Well done, Maine, for hiking from 10 to 12 the age for which occupants of a boat still have to wear Coast Guard-approved life jackets. It would be even better if they were required for adults, too. We so often get press releases of drownings where the victim did not have on a life jacket.

A May 2025 Maine Department of Marine Resources announcement said: "The latest U.S. Coast Guard statistics show 75% of boating fatalities were due to drowning, and that 87% of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets. New life jackets are much more comfortable, lightweight, and stylish than the bulky orange style most boaters know."

Less comfortable or less cool in a life jacket while boating? Less comfortable wearing a seat belt in the car and a helmet while ATV-ing? As with the drownings, many victims of car and ATV crashes were not taking these safety measures, either, according to the departments that respond to these accidents. 

The updated state law described in Monday’s press release from Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife does not apply when below deck, in an enclosed cabin, or if the craft has a USCG certificate of inspection.

The release also states, “Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife encourages everyone aboard a watercraft to always wear a life jacket.”

Sound advice from people who know what they're talking about. 

The law does not go that far and, if you are glad, because you feel life jacket-wearing should be a choice left to the boater, understood; but I still hope you choose to wear one.

Week's positive parting thought: For the moment you have been reading, it hopefully brought you back (or forward) to thoughts of summertime, on a hardened cold winter day.