what do you do to make your boat more safe?

[babyfat]

G'day, guys, how you make your boat more safe? When we go fishing, safety is the most important thing, even some safety precautions had been done by boat's company, we still have something to do to guard our boat.

I stick luminous tape on my boat so that when I go out in the night, others wouldn't hit me. They can notice me from a long distance, and keep away from my boat. By the way, luminious tape also make my boat looks very cool in nights.

Tell me what's your ideas about this? How did you do it ?

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

I use my running lights at night. Has the same effect.

Safety improvements: louder horn, oversize anchor, bigger and brighter red/green running lights, added a throw rope/bag by the helm, retrieval line added to throwable PFD, raised helm seat for better visibility, and an extra set of rim tab switches that I can reach while standing without bending over.

 

[JoLin]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

I stick luminous tape on my boat so that when I go out in the night, others wouldn't hit me. They can notice me from a long distance, and keep away from my boat. By the way, luminious tape also make my boat looks very cool in nights.

Tell me what's your ideas about this?

I've never seen a boat with luminous tape on it. I'd hope it isn't white, green or red.

My idea is that if you're using the required bow/stern/anchor lighting properly, and it's in good working condition, you don't need and shouldn't use anything else. Night time boating is disorienting. I'm personally not in favor of home-grown 'visibility enhancing' ideas that could cause another boater (like me) to be uncertain regarding your boat's status (anchored or underway), or your direction of travel.

My .02

 

[jigngrub]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

I agree, navigation lights for visibility during low light hours!

... and if you can't see me (fog) I have something for that too! A canned air horn like they use at sporting events, audible for miles on the water and it'll scare the crap out of you when I cut loose with it on a foggy morning if I hear you motoring toward me. So if you're watching your GPS instead of watching in front of you and where you're going, I will get your attention and make you aware of my presence.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

Yup, I'd be apt to stick with the standard lighting and make sure it is all good.

For safety enhancements - I have added flotation to my previous boat(s) and plan on adding flotation to my 'new' boat . . .

 

[jigngrub]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

For safety enhancements - I have added flotation to my previous boat(s) and plan on adding flotation to my 'new' boat . . .

Floatation is a huge safety concern that's overlooked or ignored by too many people!

Making sure your boat's floatation is dry and at the very least adequate is one of, if not the very best safety features you can provide for your boat, yourself, and your passengers.

 

[briangcc]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

I carry a spare anchor and rope - ready to deploy, extra rope - never know if you or a family member might need a tow to dock, handheld spotlight that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the boat, installed extra cleats, small tool kit, and carry glow sticks (the snap kind that light for 8 hours).

This is in addition to all the required safety gear.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

you can't consider "safety" in a vacuum; you have to assess your own situation, most likely (a) dangers and (b) harm from them, to know how to prepare.

An anchor is the most important safety equipment for my area; worthless if you are in 200' of water.

Cell phones may be the best thing, or worthless, depending on service. However they are unacceptably fragile in a marine environment.

Cold water is #1 danger for me right now. Staying out of it is #1 priority; getting out of it #2; staying alive in it #3. Not so much in August.
When I'm alone, Man overboard (MOB) being as it would be me, is a huge concern; not when I have others aboard.

I agree to some extent that extra running lights can be confusing. But I boat in a busy harbor, where there are lots of lights, and the legal minimun is often not enough (big debate recently about the kayak night fishermen; all they HAVE to have is a flashlight!)

You need redundancy in your equipment: more than one light, for example. even a small light can be seen by SAR when a 18' boat hull can't.

An aspect of redundancy is durability. An airhorn is fine, but it will run out of air or malfunction. My plastic whistle won't. Keep it simple.

know that if you have a major event you have 4 seconds. You need things to be water tight and in arms reach. Do not store your fire extinsher where the fire will be!

 

[CHARGER2]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

A float plan. Whether you are on coastal waters and file one with the USCG, or you are skiing on your local pond and tell your wife where you are and when you expect to return, its always good to have someone notice when you have not reached your destination on time.

 

[southkogs]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

Practice, situational awareness and common sense.

Know your boat. Know the water you're going to be on. Know the people who are with you. Practice on the water and off.

