moments

Convenience = compliance.

Use rules sparingly—but clearly

If you’re in charge (boat owner, trip leader, instructor), clarity helps:
- “Lifejackets are required while underway”
- “Everyone wears one—no exceptions”
- No debate. Calm, firm, boring.

Pick your battles. Not every moment needs a lecture. Sometimes the best move is:

- One calm reminder
- One good example
- Then letting social pressure do the rest

Bottom line: People wear lifejackets when it feels normal, easy, and socially expected—not when they feel judged or scared.

How do YOU influence people to wear life jackets? Drop your strategies in the comments below. Thanks! U.S. Coast Guard Southeast U.S. Coast Guard Sector Charleston U.S. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami US Coast Guard Sector Key West U.S. Coast Guard Sector St Petersburg U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan

12/01/2026

Recreational Boaters,

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division are working to improve agency communications with marine boaters about the presence of whales in coastal waters. Survey link here: https://www.research.net/r/L2MSV8X

To guide this effort, this survey is being conducted to learn more about the communication preferences of boaters like you. Your response will help streamline communications, increasing safety for boaters and whales while respecting your needs as a boater.

The survey will take about 10 minutes. Your participation is voluntary and you can stop responding at any time. Your response is anonymous. Survey data will be used for agency outreach initiatives including boater safety and marine mammal programs.

Please click the button below to take the survey (or paste this address into your browser): https://www.research.net/r/L2MSV8X

Thank you for joining your fellow boaters in taking this survey. For more information on how to boat safely when whales might be present, read our Guidelines for boaters | FWC - https://myfwc.com/research/wildlife/right-whales/boaters/

08/01/2026

Cold Water Boating
January 2026 Recreational Boating Safety Message
By Scott Szczepaniak, Recreational Boating Safety Specialist,
US Coast Guard Southeast District

After 10 minutes, with the heater of the truck running at full blast, his shaking started to subside. He was not able to speak since it happened. I was relieved that he seemed on the mend and started to relax. He finally said to me, not making eye contact, “…that it felt like a major league baseball player hit me in the chest with a fencepost.”

Long story short, my new acquaintance had joined a group of kayakers for a New Year’s Day paddle on Lake Marion in the center of South Carolina. The air temperature was in the balmy mid 70s, the water temperature in the mid-40s The paddler was in his mid-30s, super fit and ready to join the group for a fitness paddle in his surf ski. As he prepared to launch - the group leaders said “no way - you are not going to paddle with us without a life jacket properly fitted and zipped up. He reluctantly put his life jacket on. The rest of the group, all dressed for immersion in drysuits or windproof paddling jackets with wetsuits underneath to insulate, should have been more forceful about lending him a wetsuit top and paddling jacket.

The group had a nice paddle and was almost back to the landing. The paddler on the surf ski, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, capsize just ahead of the group. The more experienced paddlers preformed a quick rescue and got him back to the landing. I helped him to his truck, got it running and turned the heat on. After he gave me his baseball player / fencepost analogy, he was quiet for a few more minutes. He then said — “If I wasn’t wearing a life jacket, and you didn’t get me out of the water so quickly, I would be dead now.” I am pretty sure that he was correct.

Cold water kills. Often not by lowering the bodies core temperature (hypothermia), but by cold shock. From the Cold Water Safety website:

“"The sudden lowering of skin temperature on immersion in cold water represents one of the most profound stimuli that the body can encounter.” -Golden and Tipton in Essentials of Sea Survival

Translation: Short of being hit by a bus or struck by lightning, cold shock is one of the biggest jolts that your body can experience.”

When you hit the cold water against unprotected skin you gasp - really gasp, and suck water into your lungs. More from the Cold Water Safety website: “Sudden Drowning - If your head is underwater when you gasp, you will immediately drown, and without the support of a PFD, you will head straight for the bottom. Before cold shock was identified as the cause, this phenomenon was known as Sudden Disappearance Syndrome.”

My friend Jack Doty fell out of his powerboat into 39º water and miraculously survived. Check out a video of his rescue here - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1042131898058043

As a boating safety professional, I worry on days in the winter and spring when the air temperature gets warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt. The water temperature takes many weeks to follow warming trends… and is not impacted at all for those few balmy days in the winter and spring months. Whether paddling a kayak, canoe or Stand Up Paddleboard; or duck hunting in a small boat; or boating out on cold water - dress for immersion. Wear a life jacket properly fitted and zipped up. Save the alcohol for after the outing. Slow down - maintaining a safe speed is required by the rules of the road and the mark of a competent boater. Take a boating class or paddling class. Be weather aware. File a float plan as simple as a text to a trusted friend or family member that includes who, what, where, and when you are going to be back with an emergency number to call at a specified time. And include a picture of the boat in the float plan.

More information on the dangers of cold water can be found at the National Safe Boating Council website:

https://safeboatingcampaign.com/?s=cold+water

And the Water Sports Foundation website:

https://www.watersportsfoundation.com/cold-water-boating/

For an even deeper dive check out the National Center for Cold Water Safety website: https://www.coldwatersafety.org/

Boat and Paddle Responsibly! And finally, please share this post on your personal page and boating groups that you are a member of. Thanks!

Scott Szczepaniak is the Coast Guard Southeast District's Recreational Boating Program Specialist. The Southeast District includes South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Please drop any questions or comments below or email direct Scott (dot) J (dot) Szczepaniak (at) uscg (dot) mil.

Again - please share!

