I got an email at the end of last week from Rick Hughes in Cropwell, AL that I thought would be fun to share with everyone.

Being large (6′2″/ 250 pounds) requires a well fitting and functional life jacket. Since purchasing mine at Bass Pro Shops, I have enjoyed much comfort and peace of mind. Thank you for providing such a wonderful piece of equipment.

The US Coast Guard Auxiliary today published a list of Father’s Day Gift Ideas for Boaters and Those Who Love Them. The top item on the list is a “Sleek, light-weight, and comfortable inflatable lifejacket”.

This picture, submitted by jbabi1 for our Safe Boating Photo Contest gives you an idea of some of the great new inflatable PFDs out there for dad.

Ladies Lets Go Fishing offers training and real hands-on experience to learn how to fish, and a chance to go fishing on the water! One of the skills the ladies learn at the weekend seminars is boat handling. We are proud to support them by equipping their boat with our Inflatable PFD with HIT in hot pink! There are seminars coming up in Sarasota in August and another one in Islamorada in September.

They sent me some pictures today from past seminars in Ft. Lauderdale and Stuart and I have posted them up on Flickr. Take a look!

Entries like this one from usefulguy have started to come in for the Safe Boating Photo Contest. You still have plenty of time to share your photo and have the chance to see it used in the Discover Boating program and win a family pack of Mustang Survival life jackets.

Entering is easy using the free photo sharing site Flickr. Simply upload your photo and include the tag sbpc2008 and you are entered.

Recently CTV did a story on Canadian Researchers doing a study on the elusive Greenland shark in the Canadian Arctic. The team headed by Dr. Steven Campana fished through a five-foot diameter hole drilled through three feet of ice, and caught an average of two Greenland sharks each day.

On average, the sharks are between 2.5 and 3.5 metres in length, weighing in between 500 and 700 pounds. If the sharks were dead when they were hauled to the surface researchers would perform an autopsy. If they were still alive, they recorded their measurements, tagged them with satellite tracking devices and released them in order to learn more about their habits. CTV

Visit the Canadian Shark Research Laboratory website for more details.

Photo Credit: Dr Steven Campana, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada

North American Safe Boating Week is well underway. There are events happening across the United States and Canada. Rear Adm. John P. Currier, Commander of the 13th US Coast Guard District (Pacific Northwest) taped a special boating safety public service announcement wearing a Mustang Survival inflatable PFD. You can see more of their videos on their YouTube page.

We’re having a Safe Boating Photo Contest and we want to see your pictures!

Whether you are a sailor, angler, paddler, cruiser or love any of the many other boating activities enter a picture of you, your family and friends enjoying the water while wearing your life jackets. Your picture could be featured within the Discover Boating program and you could win a family pack of Mustang Survival PFDs!

Entering is really easy, all you need to do is upload your photo to the Flickr free photo sharing website and add the tag SBPC2008. We are accepting entries until July 20th. We’ll announce 10 finalists in August when the public will have the chance to vote on their favorite.

Check out the contest page for full details!

Lifejackets have come a long way! They are no longer the big bulky bring orange life preservers from the past. Now they are sleek, comfortable and dare I say a little stylish.

Today, May 15th is Red Cross National Lifejacket Day in Canada and Mustang Survival is proud to partner with the Red Cross in
spreading their important boating safety message.

You even have a chance to win a family pack of lifejackets! Enter the contest on the Canadian Red Cross website today!