Recreational Boating Safety – Merry Christmas and Happy Safe Boating New Year

By Bob Currie, Vessel Examiner
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Station Galveston Flotilla
The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is looking for boat owners who are interested in joining the Auxiliary and becoming certified boat crew members and coxswains, and who are willing to have their boats certified as U.S. Coast Guard Operational Facilities. Coxswains and Boat Crew Members are trained to Coast Guard standards, and often work side by side with active duty Coast Guard Members.

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliarist Coxswain Paul Brown (left) prepares to get underway in his personal boat Southern Cross at Coast Guard Station Galveston as Auxiliarist Boat Crewman Stan Vaughan (right) stands by. Brown and Vaughan are preparing to proceed under Coast Guard orders on a Maritime Observation Mission (MOM), which is the term given to Coast Guard safety patrols. Their mission will take them on a patrol of Galveston Bay, where they observe for boaters in distress, out of place Aids to Navigation (ATONs), and anything amiss in the Houston Ship Channel, the bay, and the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Southern Cross has been accepted by the Coast Guard as an Operational Facility (OPFAC). MOM missions may only be performed by certified Auxiliarists using a certified OPFAC. The Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed civilian component of the U.S. Coast Guard and supports the Coast Guard in nearly all mission areas. The Auxiliary was created by Congress in 1939.

For more information on boating safety, please visit the Official Website of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Boating Safety Division at www.uscgboating.org. Questions about the US Coast Guard Auxiliary or our free Vessel Safety Check program may be directed to me at [email protected]. I am available to perform free Vessel Safety Checks, and I will come to your location to perform them. SAFE BOATING!

[12-24-2018]

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