Foundation Findings #49 takes a look at boaters' options for receiving weather updates while out on their boat cruisingboth near-coastal and inland waters.

From smartphone apps to satellite services, we rate the data available and ease of use for options ranging in price from several $100/year to free downloads on your phone.

Picture a great day on the water boating with friends and family. Cool breeze blowing in your hair, sunshine warming your face and refreshing water spraying on your skin. Clean water is essential to a great day boating. It can be easy to take it for granted, but not at the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water.

At the BoatUS Foundation, we have been working to protect our waterways through practical environmental education for over 17 years. With the help of people like you, the BoatUS Foundation has built over 1,200 fishing line recycling bins, partnered with over 1,400 fuel docks on clean fueling education, awarded over 150 grants to help address local environmental challenges nationwide and tested dozens of clean boating products - all to help boaters take care of their waterways.

Celebrate Earth day this April by helping us keep these vital environmental programs afloat. Each year the demand for fishing line recycling bins, grants and other environmental programs exceeds our budget. Help us bring these important clean water programs to more boaters - we are counting on you!

Have a little fun as you learn with two new nautical games and an exciting boating simulation program, available exclusively from BoatUS Foundation. Both DockIt! and NavigateIt! use 2-D Flash animation to create a fun way to learn the basics of boat handling, seamanship tactics and nautical rules of the road. Use your arrow keys to maneuver to avoid other boats and common obstacles. The BoatUS boating simulator puts you in the driver’s seat and uses a sophisticated 3-D modeling program to give you a virtual first-person experience. Use your mouse to adjust boat control settings and operator point-of-view. Available as a download only. The BoatUS games and simulator are free of charge and are intended as in introduction or even an enhancement to the traditional boating education experience. See for yourself how fun learning can be!

Nighttime boating can be a fun way to enjoy your boat. But there are several extra precautions that nighttime boaters should take to stay safe on the water. Not only is it important to understand what you see when looking at the lights from other boats and navigation aids, but you need to make sure those other boats can see you clearly.

To help you stay safe on your nighttime voyage, we tested several different options for navigation lights on the water as well as some simple solutions for making your existing lights more visible. Read more about the recent Foundation Findings on navigation lights - We See the Light.

Last summer boaters from across the country submitted photos of their kids in loaner life jackets for the Foundation's Life Jacket Loaner Photo Contest. The best photos have been selected and are now featured in a 2010 Calendar. Available in 3 different sizes and starting at $18.95, a portion of each sale will benefit the Kid's Life Jacket Loaner Program.

The Kid's Life Jacket Loaner Program loans out child-size life jackets from more than 500 locations nationwide, an average of 90,000 times each year. Click here for more on the program.

Got your eye on one of those shiny new models you saw at the boat show but not sure what to do with your old boat? Why not donate it to the BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety & Clean Water?

The Foundation has partnered with Action Donation Services to help boat owners who want to donate their boats or PWCs to an organization devoted to boating safety and clean water. With this new partnership, the Foundation can accept donations of boats from almost anywhere in the country. Click here to learn more.

Our new Giving Marketplace features great gift ideas and everyday products that you can purchase to help support the work of the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety & Clean Water. From photo albums and calendars to custom photo stamps and lighthouse checks, every purchase benefits the Foundation and helps to keep our programs afloat!

Recycle your fishing line with the BoatUS Foundation! Did you know that it takes over 500 years for monofilament fishing line to decompose? Meanwhile, that discarded line can tangle itself around your boat prop or worse yet, marine life. To help keep line out of the environment, the BoatUS Foundation would like to partner with you and your local fishing or boating group to install a monofilament recycling bin at your favorite fishing spot, launch ramp or marina.

We will provide you with a FREE pre-made PVC monofilament bin and signage suitable for mounting outdoors. All we ask in return is that you monitor the bin, empty it when full, send the collected line to Berkley for recycling and let us know how much line you collected and returned. How easy is that? For more information, click here. Don’t delay we have a limited number of bins, and bin locations will be determined by geographic area and demonstrated demand for monofilament recycling.