New York has become the first state to require life jackets for everyone in all small pleasure craft during the six coldest months of the year, when capsized boaters are quickly overcome by cold water. The law goes into effect Nov. 1 and remains in effect through May 1.

Kayakers, canoeists and all those aboard motorboats under 21 feet must wear Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices while on lakes, the ocean or other waterways.

Violators will face fines ranging from $25 to $100.

Cayuga County Sheriff David Gould said his four patrol boats and 22 marine personnel are usually patrolling through mid-September, although there are exceptions when the boats patrol later during nice weather.

During the summer, Gould said, boaters' life vests are supposed to be within reach.

“In the winter, you haven't got the strength to survive in cold water,” Gould said, so having to wear the life jackets makes sense.

Enforcement of the law, Gould said, would likely only take place if an observer reported boaters without jackets or if an accident took place.

“There are not as many boats out,” Gould said.

He said that cruise boats carrying passengers out on the lakes, for example in the Adirondacks, will have to comply with the law to some degree, but he wasn't sure if all passengers had to wear vests.

“This is the first year like any other new law,” Gould said, “people will have to get used to it.”

More boating accidents happen in the summer, when more people are out on the water, but the fatality rate rises in the colder months, from 8 percent nationally in July to 25 percent in November last year.

Officials say the scarcity of other boaters to help with rescues also increases the risk of death.

“The cold water carries greater risks than summertime warm weather boating,” state parks department spokesman Dan Keefe said. “You lose your ability to swim. Even strong swimmers can succumb to the cold water because their arms and legs get numb and useless.”

Falling into cold water can trigger shock, as well as gasping, causing the unexpected swimmer to suddenly inhale water. Immersion in water colder than 40 degrees Fahrenheit can lead to hypothermia and passing out within 15 minutes.

Similar seasonal requirements for wearing personal flotation devices apply to canoes and kayaks in Massachusetts and to all manually propelled vessels, including rowboats, in Connecticut.

The New York law is broader, affecting all pleasure craft, including small sailboats and motorboats, according to the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The department, which oversees marine law enforcement in New York, sought the law. The state Legislature passed the bill, with boating industry backing, in the spring. Gov. David Paterson signed it this summer.

“It's perhaps the No. 1 best thing you can do to protect yourself on the water, wearing a life jacket,” said Matthew Long, of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators.

New York law already required PFDs for all children under 12 on boats less than 65 feet, with life jackets onboard for others. They must also be worn by anyone in tow - like water skiers and tubers - and by all riders on personal watercraft, Keefe said. Racing shells used by crew teams are exempt from the requirement.

Most boating deaths nationally are drownings from smaller craft, with 421 last year, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Of the 709 total boating deaths, 510 people drowned. About 90 percent weren't wearing life jackets.

A Coast Guard study shows only 23 percent of all boaters wear PFDs, including children generally required to wear them. That rate drops to 5 percent of adults in open motorboats

In New York, 21 boaters died last year, four in the colder seasons, Keefe said. The 2007 total was the same, with six dying in colder months.