Curious about kayaking, canoeing or stand-up paddleboarding in Lee County? Want to learn how to stay safe on the water-without getting wet? The\u00a0U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary\u00a0invites families to attend a\u00a0Paddle Sports and Water Safety Day\u00a0this Saturday, Nov. 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.,\u00a0at the\u00a0North Fort Myers Community Pool, 5170 Orange Grove Blvd., North Fort Myers.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0free, family-friendly event\u00a0will feature live safety demonstrations conducted in the pool by trained Coast Guard Auxiliary instructors-while attendees watch safely from poolside. Topics include:<\/p>\n
\u2022 How to properly fit and wear a life jacket<\/p>\n
\u2022 Safe launching and paddling techniques<\/p>\n
\u2022 Recognizing hazards and avoiding disorientation<\/p>\n
\u2022 How to call for help in an emergency<\/p>\n
\u2022 Basic self-rescue and re-entry techniques (demonstrated by instructors)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Paddlecraft registration and safety regulations<\/p>\n
\u201cIn-water demonstrations will be led by\u00a0Donna Horsby, Flotilla Commander of Flotilla 94 (Franklin Lock) and certified instructor with the\u00a0Coast Guard Auxiliary Paddlecraft Program (AUXPAD),\u201d said\u00a0Robert Guenthner, Commander of Flotilla 91, Fort Myers Beach. \u201cAs paddle sports continue to grow in popularity, it\u2019s essential to equip our community with the tools and knowledge to stay safe on the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Florida Fish and Wildlife reports that paddlecraft-such as kayaks and canoes-are a growing factor in boating fatalities, often because paddlers don\u2019t see themselves as \u201cboaters\u201d and fail to wear life jackets.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery demonstration, every life jacket properly fitted, and every safety conversation we have could prevent a tragedy,\u201d said Guenthner. \u201cThat\u2019s why events like this are so important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Visitors can also speak with certified vessel safety examiners, take home free boating safety materials, and register their paddlecraft with the\u00a0Auxiliary\u2019s Paddlecraft ID Program-no paddling required and meet representatives of County Parks & Recreations, Swim Energy Aquatics, Safe Kids Southwest Florida and Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital. The event is free and open to all ages (Children must be accompanied by an adult). No registration is required.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Curious about kayaking, canoeing or stand-up paddleboarding in Lee County? Want to learn how to stay safe on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-34413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34413","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=34413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}