Featured Stories on Boating and Boater Safety

Silverton sinking: Were 27 people too many to carry?

Three children died when Kandi Won capsized and sank on Long Island Sound while returning from Fourth of July fireworks. While police and the Coast Guard try to determine why a Silverton 34 capsized on its way home from July Fourth fireworks on Long Island, drowning three children in the cabin, the accident has renewed calls for a New York law requiring adults to pass a safety course before operating a powerboat.

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Does that passenger boat meet requirements?

“It’s your responsibility,” Mike Jendrossek says, addressing skippers of the thousands of uninspected U.S. vessels that don’t carry more than six or 12 passengers for hire. The Coast Guard does not inspect these “six-pack” and “12-pack” boats, so it’s up to the operators to be sure they comply with federal safety standards, especially in their construction, says Jendrossek, a Coast Guard marine investigator and boating safety specialist.

Crewman gets $4.3M in Katrina suit

A company's decision to have two of its tugs ride out Hurricane Katrina resulted in a lawsuit. Editor’s note: The content for this story was taken directly from the March 7 order of Chief Judge David R. Martin of the U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, Ill. Italicized material is taken verbatim from the judge’s order. All witness testimony Martin quoted was given either in court or in depositions before the trial.

Situational awareness

Situational awareness (noun): the perception of environmental elements with respect to time and/or space, the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their status after some variable has changed, such as time. It involves being aware of what is happening in the vicinity to understand how information, events and one’s own actions will impact goals and objectives, both immediately and in the near future. — Wikipedia

Keep a weather eye, but realize that sooner or later you will be caught out in more wind and seas than you counted on. Ask any 10 sailors what situational awareness means, and you will get 10 different answers. It begins with what our senses convey to us at any moment in time. Therefore it is somewhat subjective.

Watch your wake

The Coast Guard has consistently listed boat wakes among the top 10 primary contributing factors for boating accidents in the United States in its annual Recreational Boating Statistics report. It's been determined that the number of boating accidents and personal injuries attributed to boat wakes during the last four years is an average of 193 people hurt each year because of the force of a boat’s wake and that an average of 211 accidents were caused by the force of a wake.

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