It’s another beautiful day in Delray Beach, in sunny Florida! A little time off between the holidays to refresh the mind and body. The South end of the beach is my halfway point where I take just a moment to stare into the open ocean and reflect. In the distance, I see a family of snorkelers enjoying the warm Florida waters, and not far in the distance… what is that? A boat coming directly towards the family of snorkelers! Oh no!
My attention spikes as I look around to see if anyone notices the boat heading straight for the snorkeler, but no one is paying any attention. I look for the snorkeler’s dive flag and finally find it: it’s barely visible, half of it is tilted towards the water, and the wind blowing offshore makes it impossible to see both sides of the flag. Like a flashback from the news stories just a few weeks before, I see another accident ready to happen again, and on my beach.
Thankfully, the boat veers away and the family of snorkelers stays safe. But for how long, and what if? Because there is always a “WHAT IF” in water safety. What if the same tragedy that occurred just a few miles down the beach were to happen again? I immediately think: NO! NOT on MY BEACH!!! Not while I have a breath in me and a 3DBUOY™ in my garage!
With this thought in my mind, I start running, literally sprinting back home, grab my personal 3D Buoy and immediately return to the beach. I see two young men manning the beach rental station and plop the fully inflated 3D Buoy in front of them and proceeded to tell them my story. After a very friendly chat, I left them with the 3D Buoy, encouraged them to put it into immediate service. Then I gave them six business cards and if they knew some local people or organizations in the business that could benefit from a 3DBUOY™ I would give them all a 3DBUOY™ for free.
Both seemed super excited and started rattling off friends that they knew could benefit from the 3DBUOY™. I left the beach that morning feeling positive that at least the families on MY beach were safer. But what about the beach to our north or to the south? That’s when the idea came. What if we could all use 3DBUOY™ to keep our local beaches safe? If we (water lovers and enthusiasts) get together and refuse to accept imminent threats and possible tragedies by simply accepting the NOT MY BEACH CHALLENGE.
There is still a lot of education and change involved in keeping our snorkeler’s, divers, and boaters safe. And if that education comes in the package of a 3D Buoy and we can get those 3DBUOY™‘s in the hands of the folks that care enough, perhaps, just perhaps we can also make a change and forever say Not on ANY BEACH!
HOW CAN YOU HELP KEEP YOUR BEACH OR DIVING ORGANIZATION SAFER?
Simply, go to THIS PAGE and share a picture of your group and/or area, a note as to your local inherent dangers and why you feel you would be safer using a 3D Buoy. Then, during the month of February, Brownie’s Third Lung will give away 100 3DBUOY™ for free! If you don’t mind, we will ask that you pay for the shipping (est $15-$20 ground to anywhere in the US).
Are you ready to be part of it? Are you ready for the #NotOnMyBeachChallenge?
