Safe Boating Awareness Week kicks off during the May long weekend, and Arctic Radio spoke to Lifesaving Society Manitoba about this year’s campaign.

 

WaterSmart and Safety Coordinator Dr. Christopher Love says 30 to 40 per cent of drowning deaths in Manitoba are boating related.

 

He explains the five points boaters should remember.

 

"Number one is wear your life jacket.   Make sure you're boating sober.  Make sure you take a boating course so you know how to operate your boat.  Be prepared, both you and your vessel.    So, you've taken a boating course, you know the rules.   Do you have all the appropriate safety equipment on board?   Have you prepped your boat for the season?  Make sure that any repairs that need to be done are completed.    And then, be aware of the risks of cold-water immersion."

 

Love explains while the province may be experiencing warmer air temperatures during the season, the water temperature tends to remain on the cold side even during the heat of summer.

 

Love says they have boat safety tips available on their website in a variety of languages.

 

"We've got 33 different languages on our website.   If English or French are not your best languages, we hopefully have another one on that list that you're going to be able to find that is useful to you.

 

We have some indigenous languages on there.  We've got a lot of the other standard ones you'd find in the province of Manitoba.

Things like Tagalog, German, etc.  so that they're there.  So if you go to LIfesaving.mb.ca and there's a menu on our website called Water Smart Public Education."

 

Learn more about Safe Boating Week on Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10.