FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office took to the community of Fernandina Beach Friday morning with one important message: boating safety.
“We’ve had quite a few calls here very recently where people were ejected out of boats while not wearing life preservers, almost getting run over by their own boats while it was tilling here,” said Detective Wesley Padget with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.
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The sheriff’s office took the time to do boating inspections Friday afternoon while handing out t-shirts to kids who showed up in their life vests. Meanwhile, this message comes just in time for the Fourth of July holiday, which the sheriff’s office says typically carries a high risk of unsafe behavior on the open water.
“[It’s] definitely a concern with impaired boaters on the water, whether it may be drugs or alcohol,” said Detective Padget. “Definitely something we’re out here we’re trying to enforce and make sure that we can cut back on that as much as possible.”
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Some of the most important things the sheriff’s office says the public can do is have their life vests, a throwable flotation device, and make sure their boats are to regulation.
Action News Jax also had the chance to speak with long-time boater Benny Hendrix, who provided a tip of his own.
“There been some issues here lately of people falling out the boat and the boats running, so you got that lanyard, you may wanna have it handy so in case it kills your motor if you fall overboard,” advised Hendrix.
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