Date: May 22, 2009

Contact: Ricardo Castrodad

Sector San Juan Public Affairs

(787) 510-7923

Editors note:  The media is invited to attend National Safe Boating Week activities scheduled throughout the day.  For additional information contact Duane Minton, commander, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Division 16, at 340-690-3280.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Coast Guard Sector San Juan and the Coast Guard Auxiliary will close National Safe Boating Week as part of Memorial Day celebrations Monday at the Frederiksted cruise ship pier in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

During the planned festivities, the Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark will be moored at the pier and open for free public tours starting at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

“Safe boaters save lives everyday by continuously seeking boating safety education, wearing their life jackets, telling someone their float plans, and having emergency equipment onboard,” said Capt. Joanna Nunan, Deputy Commander Sector San Juan.  “They also have a healthy respect for the sea and check the weather forecast and sea state before getting underway.”

“Our safe boating event focuses on our young people,” said Duane Minton, commander, Coast Guard Auxiliary Division 16, U.S. Virgin Islands.   “We hope to inspire them to keep themselves safe and ensure they will pass on safe boating practices to their own children, and, of course, we hope they have fun as they learn.”

A search and rescue demonstration involving an Air Station Borinquen HH-65 Dolphin helicopter and a 25-foot response boat from Coast Guard Boat Forces in Saint Croix is also scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. Monday.

The Saint Croix Memorial Day Parade will be followed by the opening ceremony for the National Safe Boating Week event, presided by the Hon. Gregory R. Francis, Lieutenant Governor for the U.S. Virgin Islands.  During the opening ceremony, Janett “Becky” Bass, a Saint Croix Country Day School student will read the U.S. Virgin Islands Governor’s Proclamation for National Safe Boating Week. 

Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel will also have educational safe boating information booths and games for children to promote boating safety, and they will provide lectures on the proper use of safety equipment and the importance of wearing a personal flotation device.

The U.S. Virgin Islands’ Fire Department, Police Department and Department of Planning and Natural Resources; the U.S. Power Squadron Saint Croix Chapter; Turner Maintenance of Saint Croix and the Golden Hook Fishing Club are among other local agencies, volunteer groups and industry representatives respectively participating in the National Safe Boating Week event.

The Reef Shark is the final 87-foot coastal patrol boat just commissioned to the Coast Guard Monday March 23 and will be responsible for conducting search and rescue, law enforcement, maritime safety, and homeland defense operations throughout the Caribbean Sea.