Under no circumstances should these boats be used for anything but life-saving duty.
_Ring Buoys._ Ring buoys should be placed on every dock. These should not be over nineteen inches in diameter, and should be equipped with sixty feet of 1/4" line with a float or "lemon" on end. Ring buoys are valueless unless ready at all times for use, so should be mounted on a rack the shape of a cross, painted red, having a peg, 5" long, on the end of each arm, for the rope to be loosely coiled around. The top loop of the buoy hangs on the top peg. By this arrangement, the buoy is always ready for use.
Water glasses, first aid equipment, grappling irons, and extra boat equipment, such as oars, rowlocks, and boat hooks, should be kept on hand ready for instant use.
_Row Boats and Canoes._ All row boats should be placed in first class condition and tested out to find their safety capacity. The way to determine this is to fill the boat full of water and find out how many it will support in the water holding on to sides; this then is the safe number to carry in the boat when free from water. If boats are equipped with a small air-tight compartment of metal in bow and stern, it will increase their buoyancy to a great extent. Every boat should be plainly marked: THE CAPACITY OF THIS BOAT IS..., with white paint on both sides.
_Choosing the Crew._ Every camp should build up around its Master of Aquatics a Life Saving Corps from among the campers. Choosing the personnel of the Corps is a very important matter. The applicants should understand that it is an honor to be a member of this unit.
It will be found that if the members of the Corps are allowed to have separate sleeping quarters, near the water, over which they fly the Red Cross Life Saving Corps flag, mess together and be relieved of K. P. duty, that they will develop an esprit de corps which will make for efficiency in their work and be of great value to the general morale of the camp.
Everyone trying for membership should first have a medical examination to prove that he is physically able to stand the very difficult work which he may have to perform at any time. The group of applicants should then be tested out as to their swimming ability, especially being required to swim on back without hands, and on side with one arm only.