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Boating Safety Information

The Washington Flotilla patrols the Pamlico River during the boating season.  Our area of coverage is from the Washington waterfront to the junction of the Pamlico and Pungo rivers.

The Auxiliary is there for boating safety and help if needed by boaters.  We also assist the Coast Guard in search and rescue operations as well as verification of Aids to Navigation on the Pamlico River and its tributaries.

We do not do law enforcement but can suggest that activities are unsafe or illegal.  We are also part of the Waterway Watch program. 

We conduct free Vessel Safety Checks for your boat, canoe, or kayak at local marinas, boat ramps and at the homes of those who wish to insure that their boats meet Federal and state requirements.  We do approximately 300 inspections annually.

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If you properly prepared for safe boating with good current information and have the proper equipment that you may need aboard, then you will have a enjoyable and safe trip.  Here is some helpful information for boaters.

Essential Safety Information for Crew and Passengers:                                

Key things to know:                                                 Click on image above for video

1. Location of life jackets, first aid kit and fire extinguisher

2. How to make a basic radio call (Name of your boat for the Coast Guard). Push to talk, release to listen

3.Where to find Latitude/Longitude on the boat (GPS, Chartplotter, radio and how to transmit it

4.Start/stop engine procedure

5 Kill switch operation and location of the spare kill switch key.

6. Anchor procedures

 General Information:

Before You Go Boating - Checklist

Float Plan Form

About Marine Radios

National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Preparedness Information

Local, State and Federal Information:

North Carolina State Boating Information/Regulations

NOAA Charts

NOAA Booklet Charts - Print at home for free. Booklet Charts are made to help recreational boaters locate themselves on the water. The Booklet Chart is reduced in scale and divided into pages for convenience, but otherwise contains all the information of the full-scale nautical chart.

NOAA U.S. Coast Pilot - Detailed information on local waters.

Current National Weather Service Marine Weather

Current Local Washington, NC Weather Forecast

Ventusky Weather -  Weather, radar, winds, clouds,  waves, and much more.

National Data Buoy Center

Notice to Mariners

Coast Guard Navigation Center

Detailed Boating Information:

Find Any Location by Putting in Lat/Long

Coast Guard Light List - for every Aid to Navigation in the U.S.  Updated January of each year. Note: Top left box provides link for Weekly updates and corrections.

The Local Notice for Mariners - This document provides dredging activities, regattas, missing or damaged Aids to Navigation - both public and private.

NOTICE/DISCLAIMER: Links to non-Coast Guard entities are not under the control of the United States Coast Guard or the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, and are provided for the convenience of our customers. They do not, in any way, constitute an endorsement of the linked pages or any commercial or private issues or products presented there. We cannot make any warranty or representation concerning the content of these sites, or secondary sites from the pages to which they link.