Prepare your boat for a volunteer inspection this weekend if you plan to launch it in West 麻豆精选.
Over the weekend volunteers with the West 麻豆精选 RCMP will be assisting pleasure-craft boaters in a voluntary vessel safety pre-check at the Gellatly Bay public boat launch in West 麻豆精选.
The operation will be held Saturday, Aug. 26 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., during which time volunteers will ask boat operators to complete a pre-launch inspection of the minimum safety equipment items required under the Canada Shipping Act.
Each of the RCMP Volunteers, who hold valid boating licenses, have recently received training from an official with Transport Canada, said Roy Morgan, crime prevention coordinator for the West 麻豆精选 RCMP.
Morgan said this initiative is strictly a voluntary check. After its completion, a document will be presented to the boat operator who can then produce it if they are stopped by the RCMP patrol boat on the water.
鈥淭his is a prevention and education measure that not only assists the RCMP officers on the waters of Okanagan Lake, but enhances public safety by providing those boat operators the opportunity to correct any deficiencies they might have prior to launching into the water,鈥� said Cpl. Jesse O鈥橠onaghey.
This program will also promote the Clean, Drain, Dry and Don鈥檛 Move a Mussel campaigns introduced to combat the threat of aquatic invasive species getting into our water systems here in the Okanagan.
Volunteers will also be visually checking boats and their trailers for any potential signs of invasive quagga and zebra mussels after the group recently had been given training by an inspector of the province鈥檚 Invasive Mussel Defence Program, said Morgan.
For more information visit the Don鈥檛 Move a Mussel website.
