Newsletter Clips

Safety First

Last year, the Boat/US Foundation for Boating Safety awarded us with its prestigious Grassroots Grant. The purpose of the grant is to help local groups promote safe boating in their area, and in 1997 the foundation gave out a total of $45,000. Our project was to produce and display 25 aluminum signs advising PWC operators of the responsibilities associated with operating their craft. The foundation graciously awarded us $1,400 to cover the cost of materials. As it turned out, producing the signs was the easy part. The challenge would come in getting government approval to post them.

With all the negative attention to personal watercraft in the media, we had not expected this to be the case. Indeed concern for safety had been well documented in South Carolina, with a new law in the making. Surely, we thought, the legislature would smile on a project whose sole intention was to promote safe operation. The Charleston County Parks and Recreation Committe (PRC) was the first department to burst our bubble. Sadly, they informed us, they were in the process of "reducing clutter" at the 19 landings under their jurisdiction. They were already tearing down existing signs and consolidating them in kiosks, which resemble covered bulletin boards. Our aluminum signs were out of the question.

We went back to the drawing board, and back to Atlantic Signs. We needed a smaller version of the same sign on a lighter material. Sandra had been experimenting with a new PVC composite that she thought would be perfect for the new kiosks. The material is waterproof and UV resistant, so it would perform well in the harsh marine environment. It is also extrememly lightweight, with a fraction of the weight of aluminum. When she told us it was also less expensive than aluminum, we were sold!

We soon had the PRC sold as well, and they gave us permission to post the signs at each of their six existing kiosks. They also agreed to incorporate our signs in new kiosks as they were built, so we had found a home for 19 of our signs.

Our next phone call was to the Berkeley County Department of Public Works, which has control over several popular landings. They accepted our proposal with open arms, and we soon installed six of the original aluminum signs. Combined with the PRC signs, we had met our initial goal of 25. The lower cost of the PVC signs meant we were still within our budget, so we decided to press forward.

The final agency we contacted was the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Like the officials in Berkeley County, they thought the signs were a great idea. In fact, they liked the signs so much they even offered to use them at ramps outside the Charleston area. As a result, we have a total of 43 signs at boat landings across the entire state!

The lesson here is to not give up if you meet with resistance. Instead, be persistent and be creative. It paid off for us, as we nearly doubled our initial production goals. Many thanks to the Boat/US Foundation for funding our efforts.