Basic Boating Survival and Safety by Crash Davis

Author:Crash Davis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Water Sports, Hunting & Fishing, Boating, Fishing, Outdoors & Nature, Sports & Outdoors
Published: 2013-11-16T07:00:00+00:00

SURVIVAL

Plan for the worst and you will have a better chance of surviving an accident in the water. If you follow the simple rule above you should be prepared for any incident that may occur. However, if you do get into a bad situation like I will outline below, pay close attention and you might make it out alive.

If you wind up dead in the water, the most important thing to remember is to RELAX! Getting freaked out doesn’t help a damn thing and if you have other people relying on you to get them back to safety, freaking out just makes things considerably WORSE not better. Take a quick assessment of what you have on board and start at the top of the list figuring out what the first plan of action should be. If your boat is stable and not taking on water, ALWAYS attempt to contact someone else and let them know your location and situation even if you think it is a quick fix. If you are rapidly taking on water and the situation looks grim, and ARE equipped with any kind of EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon), activate it quickly, pop off a flare and then try to fix the situation. If you are taking on water, make sure your bilge pump is working and if necessary, and you have a back-up pump, get it working as well. After getting your initial “calls for help”, and your initial damage control initiated, reassess the situation. If it was a leak causing your shut-down and you have stopped the water from coming in, and you think you can safely get back to the beach, head that way immediately! I don’t care how good the fish are biting! If you have a leak, go fix it at the dock! If the leak is in a position that may worsen with travel, stay put for awhile and continue to try to get help on its way. This is a “your best call” situation and just make the best decision you can with the facts you have. Obviously if you have a crack forming in the bottom of your “pop can” aluminum boat and you have three foot seas, you are NOT going to want to try to travel far because the likelihood is that your boat could fall apart with the beating of the waves. If you are forced to travel, GO SLOW!!! Try to quarter the waves as to sustain as little pounding as possible and STAY in contact with someone else and report your position and condition regularly until you get to safety.

If you have a MECHANICAL breakdown, do all of the above except obviously you do not have a leak to worry about. The first rule of Mechanical breakdowns at sea is, FIX IT AT THE DOCK BEFORE YOUR SHIT BREAKS AT SEA!! Hanging over the back of your boat in 3 foot seas with an “IM RETARDED AND SHOULD HAVE FIXED THIS AT THE DOCK” sign on your forehead is very humiliating and dangerous.

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