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A Tragedy

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 05/26/2011 : 07:04:18

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Prospector
 A couple weeks ago they sat outside our breakwall and stopped every boat that went by inbound or outbound. It looked like they were doing a brisk business. Many coolers were removed.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Chris,

How's this for perspective?

In Canada, one can drink alcohol onboard only if the boat has permanent sleeping facilities, permanent cooking facilities, and a permanent head. Even then the boat must be either anchored or tied along a dock.

In Michigan, you can be at the helm of an offshore racer doing fifty while sipping a beer.

Another reason why most of my sailing is done in Canada!

Edited by - dlucier on 05/26/2011 07:06:39

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 05/26/2011 : 08:35:07

Drunken boating carries the same penalty as drunken driving. Coasties carry portable breathalizers as in the old days skippers would sober up by the time they got them in. Drinking underway is OK as far as I am concerned as long as you don't go .08 on me.... This incident involved alcohol, but let's face it - just like the Heart of Sailing Mac 26 accident in San Diego, this boat was unsafe even if they had all just left church.

sten

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 05/26/2011 : 09:31:17

Pennsylvania requires a boating safety certificate for all PWC drivers and other boaters born after 1/1/1982. I am grandfathered, but took it anyway to set an example for my kids and because it's never a bad thing to brush up.

New Jersey requires it for everyone with a motorized vessel, and since the state line with PA goes right down the middle of the river, I would need it to sail the Delaware with auxiliary power.

Lake Wallenpaupack used to be virtually unusable on weekends because of all the dangerous PWC traffic. We were on a ski boat once when a kid tried to jump the wake with a beginning skiier in tow. When PA's certification requirement went into effect, the weekend PWC traffic declined significantly and the lake is much safer now. I suspect the rental places don't like it, but it has cut way down on the irresponsible activities.

Most states use http://www.boat-ed.com for their online courses. A few years ago they changed their policy to allow you to take the course and the test without paying. You only pay if you want to get the certificate. However, this policy and the amount of the fee vary from state to state.

I support the mandatory certification requirement because I can see its benefits. Of course it does not guarantee safe behavior, but it does encourage people to at least have some minimal knowledge of safe practices on the water.

Edited by - on

Joe Diver
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1218 Posts

Response Posted - 05/26/2011 : 10:17:07

They've recently changed it again...for Texas at least. Now you have to register and pay the $13...you can study at your own pace and take unlimited practice exams, but you only get one shot at the actual exam. Fail it and you pay $13 to take it again.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9076 Posts

Response Posted - 05/26/2011 : 20:22:04

Well, my captain's license course was $700, and the other requirements (physical, drug test, CPR certification, TWIC card, USCG application, and now some additional cardiac testing ordered by the Coasties) are taking the total well over a grand. This just to volunteer to drive a launch for the Mystic Seaport. And who knows--I might not pass the physical, which will flush the whole thing.

Makes $13 seem somewhat trivial. (Sorry--I just got the test orders yesterday, and am sorta bummed.)

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 05/26/2011 20:28:15

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2011 : 07:03:44

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Stinkpotter
 Well, my captain's license course was $700, and the other requirements (physical, drug test, CPR certification, TWIC card, USCG application, and now some additional cardiac testing ordered by the Coasties) are taking the total well over a grand. This just to volunteer to drive a launch for the Mystic Seaport. And who knows--I might not pass the physical, which will flush the whole thing.

Makes $13 seem somewhat trivial. (Sorry--I just got the test orders yesterday, and am sorta bummed.)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Sorry to hear that Dave, but as the curmudgeon Captain that you are, I am quite sure that upon further reflection you will understand why the cardiac testing is a good idea. Imagine the Captain of a launch going into cardiac arrest while underway with a boat full of folks who have no idea how to shut the damn thing down, use the radio or anything. As Captains, our responsibilities are huge. we must not only consider our own safety and that of our vessel, but the safety of our passengers and that of those who are afloat around us. Sounds prudent to me.

And if heaven forbid, the additional testing negates all of your efforts - you will still be a Captain, something most can never attest to being.

sten

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9076 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2011 : 12:55:54

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by redviking
 ...And if heaven forbid, the additional testing negates all of your efforts - you will still be a Captain, something most can never attest to being.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Except I won't be.

But I'm not that worried--the CG doc was spooked by the fact that I suffered some angina coming out of anesthesia from an appendectomy 13 years ago. Every test in the book found nothing at the time (except that I wasn't in shape for a triathlon). I'm less in shape now than then... Testing starts next week.

Edited by - on

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 05/27/2011 : 20:51:55

You are in my mind. You passed the test......

Sten

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9076 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2011 : 09:08:19

Thanks.

We curmudgeons look out for each other... But it won't help the Seaport.

Edited by - on

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 05/30/2011 : 06:52:55

Here's another Darwin award recipient

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/accidents/young-boy-survives-boating-accident-near-sunshine-skyway-but-father/1172340

Dad is dead, one missing after running too fast at night and turning suddenly. When will these idiots ever learn? Only maybe after some mandatory education, and even then - who knows?

sten

Edited by - redviking on 05/30/2011 06:57:12

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 05/30/2011 : 08:39:30

I don't want to gloss over the terrible personal tragedy, but...

...he can't qualify for the Darwin award because his genes were passed on.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9076 Posts

Response Posted - 05/30/2011 : 08:56:21

Traveling on plane in an 18' hard-chined skiff, with a tiller-controlled outboard, if the tiller gets knocked to one side, a chine can dig, causing a spectacularly sudden turn (if not a flip). It's not a good combination. Who knows what happened... Sounds like no PFDs were involved. (...again.)

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 05/30/2011 08:58:19

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 05/30/2011 : 09:56:47

I think the article said that the kid with a PFD survived. A clear message there!

Edited by - on

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 05/31/2011 : 12:53:57

How does a rapper run a jet ski into a bridge??? WTF???

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/30/sean-kingston-jet-ski-crash_n_868675.html

sten

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 05/31/2011 : 14:27:44

In an eighteen foot skiff near the Skyway bridge, everyone should have been wearing a PFD. When I was in college at what is now Eckerd college, two friends and I took out the school's Rhodes Bantam, a 14 ft. dinghy, and sailed out to the Tampa Bay entrance, near the bridge. It was a fairly mild day and the rollers were 3-4 ft. We should not have been out there (but it was a rush!) in a boat that small, so it definitely is no place for a fishing skiff. but we were wearing our PFD's.

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 05/31/2011 : 15:18:52

FWIW, the Admiral and I, and any guests, ALWAYS wear PFDs when we're on any of our boats. ALWAYS. They go on before we leave, and stay on until we're in the slip. If I'm working on the boat or dock and the water temp is below 60, the PFD goes on.

My father taught me at a very early age that it does not matter how well you swim if you get knocked out on the way down.

We do use the auto-inflate type for comfort, but that's the only compromise we make.

I would not feel the need on a 25 ft motor boat, but my C250 has too many trip hazards everywhere, plus the inherent instability of a sailing vessel. On the Phantom and Trophy boats, same story, we always wear PFDs. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Edited by - on

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