Boating Safety Best Practices
These Boating Safety Best Practices will help you insure a safe boating experience. Accidents do happen, knowledge and preparation will help prevent boating accidents and return you home safely. If an accident does happen, the following knowledge will help you survive.
Wear a Life Jacket
The U.S. Coast Guard requires (U.S. Coast Guard Regulation Title 33, Chapter 1, part 175, Subpart B) that you have wearable USCG approved Life Jackets or Personal Floatation Devices (PFD’s) stowed in an accessible place for each person aboard your boat, for each person aboard your recreational boat. There are additional PFD requirements based on the type and size of boat you are operating.
It is recommend that everyone should wear a life jacket at all times while boating because you never know when an accident may occur. Statistics show nine of ten drownings occurred in inland waters, most of them only a few feet from safety. The victims may have survived a fall overboard if they had been wearing a life jacket. So choose a life jacket you will wear. If wearing a bulky orange life jacket sounds very uncomfortable then you are in luck, today’s life jackets fit better, look better and are comfortable and lightweight enough to be worn all day. There are PFD’s available on the market today to satisfy almost any boating activity, including hunting and water sports, and for any passenger be it child or pet, large or small. Make sure that all straps, zippers and buckles are securely fastened and tucked in so they will not get hung up.
Take a Boating Safety Course
In 2005 seventy percent of recreational boating accidents are caused by operator inexperience, lack of knowledge, carelessness or recklessness and unsafe speeds. A
boating course will teach you regulatory and statutory rules (Boating Rules of the Road),
Know Your Boat
Seamanship
Get a Free Vessel Safety Check
The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and the United States Power Squadron are volunteer organizations promoting boating safety and will inspect your boat free of charge and provide valuable guidance to help you meet the federal minimum safety requirements. No citations will be given as a result of this inspection.
Know the Navigation Rules
Simply put, the Navigation Rules establish actions to be taken by vessels to avoid collision. The rules are divided into two parts, Inland and International.
Aids to navigation (ATON’s) are buoys and day boards and are placed along coasts and navigable waters as guides to mark safe water and determine position in relation to land and hidden dangers. Study and keep nautical charts of your boating area on your vessel. ATON’s cannot be relied on solely because of the possibility of storms and wave action to cause the markers to move. Learn to navigate using charts, GPS, RADAR, and a compass.
Operate your Boat at a Safe Speed
In Part B, Steering and Sailing Rules, Section 1 of the Coast Guard Navigation Rules, Rule 6 states that "Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can take proper and effective action to avoid collision and be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and condition." This means taking in account for the traffic density of other vessels in your area, the visibility, due to time of day, fog, rain and wind driven waves, and the manageability of not only your vessel, but the vessels around you. Always maintain a proper lookout.
File a Float Plan
Of course you're not expecting anything to go wrong but you should always be prepared in case something un-foreseen does happen. Filing a float plan with someone can hasten rescue, and in some cases mean the difference between life and death. Filing a float plan simply means telling someone your expected location and time of return. If you don’t return at the appointed time, at least one concerned person can relay the information in the float plan to the Coast Guard or local authorities to search for you.
Leave a written float plan with your name, boats name, year, make and model, hull and state numbers, and any other distinctive descriptions of your boat. Write down the names of all passengers, time of departure and location, and time of arrival and location, and any stops in between. Indicate whether you trailer your boat or keep it at a marina. If you trailer your boat, be sure to tell them where you intend to launch from, and give the color, make, model, and license plate of your vehicle. Otherwise, give the name, phone number and address of your marina. If you are going to be delayed from your float plan be sure to contact the person you filed it with letting them know so they will not call the authorities. If you have returned safely after being reported overdue, give a courtesy call to the Coast Guard so they can close the case.
Alcohol and Boating
Using alcohol is even more dangerous on the water than on land because the marine environment accelerates impairment. The effects of being on a boat, including continual motion and vibration, sun, and engine noise, all collaborate to increase impairment more so than when a person is on land. As many as 80 percent of boating accidents involved alcohol, of those, over half capsized or fell overboard. Boating while intoxicated (BUI) is illegal and heavy penalties are enforced by state and federal agencies. Alcohol works to lower the body temperature decreasing the time in water before the onset of hypothermia. An intoxicated person in the water faces two threats; the first being unaware of the onset of hypothermia and the second is an increased disorientation resulting from inner ear disturbances. If you have been drinking, you will not survive as long in cold water as those that have not been drinking.
Carry a VHF Marine Radio
The U.S. Coast Guard does not require recreational vessels less then 65.6ft/20m in length to carry a VHF marine radio, but they do encourage mariners “to invest in a VHF-FM radio as their primary means of distress alerting on the water.” Any vessel that carries a radio must follow the rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). A VHF radio equipped with Digital Selective Calling (DSC) will generate a position to the Coast Guard in the event of an emergency.
The Coast Guard does not recommend cell phones as a source of communication due to them not being reliable enough, but if that is all you have, be sure to dial 911, rather than *CG. The Coast Guard discontinued the direct routing service due to misdirected calls resulting from spotty cellular coverage.
Keep an Anchor on Board
Anchoring is done for two reasons; the first one is to stop to fish, swim or mooring up in a secluded cove for an overnight stay; the second one is to keep from running aground due to bad weather or engine failure. You will use 5 to 7 times as much anchor line as the total depth of water plus the distance from the water to where the anchor attaches to the boat.
Never anchor from the stern only where it will receive the on-coming swell action. If you are using an anchor on the bow and stern always keep the bow pointed into the swell so it can ride up and down with the waves. A boat anchored by the stern into the swell will not ride up and down and will be swamped and capsized.
Use a Kill Switch Lanyard
If you are the operator of a boat, wear a kill switch lanyard while driving. That way if you lose your balance and fall overboard, the boat will shut off automatically.
Don’t Overload your Boat
Do not overload your boat beyond its safe carrying capacity with passengers and cargo. Always load the boat so it maintains proper trim and stability. The carrying capacity for calm weather can be found on the “U.S. Coast Guard Maximum Capacities” information label (Capacity Plate).
Be Aware of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a silent killer. All internal combustion engines emit CO as a by-product, an odorless, colorless, poisonous gas. Other sources include cooking stoves, space heaters, water heaters and lanterns. “Teak Surfing”, holding onto the swim step or transom while water skiing or surfing, and laying on the swim step or swimming in the water behind a boat with the engine running are other possibilities of getting CO poisoning. In the early stages, the symptoms of CO poisoning are similar to seasickness and CO can kill in a matter of minutes. To avoid CO poisoning, be aware of the risk, ensure sufficient ventilation, properly install and maintain equipment, and use CO detectors, especially in living and sleeping areas.
Check your Boating Safety State and Local Requirements
Before you go boating check National Association of State Boating Law Administrators for local laws and requirements. There are different rules and regulations for operator-age, safety equipment, etc. in different parts of the country.
Boating Insurance
Marine insurance can be purchased to cover damages or losses to the boat and it's equipment, protect against liability for personal injury or property damage, provide medical payments in case of injury, and in some cases will cover towing in case of a mechanical failure. Consult two or three marine insurance agents to find a boating policy that is right for you.
