United States Coast Guard Fairport holds open house to kick off National Safe Boating Week

United States Coast Guard Station Fairport in Painesville Township held an open house May 19 to educate the public on the mission of the Coast Guard and how to stay safe on the water.

The Coast Guard used the open house as a way to kick off National Safe Boating Week, which runs May 19-25.

“(May 19) is kind of just a reach out to the public and the boating public to kick off the summer season,” Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Brock Taylor said.

Although many summer activities start on Memorial Day, the weekend before that, which is also the weekend before Safe Boating Week, is the perfect time to have an open house, Taylor said.

“We let everybody come in and we try to educate them on all the safety requirements they should have on board their boat when they go out on the water, and we make it fun,” Taylor said. “We give them boat rides and we had a helicopter fly over head.”

Taylor described the open house as a day of education and entertainment, as well as a day of interacting with the public, to let them know the Coast Guard aren’t the bad guys but people who are actually out there to help.

Visitors to the station were greeted by Coastie the Safety Boat, a remote-controlled interactive robotic tugboat that is typically used for boating and water presentations to kids.

Inside the station, there were numerous demonstrations and information on joining the Coast Guard, kayak safety, flotation devices, signaling devices, navigation rules, knots and safety.

Coast Guard member Jim O’Donnell, during a knot-tying demonstration with Evan Stapleton, 15, of Willoughby, explained that knowing your knots and how to properly tie them could be the difference between life and death.

O’Donnell stressed neatness in a knot is critical.

“When you make it simple and clean, you know it is done right and it will hold together when you are tying onto a boat, hauling someone in who fell overboard or doing rigging,” O’Donnell said. “A sloppy knot could lead to things coming apart at the worst possible time, such as in the middle of a storm.”

“We have our partnering agencies here also that assist us: the Mentor Fire Department Dive Team, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Coast Guard recruiters and Spirit of America,” Taylor said. “We all kind of join together to give a big push for boating safety.”

One of the interesting exhibits included dealing with a fire on a boat and proper use of a fire extinguisher.

A fire displayed on a monitor and visitors to the event then used a fire extinguisher with a laser pointed at the screen to try to extinguish the blaze.

In addition to the exhibits and demonstrations, tours were available of the $2.7 million 45-foot response boat primarily used for search and rescue; and the $1.7 million 25-foot response boat used primarily for law enforcement.

To many, the highlight of the day was the ride on the Coast Guard medium-size search and rescue boat along the Grand River, with a photo stop at the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse.

Jessica Shansky,15, of Concord Township; Charlie Beardslee, 11, of Fairport Harbor; and Cole Dockus,15, Lakewood, all had the opportunity to aid in driving the boat after expressing an interest in the Coast Guard.

Jessica, who also got to drive the boat at last year’s open house,thought it was a lot of fun, while Charlie described the experience at really, really fun and awesome.

Cole, who already has discussed with his family his desire to join the Coast Guard, took advantage of the opportunity to talk one-on-one with the boat’s driver, Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Harry Ramsey. They talked about the qualifications needed to be in the Coast Guard and operate a boat such as the one used in search-and-rescue missions.

Sierra Cook, 9, Mentor, attended the event with her stepdad, Matt Bochnik, who said it was their first time there and it was pretty cool.

“My daughter Estella, 6, just said she loved the boat ride because the downstairs was super fun. They had seats and a microwave and rescue stuff,” Angela Barbarino Schmidt of Eastlake said. “I loved how friendly and informative the staff was. They encourage questions and you could tell they love what they do.”

Schmidt said she does a lot with her daughter, but this was one event she really enjoyed and was impressed by the level of friendliness they experienced there.

According to Taylor, the turnout was very good, with a lot of families coming through with a lot of kids who are interested in what the Coast Guard does.

“We are excited to have everybody out here and enjoying the day,” Taylor said.

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