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Summer 2020
At the National Safe Boating Council, we're thankful for each of you and your partnership in creating safe boating experiences. It is during challenging times that we discover our true strength as a community. From sharing acts of kindness to stepping up to manufacture PPE, and from calling each other to check in to donating boating safety gear - we're reminded each day why we are proud of our members.
Our recreational boating safety community is strong, resilient, and will persevere through these times. We will work together, and when we come out on the other side, we may not remember exactly how we got through it, but we won’t be the same as when we started. We are checking on each other, encouraging each other, asking for help, and reaching out to people we’ve never met. Let's continue to embrace the best in each of us, support one another, and build an even stronger community.
A Note from Performance Health During COVID-19
Performance Health is taking several actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapidly changing environment. Our company has always prioritized our people, our customers and our partners. That hasn’t changed. But the current situation mandates that we do more. We are continually implementing measures to keep our people safe and answer our customers’ needs. After all, the work our customers do is vital to keeping people healthy as well.
Our plants in Akron and Cedarburg continue to operate in full. As a supplier to critical and essential customers, we are exempt from shelter-in-place orders. Our employees are working hard across the world to deliver for our customers. We thank our employees for their long hours, dedication and commitment.
Performance Health is a leader in consumer healthcare and the largest global manufacturer and distributor of products to the rehabilitation and sports medicine markets. Its market-leading brands, which are sold in over 100 countries, include Biofreeze®, TheraBand®, TheraPearl®, Cramer®, Sammons Preston®, and Rolyan®. Performance Health is headquartered in the greater Chicago, Illinois area, with significant operations both in the US and internationally.
Boating Safety Starts with You
Safety on the water is everyone's responsibility, and it starts with you! Here are 5 things you can do to share about boating safety.
1. Be a gear junkie. Have all your boating gear and know how to use it, like always wearing a U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket. Take the Wear It pledge.
2. Be a safety advocate. Share about boating safety in your community. From artwork for yard signs to radio PSAs, we have free downloadable resources to support your grassroots efforts.
3. Join the conversation. Check out the 2020 Summer Partner Toolkit for social media images and suggested posts to join the conversation on your favorite social media network.
4. Be a responsible boater. Nearly a quarter of all reported boating accidents in 2018 were caused by operator inattention or improper lookout. Always boat responsibly.
5. Be a role model. Be part of an effort to normalize responsible boating by being a role model for the next generation of safe boaters.
Thank you to our members for your support during Wear Your Life Jacket to Work (or Home) Day and National Safe Boating Week. It was amazing seeing the incredible number of social media posts reminding boaters to be responsible when on the water. The RBS community's rally around our Safe Boating Campaign adapted outreach resources due to COVID-19 was nothing less than fantastic. In the absence of public outreach events, our team asked for your help in opening your pipelines to reach boaters, and you stepped up - thank you!
As we all anticipate a heavy boating season, let’s use this momentum as a springboard for our summer season and continue to share important boating safety reminders. It is during challenging times that we discover our true strength as a community. We truly appreciate your partnership.
Giving Back During COVID-19
So many members and partners of the NSBC have been hard at work to provide relief in various ways during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’d like to take a moment to recognize a few of these outstanding organizations.
Brunswick Corporation
- Mercury Racing and Power Products: Using its 3D printing capabilities to make masks for first responders and healthcare professionals.
- Brunswick Boat Group: Donated 15,000 masks to first responders.
- Mercury Marine: Donated more than 11,000 masks to local hospitals and emergency responders.
- Marinco: Producing electrical equipment used in mobile hospitals and temporary emergency treatment centers..
- Whale: Producing and shipping over 120,000 hand pumps that power hand sanitizer stations.
- Sea Ray + Boston Whaler: Producing masks at its integrated manufacturing center on Sykes Creek.
Marine Retailers Association of America
The Marine Retailers Association of America has called on the federal government to take action and help marine manufacturers respond to COVID-19. In addition, they are hosting weekly calls for their members and partners to discuss, share resources, and collaborate. They have provided guidance to marinas to educate their members about the importance of responsible boating and social distancing.
Mustang Survival
Mustang Survival has gone beyond the boat and began manufacturing more than 90,000 hospital gowns. Their commitment to creating local solutions for frontline workers in the collective fight against COVID-19 is astounding.
National Marine Manufacturing Association
The National Marine Manufacturers Association has called on the federal government to take action and help marine manufacturers respond to COVID-19. In addition, NMMA is aligned with organizations including the National Association of Manufacturers, US Chamber of Commerce, the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable and others to ensure our industry’s voice is heard. Their daily newsletter, Currents, includes updates on the most pressing COVID-19 news of the day.