Have the right gear as stated above. But get some training, and keep your head about you.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

It depends entirely on where you boat... In my case, most people don't even bother with an anchor unless they are fisherman. I'm either on smaller lakes or rivers, and there really is no need. My safety gear does involve a fair amount of first aid type stuff. The nearest hospital to one of the lakes I frequent is a 2+ hour drive, so the more first aid that you can do immediately, the better. I have two well stocked first-aid kits that are mounted in the boat.

Other than that, there are always multiple cell phones on board stored in a dry compartment. (that only helps for the rivers that I frequent, most of the lakes I'm on have zero cell coverage, so there is no communication on those at all...)

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

mack truck air horn and a finger. :laugh::rofl:

 

[rallyart]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

Try to teach my kids to listen to the driver.

 

[NYBo]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

The most important piece of safety equipment is located between your ears. Take a boating safety course, and take as many of your crew as you can.

Have all aboard wear PFDs all the time, or at least when anything gets dicey (wind, waves, etc.).

A louder horn/whistle is a great idea. The horn on my boat is pretty anemic.

A float plan. Whether you are on coastal waters and file one with the USCG, or you are skiing on your local pond and tell your wife where you are and when you expect to return, its always good to have someone notice when you have not reached your destination on time.

Float plans are left with someone you trust ashore, but not the Coast Guard. Otherwise, an excellent suggestion.

 

[dpoff]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

Installing a second bilge pump. My next to do thing. Surprised I havn`t seen this yet.

 

[tomhath]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

Depending on your passengers, a "Man Overboard" drill might be appropriate. Especially if you have children on board, everyone needs to know what happens when someone falls into the water. Yell very loud "Man overboard", toss a couple of floatation devices, and above all - stay calm.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

Installing a second bilge pump. My next to do thing. Surprised I havn`t seen this yet.

If your floatation foam is up to par you don't even need a bilge pump:

unsinkable boats - YouTube

If you don't have any floatation foam you'll need a whole herd of bilge pumps... and batteries to run them.

 

[lexer440]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

I see many boats on the water and i have no doubt they all have the required equipment on board. I also see many boats with guests on board that are out for a fun trip, as it should be. At the dock I see people being told they need to wear their PFD and thats it, by and large i think we are a very safety oriented bunch but so many do not tell their passengers what to do in an emergency until the emergency happens. Your guests trust you, give them faith in you, give them instruction and make the safety kit available, too many kits are "put away" in an attempt to care for them until they are needed.

 

[acarter92]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

Easily accesable "ditch bag". Mine is a 10liter dry bag that has: flares, emergency blankets (reflect body heat), waterproof handheld VHF, old handheld gps (for coordinates), first aid kit, and a dive knife. If the unthinkable happens, my passengers and I can be out of the boat with flotation and the bag in about 5 seconds...

As mentioned above, it really depends on where you boat. I spend most of my time in the Chesapeake Bay, but I do go out in open water sometimes. So I feel my gear is adaquite for the type of boating I do. However if you never leave the 50 acre lake then it would be overkill...

Austin

 

[Floridaguy32514]

Re: what do you do to make your boat more safe?

I carry a similar ditch bag on my boat, but I also stuffed sections of an old worn out life jacket in the bag, so if we bail in a hurry and i lose my grip on the bag, it floats.

the biggest piece of safety I see many people over look, is as most people, I don't make everyone wear their PFDs unless the weather is against us, but, every trip, I make everyone, take out a PFD put it on, and adjust it to fit them, each of my PFDs on my boat has a different color tag on it, so everyone knows which one they fitted. land is the place to make sure a PFD fits you, not in the water in panic mode.

I also carry two throwables on deck, one with rope, one without, reason be is if I come upon someone, if it's a serious emergency, I can toss the ropeless one while i get the boat lined up and my crew ready to throw the throwable with rope and rescue someone.

clear safety glasses, especially if it starts raining, or your getting a lot of spray, they help your vision 100% so you can see where your going.

the last things i carry are a spare anchor and rode. as well as battery operated running lights, so even if I lose all power at night, i can still be visible until help arrives (non emergency- waiting on sea tow type incident, so no flares to show my position)

I carry so much gear to because i fish A LOT at night time, and with my job, i usually am off 2 weeknights instead of the weekend, so 9 out of 10, i am the only boat for miles.