USPS ®, working in partnership with the United States Coast Guard and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, provides free vessel safety checks for any small boat.

A Vessel Safety Check is a courtesy examination of your boat (Vessel) to verify the presence and condition of certain Safety Equipment required by State and the Federal regulations. The Vessel Examiner is a trained specialist and is a member or the US Power Squadrons or the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. They will also make certain recommendations and discuss certain safety issues that will make you a safer boater.

This is not boarding or a law enforcement issue--the program is entirely voluntary.  Our examiner is a trained and experienced fellow boater, and the exam will be conducted in a professional, but friendly and helpful environment.  Feel free to ask questions--your participation is an important part in the program.  No citations will be given as a result of a Vessel Safety Check, and no report of the condition, passing or failing is made to the DNR, USCG or any government agency. We will supply you with a copy of our evaluation so that you may follow some of the suggestions given. If you present the evaluation form at a Boaters World, West Marine, or BoatUS store, they will give you an automatic 10% discount on safety and carriage related items.  Vessels that pass will be able to display our distinctive VSC decal. This does not exempt you from law enforcement boarding, but helps you be prepared so that if a boarding does occur it will be a positive encounter.

Some of the items we check in a Vessel Safety Check are;

Conduct your own pre-inspection--here's a virtual checklist of what to look for.

Our experience shows why your vessel might not pass a safety inspection.

If you are interested in this service, fill out the form below and click on the submit button. A USPS Vessel Examiner will contact you to arrange a safety check.

If your browser is not set up to send e-mail messages from forms, you may get a failure message when you click on the submit button.  Also, if you are using the AOL browser, the  form data will not be sent.  In either of these cases, just e-mail the information requested below to the D17 VSC Chairman.

 

  1. How may we contact you? (Your contact information will not be disclosed outside of USPS)
*First Name:       *Last Name:
Street Address: 
City:       State:      Zip:
Work Phone:       *Home Phone:
E-Mail:      

    2.    What kind of boat do you have?

Manufacturer:       Model:       Length:

    3.    Where is it normally located? (Our inspector will contact you to arrange a time and place to meet to

            inspect the boat; however, knowing the  general location helps us plan which inspector to assign.)
Location:

    4.    What would be a good time and place to meet? (Our inspector will contact you to confirm the time and

            place, but again knowing your general desires helps us plan which inspector to assign.)
Time and Place:

    5.    Any other questions or comments?

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