Here is a situation in which many Marco boaters might find themselves. The grandkids are coming for their annual visit and they’re excited to go on a boat ride. You want to take them, but they need child-size life jackets, and you don’t have any.

Like the cavalry riding to the rescue, the Marco Island Police Department Life Jacket Loaner Program For Kids has you covered. Bring the youngsters down to the police station on Bald Eagle Drive during business hours — or just know how much they weigh — and the police will loan you the appropriate size life jackets.

Police Chief Thom Carr has used the program himself, he said, when his grandchildren come to visit. He has four, two boys and two girls, and is due for a visit from the two boys and their parents later this month.

“This is a great program, and it gets used quite often,” said Carr. The two Marco police boats that patrol waters around the Island also carry some of the life jackets on board, he explained. “That’s the whole point of the marine patrol — to educate the public and make sure they’re safe. A lot of visitors to Marco aren’t experienced boaters, and aren’t familiar with the laws.” He pointed out that boaters may be issued citations if they do not have appropriate life jackets aboard for all their passengers.

Steve and Carole Roberts are two Marco Islanders who took advantage of the loaner life jacket program. Their granddaughter, Gracie Snow Kingon, who lives with her parents in Denver, was in town recently and got to go out on her first boat ride ever.

“We’re fairly new boaters,” said Carole. “My husband took the classes, and I went to an Orion Bank roundtable session on boat safety. That’s where I found out about this program.”

Gracie and her parents went along on Blah Blah Blah, the Roberts’ 26-foot Glacier Bay catamaran, for a cruise to the Esplanade that included lunch at CJ’s on the Bay. The Roberts have life jackets for themselves and their two Tibetan terriers, but didn’t have one for Gracie.

“Kids grow so fast,” said Carole. “Gracie is only 6 months old, and when she comes to visit again, she’ll probably be twice the size, so she’ll need a larger size life jacket.”

This situation is what makes the police department’s loaner program so useful, said Doug Johnson, staff officer for public education with the Coast Guard Auxiliary, who conducted the briefing Carole Roberts attended.

“The loaner program is fantastic, especially here,” he said. “We get a lot of company — especially grandkids — and kids need to have those jackets on.” He has already bought two different size life jackets for his 3-year-old grandson, he said.

In the past, law enforcement and safety personnel referred to life jackets as PFDs, short for personal flotation devices, but reverted to the simpler terminology because, “people’s eyes tended to glaze over,” added Johnson.

Children under 6 are required to wear a life jacket at all times on any vessel 26 feet long or under, he said. Children 12 years or younger must also wear a life jacket if they are on a boat more than nine miles off the Gulf coast.

Although boaters are required to carry life jackets, they don’t do any good if they’re not used. “It’s not uncommon for people to have their life jackets in a nice, sealed plastic bag that’s never been opened,” said Johnson. “It’s a good idea to hand them out when your passengers come aboard.”

Some of the children’s life jackets waiting inside the big receptacle behind the reception desk at the police station still had sand on them from their last outing. Boaters are urged, if they make use of this great free service provided by the city, to be considerate and give them a good rinse before they are returned.

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