Boater Safety Materials

LBA Water Safety Supervisor Kevin Hardy has developed an outstanding set of materials that cover everything anyone wants and needs to know about water safety at Lake Barcroft.  The materials cover what one needs to have on a boat, navigation, what do to if one breaks down, boating behaviors such as who has the right of way, what are the Virginia laws covering boating in Lake Barcroft, and much more. Much of the material is taken from the Virginia Watercraft Owner's Guide and modeled around the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) approved state boating course. This set of slides was developed by Kevin after the LBA Board voted last year to require anyone under 21 operating a pontoon boat to take the course and pass a test indicating understanding of the material.  But we encourage everyone who uses the Lake to review the materials - most especially pontoon boat operators, but also other boaters and swimmers.  I think that everyone will learn something new from this material.

We are currently developing an overview of this extensive material and once that is ready we will be amending the boating rules with the requirement noted above - that pontoon boat operators under 21 must review the material and pass the test to indicate knowledge of the material. 

The material is broken down into modules so one can review different sections in a timely manner.  Everyone is encouraged to look through these slides. Please feel free to take the test as well!  It is not punitive, but rather, developed so as to increase awareness and understanding of safe boating at Lake Barcroft.  It is an “open book” test, and all the answers are found in the materials.  Our only goal is to increase awareness and safe boating behavior in our Lake.

Brenda Pierce, LBA Water Safety Chair

Study Guide Slides

Boating Safety Test (50 questions)

American Red Cross Small Craft Safety Course
Small Craft Safety, Part 1
Small Craft Safety, Part 2

Lake Barcroft is an authorized provider of the Red Cross Aquatics programs and therefore have the rights to share the content for educational purposes.

Basic Knot Tying (PDF)