maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

[oops!]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

im going to jump in here cause i saw some things that are disturbing me.....

Those safety packages are expensive and not something i beleive i would need for test runs in the calm waters of the intracoastal waterway, unless otherwise stated by law.

while some of those kits can be spendy...you can still assemble the same kit for a few less dollars.
however....these kits are law....and are the basic requirements for any trip.....even 5 feet away from the dock !!!
the kits were designed at the cost of many lives....
IMHO....if you cant afford to get basic safety equipment......you cant afford to go boating.

Also a boaters safely course while is a good idea, is not something i beleive i need.

alex...you are wrong. DEAD wrong.

my friend, because you are asking this question about what you need......i can tell this is your first full sized boat on possibly bigger water.

whether the law says it or not......a boating safety course is MANDATORY.
many of us here will take refreshers every second year, or advanced courses.
a good education is going to save lives.

you must remember......on a boat, one second everything is fine....people laughing having a good time......and in less than one tenth of a second..(too quick to react)...common scence or not.....someone has fallen off the boat and killed by the prop. and you are heading back to shore with a dead body on board.

Do NOT skip this important lesson.

No ill intent taken.

I am nearly 40 years old (not a child), and have boated in the past for a few years. . I do use common sense.

im almost 50....i own a boat rebuilding company....and boat almost 400 hours each Canadian summer
i have lived on them, fixed them.....i can take apart your boat....every nut, bolt, screw, gauge, wire, section of hull, layer of fiberglass and gellcoat, and every stitch of upholstery .....and re build it better then it was before...

and i still make very common sense mistakes every time im out. :redface:


just for fun.....read the stupid human tricks forum.

What i actually was looking for is something like: Make sure you have life vests for so and so people (as many) on board, a boat that size you need by law so and so number of fire extinguishers at a certain size?, a VHF radio?, tow rope? compass? In that area you need _____. etc etc.

as mentioned above.......a boating safety course will answer all of these questions.

now.....lets get past this...but please ....take the advice. the cemetarys are full of people who didnt.

the really big thing of boating new waters, is to have someone on board who really knows the water.....failing that....have all the latest charts......these are very valuable tools. and you must use them.

one thing that is commonly over looked is the weather......dont make that mistake.

the other thing that was mentioned......is have a tool kit....and know how to use it.

just in case you are taking this post as a rebuke......it is not ment as one...
it should be taken in the context of casual conversation, from an experienced boater to a friend.

cheers
oops

 

[cyclops2]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

I agree with oops on the accidental mistakes that happen. At 20 I was VERY VERY alert to EVERYTHING moving around me at any distance. Including weather changes.
At 40 Not as good or quick.

At 74. I am playing Russian Roulette some days. I WILL be taking The USCG safety course . It COULD save injury or death to someone.

Modern people out of work are REALLY FREAKING STRESSED OUT!!
Can not expect all of them to boat like they did in the good old days.

We can NEVER think or treat boating as similar to driving a car or plane.
People DROWN quickly in boating problems. The other 2 leave you laying on the ground .

 

[rt_hawley]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

I DID a little research in Florida and it seems like they're not requiring people born before 1988 to take the course at all. Here in Virginia they've set yearly dates for age groups and sizes of boats but within the next 5 years EVERYONE will be required to have taken the course regardless of how much boat experience you have or how old you are.
Looks like Florida didn't want to force the issue with older boaters, they're just going after people born after 1988. Strange they would do that, you don't think some 40 year old will get a mid-life crisis going on and purchase a boat to solve it and not know the first thing about boating! They can be as dangerous as an 18 year old operating a boat.

It's now law here in Canada that EVERYONE that operates a pleasure craft, regardless of vessel size, or operator age MUST, repeat MUST have a pleasure boat operators card. Relatively easy to obtain, but requires you to complete a course and pass an exam before you get the card. By the way, if you're on the water without the proper license, the fines are more than enough to make you wish you'd paid the $50 for the course.

 

[oops!]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

simply out.....if you are on the water and have not taken a safe boaters course....you are a danger TO OTHER BOATERS

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

simply out.....if you are on the water and have not taken a safe boaters course....you are a danger TO OTHER BOATERS

too broad a generalization, but let's keep it a secret--I want everyone else to take the boater safety course!

I made my daughters take it on line, even though at the time not required, when they were about 13 so they could take the boat out by themselves. I took it too and did not find anything I didn't know. The test I put them through was a lot more rigorous (my favorite is secretly disconnecting the gas line and watch them figure out all the steps--including setting the anchor while they figure it out).

I also took the hunter safety course with my daughter so she could hunt and I think I missed one question, about bow hunting which I don't do. (She missed one on black powder shooting)

Neither test made me a safer boater/shooter. For the inexperienced, they may be made safer, but some still aren't safe enough.

But--and here's the big but-- every time I go in a boat, adn every time I'm shooting, I learn something new. if I didn't, I wasn't paying attention. No one knows it all, least of all me, but my point is, just passing the test is the LOWEST threshold of ability and shouldn't lead to a false sense of security for those around the guy who passed the test, or a delusion of ability in the same guy.

The most dangerous guy is the one who thinks he knows it all--and doesn't. Second most dangerous is the guy who doesn't know much and doesn't care. Third is the guy who knows better but doesn't pay attention--what the "experts" do when they drop their guard. Least dangerous, but still dangerous, is the guy who doesn't know it all, knows it, and tries to be careful.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

I am a #3. I compensate by staying away from crowded weekend waters.
I also found that there is more than..idle & WOT.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

... Relatively easy to obtain, but requires you to complete a course and pass an exam before you get the card. By the way, if you're on the water without the proper license, the fines are more than enough to make you wish you'd paid the $50 for the course.

Or even for Free Here!

No one was required to, but everyone in the family took the couse.

 

[62 ROYAL SCOTT]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

HELLO HOME COOKIN and that reply is HOMECOOKING

 

[rt_hawley]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

But--and here's the big but-- every time I go in a boat, adn every time I'm shooting, I learn something new. if I didn't, I wasn't paying attention.

I couldn't agree more Home Cookin' ...regardless of whether it's boating, shooting or even motorcycling for that matter, the more you educate yourself, the better off you're going to be. I've been riding motorcycles since I was 16 (I'm considerably older than that now) and never had a safety course or anything else of the kind. I thought I pretty much knew everything there was to know about riding motorcycle. When we bought the Harley, I took the motorcycle courses both the basic and advanced as a way to lower my insurance. Well...I was shocked to discover that in fact I DIDN'T know everything there was to know about biking. Over the years, through experience and trial and error, I've become a fairly competent rider, but I learned things from that course that would have made me a much SAFER rider to begin with. Those courses now coupled with my experience over the years has only served to help me become a better rider. Education is never a bad thing. It can't ever replace experience, but it sure as hell gives you a much better depth of understanding of the matter at hand.

 

[CaptNCamille]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

I would start here:

http://www.usps.org/e_stuff/public_ed.htm

 

[62 ROYAL SCOTT]

Re: maiden voyage-- What do i need onboard?

I would start here:

http://www.usps.org/e_stuff/public_ed.htm

hello and thank's GREAT INFO