Sea Tow/Yamaha Join Hands To Save Lives – You Can, Too
On average, 2 boaters lose their lives every day, most of them by drowning. That’s why the Sea Tow Foundation’s Life Jacket Loaner Program was started, and now it has over 1,000 stands across the US, allowing boaters – including paddleboarders and kayakers -- to borrow and return life jackets for a safe day on the water.
As the largest life jacket loaner program in the world, the Sea Tow Foundation aims to prevent drowning by ensuring free access to life jackets in all sizes for boaters so that money doesn’t get in the way of being able to have a life jacket to wear.
Life Jacket Loaner Program grants are available to clubs, organizations, municipalities and businesses throughout the U.S. These grants provide limited quantities of life jackets and/or loaner stand building kits to create life jacket loaner stations, or to replenish existing ones. They can be placed in your local area where they can be made available to boaters who would like to borrow life jackets for the day.
The 2023 boating season application is open from November 1, 2022 through February 1, 2023. Organizations, businesses, agencies and individuals are encouraged to apply here.
“We are so grateful for Yamaha’s incredibly generous donation of life jackets,” says Gail R. Kulp, Executive Director of the Sea Tow Foundation. “The impact 800 life jackets will have on our loaner stands is massive, ultimately meaning more people can make safe, fun and lasting memories on the water for years to come.”
Yamaha Giving Back
“Yamaha is deeply committed to making boating welcoming and inclusive for everyone, and having access to a life jacket every time you go boating is essential,” says Leslie Zlotnick, Marketing Division Manager, Yamaha WaterCraft Group. “Partnering with the Sea Tow Foundation to distribute these life jackets to loaner stands where they can have an immediate impact was a nobrainer.
Distribution to Specific Places
Yamaha’s donated jackets are being distributed this week and will be put into immediate use during the upcoming boating season. In California, roughly 225 jackets will be used in 4 loaner stations hosted by Sea Tow Newport Beach, Sea Tow LA, the City of Oceanside Harbor Division and the LifeSail Organization, all in busy areas with a variety of boaters including stand-up paddleboards, sailboats and powerboats.
Additionally, 320 life jackets from Kennesaw, Ga., are headed to Sea Tow franchises in Lake Sinclair, Lake Allatoona, Lake Oconee and Clarks Hill Lake to be used at 12 loaner stations, and to local state parks through a partnership with Georgia’s DNR Law Enforcement Division.
They will also go to the US Army Corps of Engineers in Lake Allatoona who manage 22 loaner stations in the region.
Life Jacket Partnership
Your business or organization can partner with the Sea Tow Foundation to establish a Life Jacket Loaner program in your community if you need 250 life jackets or more. Your company logo will appear on the back of the life jackets along with the Sea Tow Foundation’s logo and signage on the stands can also feature your company logo. For more information on the process and the fees involved, please click here.
Power Squadron Gets Involved
Nearly 250 life jackets from Pleasant Prairie, Wisc., will go to the Milwaukee Sail & Power Squadron who manage two loaner stands as well as to other Sail & Power Squadrons in the region and they also plan to use these life jackets at upcoming boat shows.
Boating safety and the success of our industry go hand-in-hand, and the Sea Tow Foundation has been instrumental in boating safety education from its Life Jacket Loaner Program to the Sober Skipper Campaign and more.