Young sailors need class before taking the helm

The Fayette County Marshal’s Office is hosting a “Boater Education” class to help residents comply with a state law that requires young sailors to take the class before taking the helm.

Beginning July 1, 2014, completion of a boater education course became mandatory for all vessel operators in Georgia who were born on or after Jan.1, 1998. The law requires anyone born on or after that date to complete a class approved by the Department of Natural Resources prior to operating a vessel on the waters of the state of Georgia.

The law, also known as the “Kile Glover Boat Education Law,” honors the memory of Glover, who was the stepson of Grammy award-winning performer Usher and who died in 2012 following a water craft accident on Lake Lanier.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported 4,062 boating-related accidents in 2013 that resulted in 560 deaths. Nearly 80 percent of those deaths were a result of not wearing lifejackets.

The Fayette county class will be taught by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in Suite 210 of the Fayette County Government Complex, 140 West Stonewall Ave., on Saturday, April 25. The class will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. with an hour for lunch.

 Anyone interested in participating in the class can go to www.gadnrle.org to pre-register.