Business as unusual

April 8, 2021

Let’s look at what’s happening today. Schools, stores and gyms are either closed or open. Restaurants are either open or closed, allow or don’t allow patio dining; you can or cannot gather with friends and family.  You get the picture. As helpful guidance, the Leafs, Oilers etc are playing in front of no one (and currently the Canucks not at all); the Jays, on the other hand, are in Texas beating up the Rangers in front of a full house of 40,000. That’s clear advice (not).

In many jurisdictions, golf and tennis are allowed. Kids hockey isn’t. And so on.  We can easily be forgiven for going completely nuts both from the virus and from the panorama of messages we get 24/7 from the news and a further 24/7 from every person we know. The experts are experts, everyone else is an expert, and yet nobody has much of a clue.

We are here today to shed some light on this woolly situation. Here’s a fact you can take to the bank: when you are out on the lake in your boat, socially distanced from your bubble family only, wearing a mask, wearing another mask on top of that mask, and washing your hands frequently, you are probably safe. That is to say, your boat is a refuge from all this and it will soon be available to whisk you to sanity. Yay spring!

Don’t forget this

Normally at this time of year when the water is cold you would be frequently reminded about hypothermia.  Amid this current avalanche of health advice, that can be missed. How many concerns can you absorb at a time?

But don’t overlook the reality of cold water dangers. You don’t need a regional health officer to tell you that hypothermia kills.

So while you’re out on your boat, don’t forget to be safe from everything else too – proper boating safety practices may be less than top of mind these pandemic days, so remember the list: pfds, first aid kits, spare shear pins, proper charts…etc. etc

Have a safe boating season from both a health and boating perspective – should be a snap! Just like a careful water skier, we will be negotiating the waves ahead.

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