Safe Boating Expo set in Oxnard
A Safe Boating Expo will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Coast Guard Station in the Channel Islands Harbor, 4201 S. Victoria Ave., Oxnard.
The event will include fire and rescue demonstrations, life jacket giveaways for kids, fire extinguisher demonstrations and other free offerings intended to encourage safe boating.
Participating agencies include the Coast Guard, Channel Islands Harbor Patrol, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Ventura County Fire Department and American Red Cross.
“We’re having an actual search and rescue demonstration, in which a helicopter will pick a person up out of a burning boat,” said Henry Goldman, who coordinates the National Safe Boating Campaign event for the Coast Guard auxiliary in Oxnard. “People will be able to see it from the harbor. We’ll have one demonstration in the morning, with the Coast Guard helicopter, and one in the afternoon, with the Sheriff’s Department helicopter.”
Included in the expo will be tours for kids of the Coast Guard cutter Blacktip and the 41-foot UTB patrol boat. The tours will include a short ride out to the harbor entrance. To make a reservation for the tours, call 800-704-5620 or 38007, or contact Henry Goldman at cgauxpa@yahoo.com.
The Coast Guard auxiliary also will offer free safety inspections for boats at the Channel Island boat ramp and the Ventura Harbor boat ramp, with Coast Guard-approved hull stickers available for boats that are properly equipped.
In addition, the Ventura County Fire Department will demonstrate how to operate fire extinguishers. Flares with a past expiration date can be left for disposal with the department’s bomb squad. The Red Cross also will show how to use heart defibrillators, while vendors will be on hand with the latest life jackets and other safety gear.
