With the recent heatwave we have seen a huge increase in the number of craft using the water. Unfortunately despite a lot of media focus on water safety the number of boats compliant has dropped since the last review in mid June; this is perhaps in part due to people taking to the water for the first time. Irish Coast Guard, RNLI, CRBI and Lifeguards units around the country including the compliance monitoring patrol boat at Howth have experienced a busy season but are continuing to try to get the safety message out there to stop further tragedies.
Locally the stats for Dublin Bay show some improvement by paddle boards, however the number is startling at 88% not wearing any kind of flotation device. Today 2 persons were encountered in Dublin bay on paddle boards with cooler boxes attached to the boards and no lifejackets. While they were within 250 meters from their departing point, an offshore wind could have had serious consequences for the pair. To note we are not including paddle boarders who are wave surfing in the statistics.
We encourage people to take the time to visit www.safetyonthewater.ie. Also just released is the free smartphone (Apple and Android) app called safetrx which helps anyone from Kitesurfers to Yachts to track their travels and alert someone if they don't return as planned. For more details visit http://www.safetrxapp.com/.
Locally the stats for Dublin Bay show some improvement by paddle boards, however the number is startling at 88% not wearing any kind of flotation device. Today 2 persons were encountered in Dublin bay on paddle boards with cooler boxes attached to the boards and no lifejackets. While they were within 250 meters from their departing point, an offshore wind could have had serious consequences for the pair. To note we are not including paddle boarders who are wave surfing in the statistics.
We encourage people to take the time to visit www.safetyonthewater.ie. Also just released is the free smartphone (Apple and Android) app called safetrx which helps anyone from Kitesurfers to Yachts to track their travels and alert someone if they don't return as planned. For more details visit http://www.safetrxapp.com/.
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