Paddlers urged to always wear life jackets

The Coast Guard Auxiliary is launching a campaign to encourage paddlers to always wear life jackets. The effort comes after a New York City police officer died while kayaking earlier this month.

Patrick Luca, 41, of Smithtown was not wearing a flotation device when his body was found Aug. 13 near the mouth of the Nissequogue River in Kings Park. His 5-year-old son, who was wearing a life jacket, was rescued by boaters a day earlier.

The auxiliary, the volunteer arm of the Coast Guard, has been conducting a national campaign to persuade boaters to wear life jackets, but local officials are planning extra efforts geared toward paddlers.

The organization will offer safety demonstrations to show how to properly use life jackets, and the dangers of not wearing one. There will also be public safety advertisements. Dates or locations have not yet been set.

"We're trying to impress on people the importance of everyone wearing life jackets while they're on the water," said Fred Furnell of East Yaphank, district staff officer for vessel examinations for the auxiliary in southern New England, which includes Long Island.

Federal law requires a life jacket for every person on a boat, powered or nonpowered. But only people age 12 or younger must wear them.

"Too many people think nothing can happen to them," Furnell said.

But when a boat is sinking quickly or a paddle craft overturns, "there's no way in the world that you're going to be able to get the life jacket on and get it fitted to you" properly before you're in the water, he said. "Trying to get a life jacket on while you're in the water is just so much more difficult" because the life jacket is much more buoyant than a person.

Coast Guard Capt. Joe Vojvodich, commander of Sector Long Island Sound, said, "Life jackets are like seat belts: when you need them, it's too late to put them on."

Steven Berner of Shoreham, past president of Long Island Paddlers, an organization of kayaking and canoeing enthusiasts with about 300 members, said "most people can swim, but if you fall over and hit your head, you're not going to be able to swim."