Boating in Iowa, Safety is Worth Learning

Mike Bryant, from Minnesota wrote a post last week about boating safety tips. Of course Minnesota's 10,000 lakes pose a much more formidable venue then do Iowa's few lakes. We have far fewer lakes than does Minnesota but we do have two rivers dividing us from Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska and South Dakota.

For boat owners and operators you should know Iowa's laws on boating. There is a Handbook of Iowa Boating Laws and Responsibilities online and you can take a course to learn or freshen up on the do's and don'ts when operating a boat. The DNR also puts out Iowa Boating Law Basics, also free online. Having grown up in a coastal New England town this all seems second nature to me. Sort of like knowing what time tomorrow high and low tides are. I've been in the Midwest so long it's not longer a part of my daily mindset. Oh how I miss My Hometown!

Here are a few videos from a television station 5 on the Boston Channel sent to me by Steve Ricci, a high school classmate. Before you get there allow me to tell you about what a small world this is. Mike Bryant and I became acquainted a few years ago through a national blogging site. In talking about my childhood Mike soon realized we had lived in the same New England town where his mother taught school. I'm a little older than is Mike and we did not know each other while living in Bristol. He ended up in Minnesota and I in Iowa. It is a small world. Now back to the Boston Channel talking about our home town where boating is in our blood along with saying Happy Fourth!

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/23665183/index.html

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/23665190/index.html

Okay I can't help myself. Here is a short slide show of the Bristol 4^th of July parade I uploaded to YouTube. The images are by my wife, Barbara and me. Welcome to the most patriotic town in America.

For additional reading about boating safety read these other posts:

Have a Safe Boating Weekend, by Brooks Schuelke, Austin, Texas.

Think Safety With National Boating Week, Mike Bryant, St. Cloud, Minnesota.

And let's not forget Beth Janicek's Boating and Boozing. Beth hails from Texas.

Boating in Iowa, Let's be careful out there!, Steve Lombardi from West Des Moines, Iowa.

Boating Basics: Accidents Happen - Now What?, June 21, 2010, Nick Avgerinos