Lifejackets

for everyone

Children building memories at the Oak Harbor Marina will no longer have to place themselves in danger by gamboling on the dock without proper lifejackets.

Members of the Oak Harbor Yacht Club and Deception Pass Sail and Power Squadron have been busy constructing a handsome, well-built kiosk that now resides at the top of the marina dock. While the kiosk is impressive in itself, the brand new lifejackets hanging inside the shelter are the main attraction.

Following a formal and festive boating season opening day ceremony and the ensuing buccaneer cannon fire, the boating aficionados migrated to the marina dock where they saw a novel idea realized.

J.J. and Kathy Jones imported the deceptively simple concept from Canada after noticing the loaner lifejacket kiosks dotting the marinas north of the border. Jones doggedly pursued the project through liability issues and plentiful red tape. His tenacity and enthusiasm spread and before long the momentum of the lifejacket safety undertaking could not be stopped.

Marina personnel have always emphasized the need for children to wear lifejackets, but until the slew of new flotation devices donated by the Greater Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce arrived, the emphasis was a recommendation. Now it’s a requirement.

“Every visiting power squadron and yacht club member in attendance asked for my contact info and they all took pictures,” Jones said. “I suspect we will see many more of these in the surrounding communities.”

The Bishai family of Langley have already taken advantage of the loaner jackets.

“I thought it was really innovative,” said Michele Bishai, whose two children, 8-year-old Carlos and 5-year-old Maria, enjoy plucking the yellow lifejackets from the kiosk wall and then having their way with the dock.

When Michele and her husband, Sam, first saw the kiosk, she said with a laugh that they thought it was constructed for them.

“We’re down here so often and in the off season you don’t always have lifejackets with you,” she said. “In the winter you sometimes just stop by to do work on the boat or start the engine. It’s been really convenient. And it’s allowed us to be safer and conform to regulations.”

Michele said she has already spotted the lifejackets making their way around the docks on the backs of children.

“This is perfect because it’s hard to keep kids from running on docks,” she said. “They can trip over a cleat; anything can happen. They’re just kids. It makes me feel a lot better knowing the jackets are available. It’s a much safer environment.”

Like Jones, Michele said she would not be surprised to see other communities adopt the program.

“It just makes sense,” she said.