CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas —
Whether you're a new or experienced boater, when heading out on the water, U.S. Coast Guard officials said safety should always be your No. 1 priority.
That starts with making sure you know what conditions lie ahead before you leave your home.
"Every good aviator, every good mariner should be looking at the weather before they even go out," Lt. Austin Ross said.
As the weather heats up, many people in the Coastal Bend will be spending their days on the water.
Memorial Day weekend is around the corner, and Ross, who works as a U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi search-and-rescue helicopter co-pilot, keeps a mental checklist of things people should carry for a successful and safe boating trip.
"If you do have to go out, or if you do find yourself out there, the most important thing to have in your vessel are life jackets and emergency position indicating radio beacons," he said.
Those beacons have a direct line to the U.S. Coast Guard's onshore and offshore rescue facilities. Ross said that device can make all the difference when trying to locate a boat in distress.
"If you do get in trouble, set those off. Make sure you have your life vests, and we'll try to come and find you,” Ross said. “The helicopters are great. We have direction finding capabilities to locate those almost immediately."
“From the Coast Guard's perspective, we want to make sure that people out there are safe,” Capt. Hans Govertson said. “The way that they can be safe and self-sufficient as well as they can is always having a radio. Have a marine-band radio that can call us and contact us on Channel 16."
If your radio stops working during an emergency and you're still in cell phone coverage, Ross says the best thing to do is call 911.
"They will relay your message to us. You should have some type of GPS on board to tell us exactly where you are. I encourage you to have an emergency kit, flares, mirrors, or anything like that that can help us find you from the air or water,” he said.