Sea Tow’s Life Jacket Loaner Stations Save Lives

According to the Sea Tow Foundation – a nonprofit organization dedicated to the education of safe boating practices – Life Jacket Loaner Stations have helped save lives on waterways nationwide.

Life Jacket Loaner Stations – of which there are more than 500 nationwide – are set up at marinas, docks, boat ramps and other marine hot spots where boaters and their friends and families can borrow life jackets for the day, free of charge. In filing the required annual reports, several of the station hosts reported instances of Sea Tow Foundation life jackets helping to save lives on their local waters.

On Virginia’s John H. Kerr Reservoir, an overturned kayak left a boater helpless until local park rangers were able to toss him a Foundation life jacket before he was pulled back to shore.

At Colorado’s Jackson Lake State Park, rangers responded to reports of a capsized vessel with all of its passengers thrown overboard. Once they arrived on-scene, they found each of the boat’s occupants wearing the distinctive yellow Sea Tow Foundation life jackets.

Close to 35 miles northwest of Atlanta at Georgia’s Allatoona Lake, government officials reported that the lake, which hosts more than 6.5 million visitors each year, did not witness a single boating-related fatality on its waters.

To learn more about the Sea Tow Foundation’s Life Jacket Loaner Program, visit www.boatingsafety.com.