Boating Safety!

Boating Safety!

Hey Guys, it’s Adventure Van here with a blog about how to be safe on the water. In this blog, I’ll be talking about: life jackets, the correct way to sit in a boat, the separate types of boats, and more.

The directions on a boat are not just front, back, and sides, but are called Bow (Front), Stern (Back), Port (Left), and Starboard (Right). When a vessel meets another vessel, they fall into two separate categories.  Give-Way vessels are boats that move their paths in a situation with another boat, while a Stand-On vessel is a boat that does not have to alter its course. There are separate situations, which are Overtaking, Meeting, and Crossing.

When a boat is overtaking another boat, the boat that is moving ahead is a Give-Way Vessel while the boat that’s being overtaken is a Stand-On vessel. There are also certain signals that you have to give, but more on that later. Meeting is a way of not crashing when you’re on the same path as another vessel. Both people pass each other on their port sides, and both are classified as Give-Way Vessels because both of them have to alter their course. Crossing is when a boat ahead of you is going horizontally and you’re going vertically. The person who’s ahead of you would be a Stand-On Vessel, and you’d be a Give-Way Vessel.

However, there’s also the horn which plays a roll in this. If you are interacting with another vessel, you’d want to hit the horn once and wait for a response before continuing. The exception is when Overtaking another boat, as you’ll want to hit the horn once if you’re passing on their starboard side, and twice if you’re passing them on their port side. Also, sounding a horn 5 times is one of the Danger Signals. Only use that if your ship or yourself is in certain danger.

Large Vessels are separate entities, and you’d be best to know the rules about them before entering an area where they’re stationed or moving. They could be anything from Military, Cruise, or Commercial Shipping ships. Stay at least 100 yards away, or 300 feet, and move at lowest speed at 500 yards or 1,500 feet from it. Breaking these rules not only put you and them in danger, but also will give you a sentence up to 6 years in prison and a $250,000 fine! (As well as giving cause to search your vessel for weapons/explosives, this would up the fine/time even more.) However, since they’re so big, you’re likely to see them and avoid these areas, meaning that these precautions should not have to be used.

Life Jackets are the most important part of ANYTHING INVOLVING LARGE BODIES OF WATER.  Because of stupidity, carelessness, or just bad luck, 90% of those who drown while boating were without life jackets at the time of the accident, as well as 8/10 of drownings being within an inland area without a lifejacket. Now that I’ve scared you, what type of lifejacket is the appropriate type? There are throwable floating devices, but those are not meant to be lifejackets, so don’t wear them. There are Near Shore Buoyancy Vests, which are for near safe areas, and Off Shore Buoyancy Vests, which are for ships on open seas. There’s also inflatable ones, which take up less room, and Special Use ones, which have been customized to work for a certain situation.

This is Adventure Van, Sailing Out.