Thank you to Tim Ashley for sending in images of our Safe Boating Week Vessel Examinations!
This is the second of a two part article highlighting the Coast Guard’s recommendation for safe boating this summer.
The Coast Guard recommends mariners heed the following safety tips below to help ensure their safety while on the water:
- Always wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket while underway. In 2022, Drowning was determined to be the leading cause of deaths in boating accidents. 86% of those drowning cases, the individuals weren’t wearing a lifejacket. People don’t typically have time to locate and don a life jacket during an actual emergency.
- Make sure your life jacket is properly fitted. People can slip out of ill-fitting life jackets when they hit the water, which decreases their chances of survival.
- Don’t drink and boat. Aside from wearing a life jacket, not drinking and boating is one of the easiest ways to prevent accidental deaths on the water. Alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; where the primary cause was known, it was listed as the leading factor in 16% of deaths. People operating vessels under the influence of alcohol, drugs or impairing medication pose a serious threat to you and anyone else aboard.
- Make a VHF radio your go-to means of communicating in an emergency. Cell phones may go out of range or lose battery power when needed most. Make sure you familiarize yourself with how to use it.
- Take a boating safety course. The Coast Guard Auxiliary is one of many organizations that offer valuable boating safety courses ranging from electronic navigation to boat handling. Click here to register for a boating safety course.
- Get a vessel safety check. The Coast Guard Auxiliary provides free boating safety checks. Get a free safety inspection from the Coast Guard Auxiliary to make sure you have all the gear and safety equipment required by your state and federal laws. Click here to find one near you.
- Look at the weather and tides before you head out. It might look like a nice day, but squalls and shifting tides can change suddenly.
- File a float plan. Tell someone where you’re going and when you’be back. Float plans provide a starting point to help find you if something happens.
- Dress for the water, not for the weather. Check water temperatures before you go out and dress accordingly.
- Know your navigation rules. Know how to properly navigate waterways and maintain lookouts to keep yourself and everyone else around you safe.
- Locator beacons can help us find you faster. Attaching a functioning EPIRB to your boat, or a PPIRB to your life jacket, and knowing how to use them can help rescuers find and help you. In order to be most effective, these should be registered with the owner’s information and emergency contacts.
- Label kayaks and paddlecraft. The Coast Guard often comes across adrift paddlecraft, and when they are properly labeled, it is easier for rescue personnel to confirm if there is an actual distress and save countless hours of searching when a person is not in distress.
- Check out the Coast Guard Boating Safety app. You can file a float plan, request assistance, request a vessel safety check, and report pollution and hazards to navigation.
- Rip currents can occur wherever there are breaking waves. They don’t pull people under water but can pull even the strongest swimmer far out to sea. People caught in a rip current should swim parallel to the shore until they are outside of the rip current, and then swim toward the shoreline.
For more recreational boating statistics from 2022: https://www.uscgboating.org/library/accident-statistics/Recreational-Boating-Statistics-2022.pdf
Thanks to Sherrie, we will always remember safe boating is no accident!
If you would like to learn more about vessel safety checks, please contact Steve Hults, Staff Officer for Vessel Examinations at steve.hults@uscgaux.net.
Please contact us for more information about our safe boating classes or learning more about getting involved in the Auxiliary, check out our website at www.uscgaux.net follow us on FaceBook @ Apalachee Bay Flotilla 12 or contact our Flotilla Commander Phil Hill at pnkkhill2000@yahoo.com.
The Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed civilian volunteer component of the U.S. Coast Guard and supports the Coast Guard in nearly all mission areas. The Auxiliary was created by Congress in 1939. For more information, please visit www.cgaux.org.
