Everyone Likes Fishing and Boating on Sunny Days, Be Careful, The Sun Can Kill You

We all like to fish and boat on beautiful sunny days, but we all need to be careful, because the sun can kill you. I am sitting here at MARE Inc. on a rainy Tuesday in early May, making arrangements to attend a funeral for one of our longtime friends, he was one of the marine industries best that I have dealt with for some 24 years. He died of skin cancer after fighting a courageous battle for two years. He loved the outdoors and especially  small mouth bass fishing on the Susquehanna River.

Many of us have gone out fishing and boating without sun protection and, after a couple of days of peeling and discomfort we recovered. But some people do not recover. Prolonged exposure to the sun and multiple sunburns can lead to skin cancer. Several types of skin cancer left unaddressed can cause death. Everyone of us that spend time outdoors enjoying sports and recreation need to take steps to ensure that we are protected from the ultra violet rays that destroy our skin.

Today there is a great number of products on the market that can protect you from the sun for endless hours. Sun screen lotions, clothing materials that breath but protect you from UV's, hats and many products from a company called Buff. When it comes to sun screens, I prefer those that use zinc. Zinc is the white paste like cream that the lifeguards in all the movies have on. You will not tan using zinc, it blocks the suns rays and is not attractive to look at but it works. Clothing materials have come to the market that wicks away moisture yet breath so you never get overheated even when using long sleeves. Many of these clothing manufactures even put SPF ratings on their products. Hats and visors protect your head and even when used with polarized eye wear improve your vision. One quick tip is to find a hat or visor that the underside of the brim is dart colored, really helps your vision. The biggest trend in sun protection  brought to us from a company called Buff. Other companies make similar products but they are the trailblazers when it comes to sun protection for anglers. Buff offers a sleeve that pulls down over your head and covers your neck, it can be worn several ways as preferred by the user. They also offer gloves, I know "gloves", these gloves are comfortable and can be worn even when handling the smallest task, like knot tying. So as you can see, there are lots of ways to protect yourself from the sun while  fishing and boating.

Thursday I will attend Oz's funeral, back when he was young, the use of sun protection was not as advanced as it is today. There are no more excuses for any of us getting skin cancer from sun exposure. We all should use Oz's death as a sign to take better care of ourselves. As for Oz, tight lines and big small mouth jumps my friend.