Performance Health
Performance Health facilities in Akron and Cedarburg continue to operate in full. As a supplier to critical and essential customers, they are exempt from shelter-in-place orders. They are a leader in consumer healthcare and the largest global manufacturer and distributor of products to the rehabilitation and sports medicine markets. Its market-leading brands, which are sold in over 100 countries, include Biofreeze®, TheraBand®, TheraPearl®, Cramer®, Sammons Preston®, and Rolyan®.
West Marine
West Marine, which operates boating supply and fishing retail stores, used 3D printing technology to convert 1,200 Ocean Reef snorkel masks into respirators for California hospitals; West Marine also donated thousands of gloves, bungee cords for face masks, protective suits and face shields.
Boating is about community - coming together in a shared experience on the water. Learn more how the recreational boating industry is giving back during COVID-19.
Put Your Boating Knowledge to the Test
Boat On Course, educational boating safety videos from the National Safe Boating Council, teach the basic navigation rules of boating. Watch at your own pace, and test your knowledge at the end of each video.
The updated website is responsive, working on any desktop or mobile devices. Test your boating knowledge wherever you are at - home or work.
Media Best Practices
We’ve all seen social media images, advertisements, and marketing promoting recreational boating that lack even the basic boating safety gear. In partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Safe Boating Council's Safe Boating Campaign developed basic boating and water safety media best practices to support a culture of safety and encourage those enjoying the water to have the right safety gear.
These can be shared with anyone within your organization who is posting on social media, directing photo shoots, planning a video shoot, or creating marketing materials. We are all influencers of boating behavior, and we can make a difference in how we present the boating lifestyle.
Please help us get these guidelines into the hands of the marketers, advertisers, communications directors, public outreach officers, and videographers who can make an informed decision by following these simple guidelines.
A Note from the NSBC Chair
What an unusual year 2020 has been. I hope that you and your family have stayed safe, and my heart goes out to those who have been impacted by this pandemic. Like many of you, I have been quarantined at home for the past few months. The lack of face-to-face interactions has been difficult, but I’ve taken solace in knowing that I’m doing my part for the greater good.
Having spent the last decade in either an office or on a boat, this new working environment has taken some getting used to. I have found it surreal to be sitting down for conference calls next to my daughters, ages 6 and 9, as they log into webinars as part of their online classwork. Their ability to pivot and adapt is remarkable and has reinforced for me a valuable lesson.
You must adapt to succeed. And while that example is reflective of my personal situation, it’s also reflective of something that I find to be one of the hallmark strengths of the NSBC.
Here’s one example: If you look at the partner toolkits for the Safe Boating Campaign, it includes everything from social distancing infographics to guidance on how to clean your life jackets. We’ve also looked at how to deliver educational content digitally. The end goal of encouraging safe boating remains our primary focus, but this environment has encouraged creative thinking.
As we all return to the water, I would ask you to look how you communicate about safe boating to those around you, and consider if there are new ways that you might reach new or current boaters. As my daughters unintentionally taught me, sometimes action is the result of necessity. Stay safe!
Stu Gilfillen
Operation Dry Water
Operation Dry Water and the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) are reminding boaters throughout the summer boating season to boat sober. Unfortunately, alcohol use by both operators and passengers often becomes part of these activities, causing an increase in the number of injuries, incidents and fatalities on the water.
“Every year we see injuries and deaths that tragically could have been avoided had operators and passengers chosen to boat sober,” says Cody Jones, NASBLA Chair. “The Operation Dry Water campaign continues to work with our local, state and federal partners to eliminate boating under the influence and the injuries and deaths caused by it. We urge every boater to keep themselves and others on the water safe by choosing to stay sober while boating and ensuring everyone on board is wearing a life jacket at all times.”
Alcohol use continues to be the leading contributing factor in recreational boating fatalities. Operation Dry Water, the national boating under the influence awareness and enforcement campaign, works year-round to facilitate increased public awareness of the dangers associated with impaired boating and the heightened enforcement of boating under the influence laws.
The 2020 national Operation Dry Water heightened awareness and enforcement three-day weekend will take place July 3-5, 2020. Since the launch of the Operation Dry Water campaign in 2009, law enforcement officers across the nation have removed over 4,000 impaired operators from waterways during the annual three-day weekend. In 2019, 736 agencies from every state and territory took part in the Operation Dry Water weekend.
Environmental “stressors” associated with boating, such as the rocking of the boat, sun, wind and noise, intensify the effects of alcohol or drug use on an individual while boating. Boating while impaired increases the chances that a boat operator or passenger could slip, fall overboard or become involved in a serious boating incident. Alcohol consumption also increases the likelihood that individuals will engage in other risky behaviors such as swimming or boating without a life jacket.
Operation Dry Water is a year-round boating under the influence awareness and enforcement campaign with the mission of reducing the number of alcohol and drug-related incidents and fatalities through increased recreational boater awareness and by fostering a stronger and more visible deterrent to alcohol and drug-use on the water.
Admiral Club Members
Mariner Club Members
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Quarterly newsletter from the National Safe Boating Council