"Floor it?"
Posted on 05/26/2017 1:45:07 PM PDT by VRW Conspirator
Safe Boating Tips
No matter how much experience you have, it’s always a good idea for everyone to review boating safety rules before departures. Below you will find 10 basic boating safety tips to help you stay safe:
1.Be Weather-Wise
Always check local weather conditions before departure; TV and radio forecasts can be a good source of information. If you notice darkening clouds, volatile and rough changing winds or sudden drops in temperature, play it safe by getting off the water.
2.Follow a Pre-Departure Checklist
Proper boating safety includes being prepared for any possibility on the water. Following a pre-departure checklist is the best way to make sure no boating safety rules or precautions have been overlooked or forgotten.
3.Use Common Sense
One of the most important parts of boating safety is to use your common sense. This means operating at a safe speed at all times (especially in crowded areas), staying alert at all times and steering clear of large vessels and watercraft that can be restricted in their ability to stop or turn. Also, be respectful of buoys and other navigational aids, all of which have been placed there to ensure your own safety.
4.Designate an Assistant Skipper
Make sure more than one person on board is familiar with all aspects of your boat’s handling, operations, and general boating safety. If the primary navigator is injured or incapacitated in any way, it’s important to make sure someone else can follow the proper boating safety rules to get everyone else back to shore.
5.Develop a Float Plan
Whether you choose to inform a family member or staff at your local marina, always be sure to let someone else know your float plan. This should include where you’re going and how long you’re going to be gone.
A float plan can include the following information: name, address, and phone number of trip leader name and phone number of all passengers boat type and registration information trip itinerary types of communication and signal equipment onboard, such as an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) or Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)
6.Make Proper Use of Lifejackets
Did you know that the majority of drowning victims are the result of boaters not wearing their lifejackets? Make sure that your family and friends aren’t part of this statistic by assigning and fitting each member of your onboard team with a life jacket prior to departure. Wear it!
7.Avoid Alcohol
Practice boating safety at all times by saving the alcohol for later. The probability of being involved in a boating accident doubles when alcohol is involved and studies have shown that the effects of alcohol are exacerbated by sun and wind.
8.Learn to Swim
If you’re going to be in and around the water, proper boating safety includes knowing how to swim. Local organizations, such as the American Red Cross and others, offer training for all ages and abilities. Check to see what classes are offered in your area.
9.Take a Boating Course Beginning boaters and experienced experts alike need to be familiar with the boating safety rules of operation. Boater education requirements vary by state; however, some require validated completion of at least one boating safety course. Regardless of your individual state's requirements, it's always important to be educated and prepared for every circumstance that might arise. You can learn boating safety rules by taking a local community course or online course to help educate yourself.
10.Consider a Free Vessel Safety Check Take advantage of a free vessel safety check from the US Coast Guard. They offer complimentary boat examinations to verify the presence and condition of certain safety equipment required by state and federal regulations. Free of charge, they’ll provide a specialist to check out your boat and make helpful boating safety tips and recommendations. They also offer virtual online safety checks as well.
And to all you weekend warriors, scurvy scoundrels, sunburned scallywags, assorted sea lubbers, pirates, buccaneers, privateers and fly-over-country deplorables, pay attention to item #7.
>>It’s that time of year again. It is a phenomenon that FReepers are among the most astute people around, yet FReepers are such lousy boaters.<<
Have we lost any? From their own bad boatifying?
#1. Be sure to put the drain plug(s) in your boat.
I sold my boat.
HAPPY!HAPPY!HAPPY!HAPPY!HAPPY!HAPPY!HAPPY!HAPPY!HAPPY!HAPPY!..............
Not a chance, lol.
Run the blowers if you got a gasoline power plant
Next they’ll say mixing alcohol, boating, and guns is a bad thing.
11. if it sinks you lost all your guns and ammo
I’ve heard it said that the two happiest days in a boat owner’s life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it.
Oh, come on, bro. Most of us have one small, tiny accident out at sea where all personal firearms are lost and you go and make this racist, sexist, anti-handicapped statement ever.
Hey, I sent my wife in after my firearms, but alas they, not her, went down to Davey Jones' locker forever.
That number 7 would be a deal killer for almost every boater I ever knew.
A boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money, continuously.....................
Tearing apart my stern drive and replacing the sea impeller tomorrow. Hope it works.
Oh, it’ll work.
Then something else will break...........
B O A T
Bring Out Another Thousand
"Floor it?"
I know I lost all my gold in a boating accident.
Maybe number 7 is a little difficult, but I see an opportunity here. Uberboater!
I’ll crunch the numbers and write a business plan.
Shark Tank here I come...
5.56mm
Whole point of the exercise. The sun's over the yard-arm in Bermuda. I think it's always over the yard arm in Bermuda. I've never been informed otherwise.
11. Boating at night is very dangerous for the casual boater. Avoid doing this if at all possible. Lots of crazies out on the water at night, many of whom have been drinking at dock bars all day. Not worth the risk.
12. If the marine forecast posts a Small Craft Advisory, don’t venture out. Stay at the pier and hang out with friends or do some maintenance on the boat (there’s always something to do). A mechanical breakdown or losing power in heavy seas can put you in a very distressing situation.
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