Help save Canadians' lives this summer

TORONTO, May 13 /CNW/ - North American Safe Boating Awareness Week will take place across Canada from May 22nd to May 28th, 2010. The purpose of this initiative is to promote safe boating practices to the estimated 16 million recreational boaters in Canada.

To help increase awareness of Safe Boating Awareness Week, on May 20, 2010 at 11 AM EDT, boating safety educators, marine enforcement officials, politicians, media and the general public will gather to establish a World's Record Inflatable Life Jacket Inflation. At one single moment across North America, all participants will inflate their inflatable life jackets and record their individual events to prove the size of the initiative and set the bench mark for future year attempts. The purpose of this event is to raise public awareness of the new styles of lifejackets, both inflatable and inherently buoyant, and about general boating safety practices. Two of the biggest events will take place at Yonge/Dundas Square in Toronto and the Art Gallery in Vancouver, but check www.readysetinflate.com "Join an Event" for the location closest to you.

This year we have five key messages for boating safety:

    
    -   the importance of wearing a life jacket and the options that are
        available with comfort and style
    -   the dangers associated with drinking and boating
    -   the importance of taking a safe boating course
    -   ensuring that your vessel is safe and seaworthy
    -   the risks associated with a fall into cold water
    

This initiative is promoted by the Canadian Safe Boating Council (CSBC), a registered charity, and its members and partners from all areas of the marine community including boat and marine product manufacturers, boating education organizations, water safety and marine law enforcement sectors, www.smartboater.ca Canada's resource for boating information, Transport Canada Office of Boating Safety and the BC Marine Trades Association. The goal is to ensure that the millions of Canadians who head out on the waters in canoes and kayaks, sailboards and sailboats, fishing boats, personal watercraft, power boats and cruisers are equipped with the knowledge for a safe day on the water.

Please visit www.csbc.ca, www.readysetinflate.com and www.smartboater.ca for further information.

For further information: Susanne Simic, Simic Public Relations for the Canadian Safe Boating Council, Tel: [phone], [email protected]