Boating

May 20, 2008

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Profile America — Tuesday, May 20th. One sure sign of spring is the covers coming off of boats in backyards and marinas all over the country, as people get ready for a summer of fun on the water. With the long Memorial Day weekend coming up, this is National Safe Boating Week. The observance started as a small, grassroots effort in 1957 and has grown to a nationwide program backed by presidential proclamation, and is also observed in Canada. One of the key themes of the program is to get more people to wear life jackets. The Coast Guard notes that in nine-out-of- 10 boating deaths, those involved were not wearing them. Some 73 million people enjoy boating each year and there are nearly 18 million pleasure boats on the nation’s lakes, rivers, and coastlines. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2008, p. 273
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2008, t. 1216
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2008edition.html