Memorial Day weekend is almost here, and as anyone who owns
a boat can tell you, it’s one of the popular times of the entire boating
season. Not only is it important to get out and celebrate the weekend by paying
tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the United States
armed forces, but it’s a federal holiday—and that means just about everyone gets to enjoy the beautiful weather.
If you want to make the most of this weekend, it’s going to
help to review a few key tips for safety and boat maintenance. After all, if
you’re going to enjoy yourself this Memorial Day Monday, you’re going to want
nothing but—forgive the pun—smooth sailing. Toward that end, we have a few
preparation tips before Memorial Day hits so you can enjoy the day off.
Remember Your Safety
Tips
The old saying “safety first” certainly applies here. And
while we’d refer you to our Boating Safety Tips,
now’s as good a time as any to review and ensure that you have a few key safety
measures in mind:
- Make sure
you have enough life vests handy. Not only is it common sense, but most
laws will require that you have enough life vests to account for everyone on
the boat. And on Memorial Day weekend, you can count on the authorities being
out in full force to ensure people are playing by the rules. - Don’t
drink and operate. Operating a boat isn’t easy, and under the influence
it’s downright dangerous—not to mention against the law. Make sure to have a
good time without imbibing to ensure the safety of everyone involved. - Keep
passengers informed. You don’t have to give a safety seminar every time you
head out, but you’ll likely find it helpful to make sure passengers know key
information, such as where the life vests are located.
By using your common sense and making sensible choices, you
should have no problem enjoying your boat to its fullest while simultaneously
ensuring that everyone plays safe.
Holiday Checklist
To make sure that on Memorial Day, you can spend most of
your time socializing and having fun, it’s important to follow a preparatory
checklist before Monday. If there’s
anything boaters know, after all, it’s the mantra of “work hard, play hard”:
- Inspect
the boat. Doing your usual inspection before Memorial Day is important to
ensure that there is no damage to important pieces of the puzzle like the
battery. If you haven’t already done your Spring
Checklist, make sure to do that before the big day! - Clean and
rinse the boat. Making sure that your boat is water-ready means it should be
clean on the inside and sparkling on the outside.
Memorial Day isn’t only an important federal holiday, but
it’s the unofficial start of summer—and boating season. To make sure you live
it to its fullest, do the work now so
you can enjoy yourself later.
