SILENT DEATH LURKS FOR PLEASURE BOATERS

SF Chronicle ^ | 7/18/03 | Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer

[clamper1797]

The only brakes on my boat are 1) reverse(Velvet Drive) and 2) my anchors (Danforth), although there are times when the bottom and various docks have qualified.:-)

EXACTLY ....

I've had to rebuild two outdrives in the last 2 years ... Bravo Sixes can be a bit steep. Each time my repair guy rebuilt them he had to pull pieces of jet ski and wet suit out of them ... the repair guy asked how those items wound up in my drives and I said well offshores are generally much faster than your average jet ski :<]

I'm joking of course ....

[Dr Warmoose]

Coast Guard officials continue to believe that education, not design changes, offer the best and quickest means to curb the newly recognized CO risk...

And I have the cheapest and most effective ad campaign. Here is how I would do it:

Contract a Halle Berry or someone who is just as famous and looks great nude. Have her "teak surfing" nude while her "friends" onboard are video taping the event. Stage her "death from CO inhalation" and have her disappear for a month. People will forget after a month that she is supposed to be dead. Let it slip out that this famous person has died. It will be on ALL media. Then after a day, let the video tape slip out without royalties. It will be displayed, some will "blur" the 'R' rated stuff, but the internet will put out the unaltered version. This will be the most effective ad campaign for the dangers of CO inhalation and America will have saved 3.4 people each year because of it.

[Dr Warmoose]

I could see requiring EFI on new boat engines

There are far more people capable of servicing carburetors than EFI. Also, electronics and water don't mix well. Bottom line, pleasure boats are for pleasure. Stuck in the shop trying to dry out the wiring is not "pleasure" and defeats the purpose.

[capt. norm]

The most numerous "drafters" I have encountered are the local dolphins. They invariably hook up with us going out of the "Pass" (St. Andrews Bay channel entrance) in an 85' 100-ton vessel propelled by three Detroit Diesel V-12's. The boat makes a nice bow wake that the dolphins love to glide in.

I don't know how fast they can go but when we "hook up" the engines and start to haul they will, at some point, get bored with us and shoot ahead fast enough to make us look like we were standing still. hile they're up close gliding in the bow wake they will oven tilt sideways enough to eyeball the passengers on deck.

From the helm you can always tell when the dolphins come up. All you see is rear ends of passengers leaning over the rail. With the right passengers, this is not too bad..but that's rarely the case.

[Piquaboy]

Then, only the crooks will have boats.

[Colbert]

The Lake wasnt dangerous... The boat is dangerous!! No stickers warning signs as you see ones in a vehicle with airbags!!!!!!!

[dljordan]

I can see a huge new Federal bureaucracy in the making.

[Hildy]

45 deaths in 13 years? Give me a break. I just did a Google search and found that an average of 100 people a year are killed by being hit by lightning.