Four Principles of Boating Safety

[powerskipper]

Have a read of this!
http://www.safeboatingcouncil.org/principles.htm#Four Principles
Do you think they are right?

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IMOSHO of course,/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[MainlySteam]

Absolutely, and I will put it into literal practice.

Next time I am boating on a 50,000 tonne cruise ship I will wear a lifejacket day and night - with a bow tie at dinner. And after 50 years of boating I will take a 5 minute boating course so that I will never drown when boating.

However, their claims are pretty sweeping and aimed at the around 90% or more of boatowners whose vessels are undecked and under 20 foot (seems a typical percentage for western maritime countries) - however, they do not make that clear. Hardly anyone drowns off decked power boats - in fact if the statistics here in NZ are correct, in the last 20 years only been a couple (drown out of their dinghies, falling off marina pontoons, or intentional swimming from the boat tho') and I suspect that the % of all drownings off them in other countries is also very low.

By their figures it is much safer boating in the sea - so I will remember that next time I get the little 7 foot runabout out, will not go near rivers or lakes in it anymore as they must be much more dangerous.

Would have been helpful if they actually gave the percentages of people who had and who hadn't taken courses but drowned as they actually give no evidence that course takers have a lower incidence of drowning. I would also be pretty confident that non course takers are much more highly represented among small boatowners than large and virtually all the accidents happen in small undecked boats.

Load of codswallop really, which is a pity 'cause the real message will be hidden and instead will have everyone on 60 foot power boats wearing lifejackets and kayak puddle paddlers doing Yachtmasters. The real point is people drown from small undecked vessels.

John

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[britemp]

700 Americans die in boat accidents each year? Wonder what the figures for the UK are?

I quite like the last line about people dying whilst hunting from their boat! Not something one regularly sees in Horning!

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[Forbsie]

... and how many of those dying whilst hunting did so by 'friendly fire'?

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[Talbot]

IIRC there have been years when more people drowned in their bath than while sailing - moral spend more time at sea cause it is safer /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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