In recognition of National Safe Boating Week and the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend, when a lot of boaters are on the water, boating safety groups emphasize the importance of wearing life jackets.
The truth is few boaters in South Florida ever wear personal flotation devices outside of anglers fishing in bass tournaments and competitive water-skiers and sailors.
Parents will make their young children wear life jackets, which used to drive a boating safety expert I knew crazy. He’d ask the parents what would happen to their kids after they were saved by their PFDs and the parents drowned.
Inflatable PFDs are lightweight and comfortable — I’ve worn them while fishing on 90-degree days — but they typically never come out of the hatch or console where they are stored, much like the bulky orange life jackets that boaters who don’t want to spend a lot of money purchase to comply with U.S. Coast Guard regulations.
So here is the best, most realistic, safe boating tip I can offer. I learned it from the late Capt. Bob Armstrong, who taught personalized boating safety classes.
Armstrong told his students to take out the PFDs, have each passenger put one on and adjust the straps so it fit properly, then put it someplace accessible where each person could get to it quickly.
I can tell you from experience that when a boat starts to sink, there is little if any time to get to the life jackets that are crammed into a hatch. With a PFD that fits you within reach, you have a good chance of surviving a sinking.
National statistics make that point. According to the Coast Guard’s “Recreational Boating Statistics 2014,” 610 people died in recreational boating accidents.
The report’s executive summary stated, “Where cause of death was known, 78 percent of fatal boating accident victims drowned.” And more than 80 percent of them were definitely not wearing a life jacket.
Of 418 people who were known to have drowned last year, 337 were not wearing PFDs, 64 were wearing them and it was unknown if the remaining 17 victims were wearing them. Many of the 337 drowning victims might have survived had they been wearing PFDs.
The most drownings occurred in open motorboats — 178. Canoes and kayaks were second with 118 drownings. Personal watercraft accounted for 12 drownings.
One bit of good news: The 610 deaths were the second-lowest number on record. There were 560 boating fatalities in 2013. The worst year was 1973 with 1,754 deaths.
The report is full of other statistics, like the top five primary accident types. No. 1 was collision with another recreational vessel — there were 937 of those nationwide, resulting in 40 deaths and 652 injuries. Flooding or swamping was next with 463 accidents and 70 deaths, followed by collision with a fixed object (452 accidents), grounding (359) and skier mishap (292).
Operator inattention was the top primary contributing factor of accidents, followed by improper lookout and operator inexperience. Excessive speed was fourth and alcohol use was fifth, although it led to the most deaths with 108.
Having a designated boat driver is offered as one solution, and it would help. But the problem with drinking while boating is not just that the driver might react too slowly to avoid another boat or a channel marker, or, if the driver is hammered, not even realize that danger is lurking.
Passengers who are drunk could fall overboard on their own and those still in the boat who have been drinking might not notice.
Inebriated passengers not wearing a PFD who fall in the water will likely drown, or their boat might run them over.
All boaters would be wise to take a state- or Coast Guard-certified boating safety class or course, which are conducted by a number of organizations. A good source of information is uscgboating.org, which has links to many approved boating safety courses.
swaters@tribpub.com or Twitter @WatersOutdoors
