Boaters: Are you ready for Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don and Emily?

BoatUS offers free downloadable hurricane preparation guides and checklists to help boaters prepare for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season © BoatUS

Hurricane planning ensures you have all the right supplies and gear for the boat before a storm approaches © BoatUS

Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don and Emily are the first five names NOAA will deploy for incoming storms this Atlantic hurricane season that begins June 1 and runs through November 30. However, with researchers from Colorado State University predicting 13 named storms - six officially hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or greater - boaters in storm-affected parts of the country may be meeting Margot, too.

The BoatUS Hurricane Center from Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) offers free hurricane preparation information including downloadable guides and worksheets to help recreational boaters get ready for storm season now. Also offered is an extensive library of hurricane-preparation videos and BoatUS Magazine articles containing proven tips and techniques amassed from the nearly four decades of post-storm recreational vessel recovery, salvage and wreck-removal experience from the nation's largest advocacy, services and safety group for boaters.

To help boat owners know when to implement their hurricane plan, they can also download the BoatUS App that has an Active Storm Tracker providing updates on direction and intensity of incoming storms and text alerts.

For more, go to BoatUS.com/Hurricanes.