Neil Arnal, Vessel Examinations and Program Visitation

We finished January with 15 Vessel Safety Checks on boats and 27 Vessel Safety Check inspections on paddle craft.  Paddle craft means a kayak, canoe, rowboat or paddleboard.  Safety requirements for paddle craft are: sound signal (whistle, horn, etc.), life jacket and overall vessel condition.  We use form 7012 for inspecting paddle craft.

We had two Saturdays in January for Vessel Inspections at Lovers Key Boat Ramp. January 14^th turned out to be a very cold 52 degrees in the morning and no boats showed up but we completed ten VSCs on January 28^th. 

Our Program Visitation team kicked off the year with a meeting at a local coffee house on January 13^th.  Attending were:  Bernie Appelman, Michael Dobrovic, Michael Murphy, Ken Haydon, Dave Shuster and myself.  Everyone at the meeting received a plastic bin stocked with literature to distribute to our Program Partners.  We discussed the proper protocol for our visits, displaying of literature, a list of Program Partners and goals for 2012.

Our flotilla currently has 11 certified Recreational Boating Safety Visitors to call on Program Partners within our area.  With this PV team and monthly coffee meetings to discuss our goals, I believe that we can increase our partner visits substantially.

This will be my last Program Visitations Staff Report for the year.  I am very pleased that Michael DiPierro has accepted the PV Staff Officer position for Flotilla 96.  I will assist Michael as the assistant flotilla staff officer.  Michael is qualified to lead the PV Program and will do an outstanding job.

As you know, I am also the Flotilla Staff Officer for Vessel Examinations for the third year. To add to my work load, our Division Commander, David C. Crockwell, has asked me to be the Division Staff Officer for Program Visitations, which I have accepted.

I am proud to report that the Program Visitations team turned in a total of 31 visits for the month of January.  Great job!