In the Loop is the authorized newsletter of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 59, Smithfield, VA. It is published monthly as a PDF and emailed to members. Hard copies are available by request from the editor. Members are encouraged to submit articles, photos, and letters. Editor reserves the right to edit all submissions for length and content. In this issue: - Boater safety class deadline looms - Watch our music video, help us reach 5,000 YouTube views - “All I ask is a tall ship:” Harborfest 2016

1. Watch Our Video
Last year, Flotilla 59
released a music video
about the Auxiliary. Help
it get to 5,000 views on
YouTube!
page 2
Boater Safety Class
As of July 1, 2016, all
motorboat operators will
be required to complete
a boater safety class
and carry a DGIF card.
page 1
Harborfest 2016
Flotilla 59 patrolled the
Norfolk harbor during
Harborfest 2016 and
saw the American Rover
up close and personal.
page 2
In this
issue:
The Newsletter of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 59 • Smithfield, VA • June 2016
Boater Safety Course Deadline Looms
Meeting Highlights
See Boater Safety, page 2 See Meeting, page 2
Smithfield Flotilla 59 held its monthly
meeting May 16, 7 p.m. at the American
Legion in Smithfield. Here’s what you may
have missed if you could not attend:
Awards and Recognition
Michelle Thornton received her air
observer qualification and her sustained
service award for 5,250 cumulative hours
of service to the Auxiliary.
Announcements
DIVISION - Division V meetings will
no longer be held in The Wheelhouse in
Portsmouth. New location TBD.
TRAINING - Flotilla 59 has met the
requirement for 90% of its members
having completed their mandatory training
courses, and is now eligible for the NACO
3-star award.
Staff Report Highlights
PA - The Flotilla kicked off National
Safe Boating Week with a PA booth at the
Smithfield Farmer’s Market Saturday, May
21 and free vessel safety checks at the
Smithfield Station Marina. Vessel checks
were also offered Sunday, May 22 at the
Windsor Castle Park kayak launch and at
Jones Creek Boat Launch Saturday and
Sunday, May 28-29.
Beginning July 1, 2016, Virginia state
law will require personal watercraft and
motorboat operators of all ages complete
a basic boater safety course approved
by the Virginia Department of Game and
Inland Fisheries (DGIF) and carry a proof-
of-completion card when on the water.
The approaching deadline completes
the final benchmark of a law the Virginia
General Assembly passed in 2007, which
was written to be phased-in over a period
of several years, with the requirements
gradually extending each year to include a
wider age range of boats, watercraft, and
boaters. The previous benchmark, which
took effect in July 2015, mandated that all
boaters age 50 and younger complete a
course.
Smithfield Flotilla 59 of the U.S. Coast
Guard Auxiliary will offer the required
course free of charge over two consecutive
nights June 30 – July 1 from 6-10 p.m. at
the Isle of Wight Rescue Squad, 13080
Great Springs Rd., Smithfield. Upon
completion of the course, students will
receive their DGIF boater card, which will

2. S
M
ITHFIELD, V
A
FLOTILLA
SMITHFIELD, VA
Boater Safety
cont. from page 1
Meeting
cont. from page 1
In the Loop
is the authorized newsletter of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 59, Smithfield, VA. It is published monthly
as a PDF and emailed to members. Hard copies are available by request from the editor. Members are
encouraged to submit articles, photos, and letters to FSO-PB/FSO-CS Stephen Faleski at stephenfaleski@
gmail.com. Editor reserves the right to edit all submissions for length and content.
FC/FSO-MS: R. Anderson Braswell
VFC: H. Fred Hetzel
FSO-FN/PA/MT: Peter Faleski
FSO-CS/PB/SR: Stephen Faleski
FSO-IS/PE: George Langdon
FSO-HR: Vacant
FSO-DV/NS/DCAPT: Michelle Thornton
FSO-PV: Charlie More
FSO-VE: Lou Bott
FSO-OP: Al Coke
“All I ask is a tall ship:” Harborfest ‘16
Boat crews from Flotilla 59 were on patrol at Harborfest 2016 in Norfolk, VA June 9-12,
where they got an up-close and personal view of the American Rover, a sailing vessel
offering harbor cruises of Hampton Roads since 1986. Photo by Peter Faleski, FSO-FN.
PV - Flotilla 59 has received numerous
requests from program partners in Surry
County for literature, and several are
interested in partnering to offer free
vesel exams and boater safety courses,
including the Surry County government
and the Surry Seafood Co. and Marina.
PE - Michelle Thornton and Coast
Guard BM1 Resario will deliver a
recreational boater safety presentation to
the crew of the U.S.S. Gerald Ford.
MT - Michelle Thornton completed
the AUXCOMM course and Fred Hetzel
completed AUXMEAS, AUXCOMM and
AUXSEA. Both have now completed all
requirements for AUXOP status.
OP - Flotilla 59 worked alongside
an active duty Coast Guard boarding
team Friday, May 20 to provide realistic
boating scenarios for the team during on-
the-water vessel safety checks. Dockside
training was held at the Smithfield Station
Marina on Saturday, June 4. There were
two missions scheduled, one during the
day and another in the evening for night
operations.
DSAR - There are now three teams
scheduled to participate in DSAR 2016,
two of which are from Flotilla 59. The other
team is from Division III. DSAR will be held
at TRACEN, Yorktown Aug. 13-14.
never expire.
Flotilla 59’s George Langdon, an
experienced boater with more than 20
years of service in the USCG Auxiliary, will
teach the course. Students can register
for the course by going to www.aux59.org
and clicking the register button at the top
of the flotilla’s homepage.
The course requirement law was
passed in response to increasingly
congested Virginia waterways and a
report by the DGIF in 2006 indicating
a total of 23 fatalities from recreational
boating accidents for the year and over
700 recreational
boating accidents in
the past five years,
100 of which were
fatal.
E x e m p t i o n s
from the requirement
include manually
propelled craft such
as canoes and
kayaks, motorboats
with engines under 10 horsepower, and
sailboats that are un-powered or use
enginesunder10horsepower.Additionally,
anyone with a Coast-Guard-issued
license to operate
a vessel, registered
Virginia commercial
fishermen, present
and past surface
warfare officers or
enlisted surface
warfare specialists
in the U.S. Navy, and
anyone qualified as a
marine deck officer in
any branch of the Armed services is not
required to take the course.
On August 3, 2015 our music video “Flotilla 5-9!”
went live on YouTube. Now, the video stands at
3,230 views. We would like to get our viewership
up to 5,000 by the video’s one-year anniversary
(August 3, 2016.) So, if you haven’t done so already, please
watch and share our video with as many people as you can. Thank you!
We Need Your Help:
WATCH OUR VIDEO
TO VIEW, VISIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI-CO7Y5xRI