Boating Observations

[alarmguy]

I think you are including the whole population in your death rate by activity. But by this measure, flying small single engine planes, or skydiving, or alligator wrestling, has a lower death rate than automobiles as well...
I suspect boating is probably 10 times as deadly by the hour as driving a car since maybe 5-10% of the US population is on a boat even once a year, and probably less than 1% of people spend more time boating than driving?
Anyways, overall , both activities are pretty safe if you are smart about how you boat or drive and where and when.

Per vehicle
Agree about “being smart” not so sure how many on the water are smart though, I think it’s more luck since except for congested areas it’s hard to injure someone other than yourself or someone with you. I think those are the most cases of injury.

Keep in mind in the internet age the media freenzy to find death and destruction in every town in America to sell advertising and get ratings makes things bigger than they are.

I guess being in the water for roughly 57 years and most of it in some of the most congested waters off Long Island, never seeing anyone injured has me feeling pretty safe compared to a vechicle on land.
Don’t get me wrong though as I posted most have no idea what they are doing so one needs to be smart and watch.

47 of those years owning my own boat once I was old enough to buy one and spending my late teen years and crazy 20s on the water with my friends and their boats never saw anyone injured either.

Granted my friends and I knew what we were doing but we also did some crazy stuff some of it I wouldn’t repeat if I had a do-over LOL

 

[wings&wheels]

My view on this is influenced by my 30 years of flying, which has a fair amount in common with coastal and cruising boating. Now I have seen a fair amount of questionable behavior in airplanes, I'm guilty of a few mostly weather related decisions that weren't the best, but at least there is the comfort of knowing that the other folks out there have at least demonstrated some level of understanding and competence.....and it is not socially acceptable to drink and fly unlike some in boating, but that is another discussion.

 

[thastinger]

Yep..on the water for 62 years...kayaks, skiers, people fishing, water mosquitos (jet skis), people in canoes and other can all suffer from the human condition...

Just the other day it was dark and some crazy nearly ran right in to our 1234 jon. Come to find out our bow light was out...

What made the other boat "crazy"? You had no running lights in the dark and you're blaming them? You should have signaled them with a flashlight.

 

[FastLane]

Here in Canada we have to have a boating license. Its just a simple course and you get a card. You have to carry the card or you get fined.

It made no difference in the amount of clowns on the water. Everyone looses common sense once you step in a boat. I've towed a few boats back to shore with my tin can Lund. Boats worth big bucks but the owners have little brains.

 

[wings&wheels]

Since we've added other boat pics, here is our lake boat. An all but abandoned, 'rescued' and restored, low hour Century Resorter. Friend is a professional photog, we were playing around on our boats last week and he took this;

 

[oilcandave]

What made the other boat "crazy"? You had no running lights in the dark and you're blaming them? You should have signaled them with a flashlight.

Yer funny... I figured all would get the sarcasm...once I saw our bow light was out minutes later I realized my bad. Although I was 30ft offshore where the speed limit is only fast enough to maintain steerage where he was on plane...but my light was out.

When anchored only the stern light needs to be on fyi.

 

[thastinger]

Yer funny... I figured all would get the sarcasm...once I saw our bow light was out minutes later I realized my bad. Although I was 30ft offshore where the speed limit is only fast enough to maintain steerage where he was on plane...but my light was out.

When anchored only the stern light needs to be on fyi.

Yeah, I know a little bit about COLREGs. Your original post didn't mention anything about a no wake zone and you're not supposed to have running lights on anyways if not underway. All you needed was one 360 degree visible white light.

 

[oilcandave]

Yeah, I know a little bit about COLREGs. Your original post didn't mention anything about a no wake zone and you're not supposed to have running lights on anyways if not underway. All you needed was one 360 degree visible white light.

Just like I said in my post...I had the stern light. Most around here keep the bow light on when anchored for added visibility. The leos said thats fine. 100ft from shore is the no wake zone in this state.

 

[thastinger]

Just like I said in my post...I had the stern light. Most around here keep the bow light on when anchored for added visibility. The leos said thats fine. 100ft from shore is the no wake zone in this state.

A stern light is not an anchor light. While at anchor you need a 360 degree white light, a stern light is only 135 degrees. Not arguing just guess I still don't understand.

 

[alarmguy]

From USCG:

 

[alarmguy]

Ps, here is the rundown =
USCG Minimum Equipment Requirements for Recreational Vessels

https://www.usps.org/national/vsc/formtool_files/USCGMinReq.pdf

A good site for those who want to brush up on some things =

Regulations

Basics in navigation from the above site =

https://www.uscgboating.org/images/486.PDF

 

[oilcandave]

From USCG:

View attachment 116242

I was never that good in separating a piece of fly poop from a pound of pepper...My anchor light is 360. I have a 1236 join..12' long.

My point was missed...my bad...the point was folx are quick to complain about others without having ones own ducks in a row 100 percent of the time like myself...I wasn't concerned with exact lighting vocabulary in my post...it was more about others quickly demonizing the ignorant about safe boating laws when there is no requirement to know them before boating. Add alcohol and common sense takes a hit.

I believe the regs might vary by state somewhat. I have takin the power squadron course myself so I could get my pwc (water mosquito) permit.

 

[alarmguy]

^^^^ yeah also don’t take my post the wrong way, I just posted the links because I thought it was a handy piece of information for everyone, even myself to brush up on things.

 

[Elkins45]

A stern light is not an anchor light. While at anchor you need a 360 degree white light, a stern light is only 135 degrees. Not arguing just guess I still don't understand.

I‘m confused because my 16.5” fishing boat only has a bow and stern light and not a separate white light just for anchor. Just like all the other small fishing boats I’ve ever owned. I find it unlikely they would sell thousands of such boats in this configuration if it didn’t meet the regs.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Get a dash cam for your boat, maybe a GoPro.

 

[alarmguy]

I‘m confused because my 16.5” fishing boat only has a bow and stern light and not a separate white light just for anchor. Just like all the other small fishing boats I’ve ever owned. I find it unlikely they would sell thousands of such boats in this configuration if it didn’t meet the regs.

16 feet or longer your stern light has to be able to be seen 360 degrees.
Assuming you anchor at night,
You don’t describe if your stern light can be seen that 360 degrees, most small craft stern lights can be seen in this way

 

[simple_gifts]

As i probably posted twenty years ago, power boating is like downhill skiing; When you think it is an activity that enables you to get away from inconsiderate reckless idiots on a weekend, you discover it is an activity that also appears to attract them.

A guy I worked with had a side business doing fishing charters out of Pt Judith RI; the stories he would tell about what he saw....

Cape Dory 25 FTW.

 

[totegoat]

Thanks, now I need another boat.

 

[thastinger]

I‘m confused because my 16.5” fishing boat only has a bow and stern light and not a separate white light just for anchor. Just like all the other small fishing boats I’ve ever owned. I find it unlikely they would sell thousands of such boats in this configuration if it didn’t meet the regs.

The anchor light is often on a pole that slips into a round electrical socket somewhere around the stern of the boat. Some manufacturers only have the light on a pole that can be both a stern light and an anchor light by sliding a piece of black plastic that blocks out the proper amount of the arc when being used as a stern light.

 

[Lapham3]

The goof balls on jet skis made such pests and irritated folks so much that the state restricted hours. I had fun and used to idle around early AM with ours and with sunny calm winds and the polarized sun glasses could see down and and sneak up on fish. Now illegal for the early hours, even as the SeaDoo was very quiet at idle.