Families of Sean Craig and Henry Ross, who both died on the Great Sacandaga Lake, teamed up with dozens of agencies across upstate New York Tuesday morning to unveil new waterside life rings for boaters to use if someone falls into the water, in hopes of preventing another tragedy on the lake.

18-year-old Sean Craig drowned in the lake in 2016 when he took his family boat out on the water.

He was found after someone called, saying they saw a boat circling in the water with nobody on board.

Now Craig's family makes it their mission to raise awareness about water safety and improve safety on the lake.

"Well, we wanted to do something with the grief from our tragedy,” said Theresa Dabiere-Craig. “So our family members and friends got together and said what can we do to spare somebody else from this heartbreak. The ideas that came out just made sense, you know, safety and rescue equipment, prevention, drowning prevention and education programs."

Ahead of the holiday weekend, it's another reminder for those heading out to enjoy the festivities.

"We're gonna look for reckless driving, we're gonna look for intoxicated operators and that usually comes with the reckless driving, we're not randomly stopping boats or jet-skis to see if people are violating the rules," said Fulton County Sheriff Rich Giardino.

One thing the Sheriff's office is hoping they won't need to do? Rescue stranded boaters or swimmers in distress.

"We have to stock the road with our deputies first and the boats and snowmobiles are an addition," Giardino said. "And the vast majority of drownings are because somebody didn't have a personal flotation device. When I was growing up we used to call them life preservers, because they preserve your life."

Which is exactly why the "Safe Lake" initiative wanted thesee life-rings all around Great Sacandaga Lake.

"If somebody finds themselves in the water, struggling, unexpectedly, you can throw it to them, stay on land-- We say, 'Throw don't go,'" said Craig. "Throw it past the person, pull it toward the person and then pull them in."

There are 25 bright orange rings now installed around the lake. The Hudson River-Black River Regulating District also purchased and installed more on their own.

"You just see them anywhere you go and a friend of ours commented -- it's kind of like Sean is hugging the lake with these orange buoys," Craig said.

Earlier this year Ross and the Henry Ross III Memorial Fund launched the SENDit HDRIII app -- which can notify people of issues on and off the water. 

"You could call it like, a 'Waze' for off-road; a 'Waze' for recreation," Ross said. "It's not just for bad things, it's not just for hazards, you can notify users in boating season of floating debris, low water -- it can be used all seasons."

Authorities will also be on the lookout for distracted boaters this holiday weekend. Make sure to designate someone to keep an eye on passengers and another on the water -- who won't be on their phones.