{"id":327989,"date":"2026-07-03T02:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T02:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/327989\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T02:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T02:56:13","slug":"south-florida-families-urge-boating-safety-ahead-of-july-4th-after-recent-tragedies-it-all-starts-with-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/327989\/","title":{"rendered":"South Florida families urge boating safety ahead of July 4th after recent tragedies: “… it all starts with education”"},"content":{"rendered":"

With one of the busiest boating weekends of the year about to begin, South Florida <\/a>boaters and families impacted by recent tragedies are urging everyone heading onto the water to put safety first. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Siegel brothers are preparing for a holiday trip to Bimini, but they say having fun starts with being prepared.<\/p>\n

They never leave the dock without an emergency position-indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, which can alert the U.S. Coast Guard if their boat capsizes or they end up in the water.<\/p>\n

“If this ever gets wet and falls in the water, like if we capsize our boat or if we deploy it, it will send the Coast Guard to rescue us,” boater Hudson Siegel said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The brothers also stress the importance of sober boating and making sure other boaters can clearly see when divers are in the water.<\/p>\n

Hudson Siegel says he uses an oversized dive flag to improve visibility.<\/p>\n

“I’d rather have as many people be able to see the dive flag as possible,” he said. “Everyone who sees my boat will know I have people in the water. They should stay 300 feet away.” \u00a0<\/p>\n

For Andy Fernandez, boating safety has become deeply personal.<\/p>\n

His daughter, Lucy Fernandez, was killed when the boat she was aboard struck a channel marker. Last week, real estate broker George Pino was acquitted of manslaughter and felony vessel homicide charges connected to the crash. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Fernandez says stronger boating education could help prevent future tragedies.<\/p>\n

“I think we are the living example that tragedy can strike at a moment’s notice when you least expect it, and we need to do a better job to prevent it,” Fernandez said. “Personally, I think it all starts with education. I think the vast majority of operators out there do not have enough education, or any education at all.” \u00a0<\/p>\n

Another recent tragedy is also weighing on many in South Florida.<\/p>\n

Family and friends gathered to remember 23-year-old Akin Liverpool, known as “King,” who died in a boating incident on Biscayne Bay last month. Investigators said Liverpool fell off a boat, and those onboard did not realize he was missing until later. \u00a0<\/p>\n

His friends hope others will learn from what happened.<\/p>\n

“Make sure you’re in the buddy system. Don’t let anybody walk on the side of the boat by themselves. Don’t get overly drunk. You can’t be accountable for everybody on the boat. Just be safe and always make sure everyone’s accounted for,” friend Iyana Simon said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

As South Florida’s waterways fill up for the Fourth of July holiday, experienced boaters and families touched by loss share the same message: wear the proper safety equipment, stay sober, keep track of everyone onboard and never take a day on the water for granted. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With one of the busiest boating weekends of the year about to begin, South Florida boaters and families…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[73534,28,30,29,53221,807,8919],"class_list":["post-327989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-4th-of-july","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-july-4th","tag-south-florida","tag-water-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}