By Bob Currie, Recreational Boating Safety Specialist
U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Base Galveston Flotilla.
The Coast Guard’s “2020 Recreational Boating Accident Statistics” will come out in June, but the word is already out that the statistics may show up to a 30 percent increase in deaths over 2019. I hope that is wrong, but it looks like it is a fair assessment based on the number of fatal boating accidents in our area, and the Coast Guard has really stepped up its enforcement of boating regulations in advance of the release of the annual report.

The Base Galveston Flotilla of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary operates out of the US Coast Guard base on Galveston Island. They aid the Coast Guard by providing maritime observation patrols in Galveston Bay; by providing recreational boating vessel safety checks; and by working alongside Coast Guard members in maritime accident investigation, small boat training, providing a safety zone, Aids to Navigation verification, cooking in base and station galleys and aboard cutters; and as drone pilots on the Coast Guard Drone Team.

Whenever my parents wanted to warn me that something I was about to do was likely to result in a dangerous outcome, they would say that what I had planned was a “ticket to disaster.” There are many ways to get a Ticket to Disaster when operating a recreational boat. We will discuss a few of them here that are pertinent to recent disasters on the water in the Galveston-Houston area.

Don’t Wear a Life Jacket
The number one Ticket to Disaster involves drowning. There is only one thing that will prevent you from drowning, and that is the wearing of a life jacket at all times when on the water. If you enter the water from a boat in an emergency situation without a life jacket, there is nearly a 90 percent chance you will not survive. The most astounding excuse I ever heard for not wearing a life jacket came from a boater who had no life jackets aboard his boat that I was inspecting. When I asked about life jackets, he said he didn’t need one because he was a “world-class swimmer.” I asked him how well he swam while unconscious, as many drowning victims hit their heads on the side of the boat as they went over. Another group of drowning victims are those who fall into water that is cooler than the air temperature. They undergo an involuntary reaction to the cooler water called the gasp reflex. People gasp for air involuntarily, even though they are underwater. When your lungs fill with water, unless you can immediately stand with your head above the surface and cough the water from your lungs, then you will die. The gasp reflex cannot be prevented; it is automatic and uncontrollable. Only a life jacket can save you.

At this point I would like to add that a life jacket can save you when swimming in the surf. The surf is a dynamic and violent setting, and we always have many drownings at public beaches every year. Put a $30 life jacket on your children if you are going to let them play in the surf. It’s better than crossing your fingers. Telling your children “Don’t go in deeper than your knees” is not a safe alternative to wearing a life jacket.

We always have wade fishermen deaths in this area. People love to wade fish. The common theme with wade fishermen deaths, and boy do we have them, is 100 percent of the time the fisherman was not wearing a life jacket. They think they are safe because they aren’t going to wade any deeper than waste deep but forget about the big danger of wade fishing: holes. There are holes all over the place. Step off into a hole, undergo the gasp reflex, and you are now a statistic. Not wearing a life jacket when wade fishing is a Ticket to Disaster.

Overload Your Boat
We have talked about this before, but the message bears repeating. An overloaded boat has been the cause of many bad incidents on the water. The capacity plate, usually affixed to the transom, gunwale or on the center console of a recreational boat, contains important information about the limits under which the vessel should operate to ensure safety. It includes the maximum horsepower, the maximum number of persons and the maximum weight that may be carried (equipment and passengers combined). Capacity plates are required on mono-hull vessels under 20 feet in length. You may be tempted to take the number of persons on the capacity plate as the actual boat capacity, but if you take the time to do the math you will find that if you divide the “Persons” figure into the weight capacity, then the average person allowed for by the capacity plate weighs only 150 pounds. You should always consider both the number of persons capacity and the weight capacity and be governed by the most restrictive of the two. How many of you know the weight of your motor and the gear you bring aboard? The second weight capacity figure on the capacity plate is the total weight of persons, motor and gear. You should also keep that figure in mind when loading your boat with persons and gear. Picture in your mind, if you will, the scene from “Jaws” where all the boats are headed out to catch the great white shark, and most of the boats are grossly overloaded. The Richard Dreyfus character remarks, “They are all going to die.” Overloading your boat in itself is a Ticket to Disaster but add in the fact that you aren’t wearing a life jacket and your Ticket to Disaster becomes a first class ticket.

Bring Plenty of Ice-Cold Beer
It’s no secret that the top contributor to boating accidents is alcohol use. That hot sun beating down upon you heightens the effect of alcohol on the body, making one beer nearly twice as effective in diminishing your capacity than if you had consumed it on dry land. Add the rocking of the boat and by golly just getting up from your seat to get another beer is a Ticket to Disaster. The really-adventurous types like to add hard liquor to the mix. Yes sir, that’s a real Ticket to Disaster.

Don’t Use Your Engine Cutoff Switch (ECOS)
The Engine Cutoff Switch (ECOS) has been around a long time. It is a link between you as the boat operator and your boat engine. If you go overboard while operating your boat, the ECOS will shut your engine down. That prevents your boat from sailing off into the sunset without you so you can drown (no life jacket) or worse, your boat circles back and runs over you. What are the chances of getting run over by your own boat? Well, it happened in Galveston East Bay just a couple of years ago. Just last week we had a fisherman get thrown overboard and left behind to die. And die he did, because he also had a Ticket to Disaster for not wearing a life jacket.

Summary
I have only listed four ways to get a Ticket to Disaster: not wearing a life jacket, overloading your boat, using alcohol, and not using the ECOS. You can upgrade any Ticket to Disaster by combining two or more methods. The more methods you use, the closer you get to obtaining a first class Ticket to Disaster. Trade that Ticket to Disaster in for a Ticket to Live by avoiding the four situations above. As a licensed conductor I would be happy to stamp that ticket. All aboard!

For more information on boating safety, please visit the Official Website of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Boating Safety Division at www.uscgboating.org. Questions about the US Coast Guard Auxiliary or our free Vessel Safety Check program may be directed to me at [email protected]. I am available to perform free Vessel Safety Checks, and I will come to your location to perform them. SAFE BOATING!

[June-1-2010]