
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 19, 1995                   TAG: 9502180008
SECTION: BOAT SHOW                    PAGE: BS-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KNOWING RULES OF BOATING CAN SAVE LIVES

At the beginning of some of the safety courses he teaches, Paul Howell will occasionally ask: "If two boats are coming toward each other head on, who has the right of way?"

"The one who has the biggest boat," is an answer he has heard more than once.

"You would be surprised how many people don't know, or how many are not sure," said Howell, who is a boating education regional coordinator for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Howell likes to set them straight.

"They should both yield to the right and pass port-to-port, but a lot of them really don't know that," he said.

Some get hurt, even killed, because they don't.

There isn't any law in Virginia that says you must have instruction or know the rules of the road before you climb into a boat, crank the engine and take off. But Howell believes common senses dictates that you do.

For more than 25 years, Howell has been teaching boating safety, first as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and since 1990 as a regional coordinator of Department of Game and Inland Fisheries courses.

"I took an early retirement from industry and just kind of mentioned that I would like to do other things," said Howell, who lives in Roanoke.

When the regional coordinator job popped up, he took it. Last year, he played a role in presenting 568 certificates to students who completed either a game and fish department course or a course taught by the Coast Guard Auxiliary or U.S. Power Squadron.

For his accomplishments, Howell recently received the Julian Wise Award, a recognition established by the Safety Council of Southwest Virginia in 1985. It was named in honor of Julian Wise, one of the organizers of the Roanoke Lifesaving and First-Aid Crew in 1928, known as the first volunteer lifesaving and rescue organization in the world.

The toughest people to enlist in a safety course are those who have been in boating for a number of years and believe they know all the rules, Howell said.

"After taking the course we have had a lot of them to make written comments saying, 'Hey, I really didn't realize how much I didn't know. I am glad I took the course,'" Howell said.

Called "Boat Smart, Know Before You Go," the state course crams a tremendous amount of information into a a six hour, two-night period, Howell said. Most insurance companies will discount their boat policy fee 10 percent to 15 percent to clients who have completed the instruction, he said.

Often after taking the state course, participants will want additional instruction that is more detailed, Howell said. Advanced lessons can be found in courses presented by the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Power Squadron, he said.

by CNB