by John Skinner
I wrote a recent Blog entry about the new Suffolk County law
(law text) that requires all Suffolk County residents boating on Suffolk County waters to take a boating safety course and have the safety certification on-board. You can read that Blog entry
here if you missed it. I took the course last weekend in a classroom setting because I was under the impression that online classes without a proctored exam would not satisfy the law. After some communications with the County Executive's office, I think it's safe to say that you can satisfy the course requirement online and absolutely free. The key is the very end of this part of the law:
No resident of Suffolk County shall operate a pleasure vessel upon the waters of Suffolk County unless the operator is the holder of a boating safety certificate issued by the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; by the United States Power Squadrons; by the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary; or by any entity that offers a boating course that meets the standards set by the National Association of Boating Law Administrators.
If you go to the
BoatUS Online Learning Center, it opens with
"Welcome to the new BoatUS Foundation Online Learning Center. Our free, interactive, non-proctored course and exam has been approved by the National Association of Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)".
So right off this course sounds like it will satisfy the County law. If you follow the link to the
BoatUS New York course page, things become a little more iffy. The webpage says:
"The BoatUS Foundation's Online Course is the only free Online Boating Safety Course approved by the New York State Parks & Recreation for boaters 18 years of age and older.I'm not sure what BoatUS means by this statement, because NYS does not require a safety course for for boaters 18 years or older. You can read the requirements on the
New York State Parks site.
The BoatUS website goes on to say:
"This course is NOT approved for New York residents who are 10 through 17 years of age, wishing to operate a motorboat, and residents 14 years of age and older, wishing to operate a PWC. These boaters are required to pass a New York State Parks & recreation approved classroom boating safety course."Are you confused yet? I was, but it seemed to me that the wording of the County law left open the possibility of the BoatUS online course satisfying the new law. I contacted the Suffolk County Executive's Office to get clarification. This is the summary question I posed to John Marafino, a Community Relations Assistant in the County Executive's office.
"The Yes/No question I need answered is whether this online class http://www.boatus.org/onlinecourse/NewYork.asp will meet the requirement of the new law..."Here was his response:
Dear John,
My understanding of the NASBLA website is that the listings of classes on there, online or in person, satisfy the requirement of the new law. Since the Boatus.org website is on the NASBLA site, you will fulfill the new law's requirement by taking it.
John Marafino
Community Relations Assistant
Office of the Suffolk County Executive
So there you have it. If you live and boat in Suffolk and have not yet satisfied the new boater safety law requirement, you apparently can do it free and online. I'm writing this as the blizzard is bearing down, so I'm thinking this might be a good way to be productive while we're snowed in for a few days – assuming we have electricity and Internet access.
Comments (11)
I questioned the county on kayaks to be sure even though the NYS Navigation Law excludes kayaks in their definition as a pleasure vessel here is the response:
Nolan, George> wrote:
[quote]
Dear Mr. A******:
I am the counsel to the Suffolk County Legislature. Legislator Lindsay asked me to respond to your question regarding the County’s new boating safety law.
Kayaks are not included within the definition of “pleasure vessel” in the new county law and, therefore, are not subject to the new law.
I hope this information is helpful. [quote]
The course is good practice to take anyway however, and I’m going to retake the online course as it’s been 26 years since I took the boating safety course. Also, my kayak is registered so it may be considered a pleasure vessel.
1000 thank yous John. Because of my work schedule, there has not been a course I could find where I could make all required days! This is great news so I could comply with law. Thank you again!
Bill
Thanks for doing the research John, free is good!
Thanks for the info...as a boater and yakker this a great option!
John- Thank you so much for making us aware of all this stuff. I was completely unaware of the new Law. Because of your first blog on the subject, I took the BoatUS online course over the weekend. It was either that, or shovel the three feet of snow out of the driveway. Ha, ha. The course is a quality presentation, very interesting and highly informative. It was easy to navagate, too, once I downloaded Firefox. So, thanks again, John.
Hi John, i took the safety boating course about 10 years ago. I don't have the certificate. Is there anyway of tracking down that I completed the course. If so how would i go about it. Thanks in advance for any feedback. Robert.
Here's the form link for a replacement certificate:
http://nysparks.com/recreation/boating/documents/ReplacementCertificate.pdf
$10 for a replacement certificate. Might as well take the free online course. Refresh your memory on important safety guidelines and avoid giving any more of your hard earned dollars to NYS. Highest taxed state in the union.
To be clear, the Suffolk County law does not lessen the State requirements. New York residents who are 10 through 17 years of age, wishing to operate a motorboat, and residents 14 years of age and older, wishing to operate a PWC are still required to pass a New York State Parks & recreation approved classroom boating safety course.
The online class I referred to covers only the new Suffolk County law.
Question I sat and took a 2 week boating safety course in Brooklyn years ago do i need to repeat a course?
THANK YOU
Depends how many years ago and what course. You need a certificate. You could try this form http://nysparks.com/recreation/boating/documents/ReplacementCertificate.pdf if you took the State course and lost the certificate.