U.S. Coast Guard Southeast U.S. Coast Guard Sector Charleston U.S. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami U.S. Coast Guard Sector St Petersburg US Coast Guard Sector Key West U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan South Carolina Department of Natural Resources ACA - South Carolina ACA Paddlesports U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary - Recreational Boating Safety Directorates ACA Georgia U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary - Paddlecraft Safety Division

03/12/2025

Holiday gift shopping can be a challenge. This year we are going to make it super simple to shop for the boaters in your life. These gifts can go a long way toward ensuring that your loved ones return safely from their voyages. The Coast Guard does not endorse any specific brand. The article will steer you toward the search terms that you'll need to find the right gift. Those terms will appear in quotation marks. Simply copy and paste into the search engine of your choice.

FOR ALL BOATERS WHO DON"T CURRENTLY WEAR A PFD (LIFE JACKET)- "Coast Guard Approved Inflatable Belt PFD" (pictured being worn by people fishing) When we ask boaters why they don't wear a PFD, the most common answers is that they are hot, confining or uncomfortable. These won't even interfere with your tan! Generally, the more comfortable the PFD, the less protective it is. These are so comfortable that it's easy to forget that you are wearing it, but they offer a minimal level of protection. A strategy is to wear one of these and have a more protective device readily available on the boat. Be sure that any device you buy is Coast Guard Approved. There are a number of non-approved devices on the market. Consider harness type inflatable PFDs, conventional inherently buoyant PFDs designed for comfort and appropriate for your particular kind of boating. For more info check out this link:https://uscgboating.org/images/howtochoosetherightlifejacket_brochure.pdf

FOR ALL BOATERS WHO OPERATE OFFSHORE, ON BIG WATER OR IN REMOTE PLACES- "PLB Personal Locator Beacon" (pictured with an EPIRB) A PLB is an emergency satellite communication device that's small enough to fit into a life jacket pocket or clip onto a belt. When the device is turned on the signal goes to a Rescue Coordination Center and the appropriate responding agencies are notified and dispatched. PLBs can be used on the water or on land. I like to hike and bike in remote regions and I take my PLB when I do. Be sure to register the PLB for free so that it will work as designed. Register PLBs and EPIRBS here: US Beacon Registration: https://beaconregistration.noaa.gov/RGDB/index - you'll find it to be an easy and intuitive website.

FOR ALL BOATERS WHO OPERATE OFFSHORE, IN COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS OR RIVERS WHERE THERE IS COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC- "Handheld VHF radio" (pictured) Most offshore boaters and many coastal boaters have installed VHF radios. For those boaters, having redundant communications and communications that can operate independent of the boat's electrical system is a good idea. Kayakers and other paddlers who operate in these environments will want some means of communicating beyond their cell phone. Learn more about using the VHF Radio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNWyXweNF1U For the best of the best get a "GPS DSC Handheld VHF radio." It has a very cool distress button that will send out an emergency call with the boaters location and the vessel details. GPS DSC VHF radios need to be registered and the registration number programmed into the radio, or it will not work as designed. Free registration here. https://www.usps.org/php/mmsi_new/

FOR ALL BOATERS WHO HAVE FLARES-"Electric SOS Distress Light" (pictured on the distress flag) These lights can be used in the place of, or in addition to flares (visual distress signals). Flares have an expiration date of 3 1/2 years from the date of manufacture. When they expire, they have to be disposed of as HAZMAT. These electric SOS distress lights meet the legal requirement for night visual distress signals in the place of flares, and they never expire. Simply change the batteries out each year. They will come packaged with a distress flag that meets the requirement for day visual distress signals. Be sure you get an SOS distress light. There are other distress lights out there that are not SOS and don't meet the requirements necessary to serve in the place of flares.

FOR ALL BOATERS- Damage control kit (pictured.) All boaters should have some means of effecting temporary repairs when their boat starts sinking. This kit can start with a "dry box." In the dry box there should be a "multi-tool," hose clamps, a "nut driver" sized for those hose clamps, a "headlamp" for hands free use in dark confined spaces, some twine, an extra "bilge plug" just like the one the boat already has, a "damage control plugs" either wooden or foam (foam can fit a variety of hole sizes,) clear waterproof tape and other items as shown in the picture. You can even go big and get a ready-made "damage control kit."

FOR ALL BOATERS WHO OPERATE OFFSHORE, ON BIG WATER OR IN REMOTE PLACES- An emergency ditch kit.This can be a "dry bag" or a purpose-built "ditch kit bag." There will be an assortment of Safety, Signaling and Survival items in this kit. Take a look at the picture to get some ideas of what to put in the bag. Some of these items are small and inexpensive and make great stocking stuffers. "Signal mirror" "sea dye marker" (pictured in use) "pocket strobe" "emergency survival blanket" "orange bandanna" "glow sticks" "waterproof lighter" "multi-tool" are a good starting point. The aforementioned handheld VHF radio, PLB (or its big brother "EPIRB") and the electric SOS light all go in this emergency ditch kit. Take a look at the pictures for some other ideas. There is no perfect ditch kit. Your ditch kit should be tailored to your operating environment and the threats you face. The picture shows a kayak ditch kit.

Please share this message widely across social media. We'll try to answer questions wherever it is shared. If we don't get to your question, please join us on our host group and we'll definitely see the question there. How's that for our holiday gift to you? Free professional gift consultation!

Boat smart, have fun and enjoy your holidays! And please play it forward by sharing this post on your personal page and on any FaceBook boating, fishing, hunting and paddling groups that you may belong to. Thanks!

Adapted from a post by Paul Barnard - a recipient of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators Lifetime Achievement Award! Posted by Scott Szczepaniak, the Coast Guard Southeast District’s Recreational Boating Program Specialist.

29/10/2025

Let’s all get home tonight!

08/10/2025

Great maritime partners in the Tampa Bay area

30/09/2025

26/09/2025

Simple and effective message for us all.

16/09/2025