ODNR Encourages Boaters to Use Winter Months to Prepare for a Safe Boating Season

ZANESVILLE, OH- While the waterways may be quiet during the winter months, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is encouraging boaters to use this time to brush up on some skills.

Whether you’re new to boating or a seasoned operator, ODNR suggests that all boaters complete the Ohio Boating Education Course so you can be fully prepared when better weather returns.

Andy Foos, the State Boating Education Coordinator, says there’s been a law in place since 2001 that requires all boaters on or after January 1st, 1982 needs to complete the OBEC if the plan to operate a boat powered by more than 10 horsepower.

“There’s a couple of different ways to take the course.” Foos said. “We offer our in person courses, which obviously we may be biased but, we think that’s the best way to learn. You’re in a teaching environment, a classroom, where you have an officer or an instructor in person, and you can ask questions of your local areas, if you have a specific problem you’re seeing or you just have a question about a specific body of water. You have those local officers there to answer those questions for you.”

Foos says the course covers the basic rules of the road like who has the right of way in different situations, required equipment, as well as safety procedures.

He says even the most experienced boaters that have signed up for the course have walked away with a little more knowledge than they had before.

“We get a lot of times where people who say they have been boating for 50 years and then they show up to the class and they walk away with something they learned.” Foos said. “In the class we’re going to make sure you have the updated laws and rules because those things do change periodically. When they do, we do plenty of press releases and indications about it, but if the last time you took any sort of [boating] education was 30 years ago, it’s not a bad idea to sit into an up to date course.”

If you are interested in signing up for one of the boating safety courses, you can head to the ODNR’s website.