Boating Safety: How to Be a Careful Captain

Last month, we summarized a lively discussion from the Florida Sportsman Action Spotter Podcast on the subject of new boaters getting used to boat ramp protocol. Simple stuff like having the boat prepared, making sure you’re not blocking a ramp while others are waiting.

How about the next step—piloting basics? I’ve long maintained that the biggest problem the boating industry faces is the information gap between buying a boat and knowing how to confidently use it.

I’ve always had a nightmare scenario in my head, about a guy who works his fingers to the bone in Minnesota, only to retire to Florida and buy a boat. He takes off with his wife on their maiden voyage. Something minor, but bad, happens. Maybe she can’t back the trailer, or he approaches the dock too fast, and hits it a little too hard. He hollers at his wife, and the next thing you know the boat is up for sale.

I asked our podcasters to help this poor guy out, and the discussion we had could have gone on all night. First, all the podcasters agreed to send our rookie to formal, hands-on boat training, something which may be found through the United States Power Squadrons (www.usps.org), Chapman’s School of Seamanship and other venues. You have to learn the rules of the road. Then again, you need to assume no one else knows them.

Captain Steve Dall, from Naples, said: “Of course you can learn from a book when passing who is the ‘burdened vessel,’ but never assume the other captain knows. You’re responsible for your vessel, so your head belongs on a swivel. You must keep up with channel markers, other boats (both ahead and behind), crab trap markers, floating logs, and more.”

If you don’t think bad things will ever happen to you, consider one of my own dumb mistakes. I had only been running boats for about 50 years, when I cleared the entrance to the inlet and spotted a buddy fishing. Without giving it a thought, I pulled back the throttles, intending to idle up on the flat. My entire crew screamed at once. I had stopped immediately in front of a big sportfish that was running hard. Disaster barely avoided; I doubt I’ll do that again.

Captain Ray Rosher, of Miami, says either find a buddy with loads of experience, or hire a guide to fish with you on your boat. “All the studying in the world will only help until something goes wrong on the water,” he advised. “Usually, the things that go wrong happen really fast.”

Captain Jim Ross, on Florida’s Space Coast, gives the same advice on docking that I’ve preached for years: “Only approach the dock at a speed you’re willing to hit it at.”

Jim and I differ some in that he wants the tide or wind pushing him toward it, and I want it holding me off. We agreed, however, that the proper way to approach a floating dock is at approximately 30 degrees. Once your bow reaches the dock, go to neutral and turn your motor all the way over, so your foot faces the dock. Bump your motor in reverse and your transom will swing in while your bow moves slightly out to avoid touching the dock.

Speaking of slowing down: Top speed for a center console has gone from 30 to 40 miles per hour to 70 to 80. Up here in Northeast Florida, my house is on the St. Johns River just a couple miles from the ocean. Every pretty weekend I witness 36- to 43-foot center consoles burn by my house wide open. Recently, a family in their john boat broke down near my house. Towing them to the ramp was terrifying. No matter how much I implored boats around me to slow down, it drew no response. I ended up having to throw the family a bucket to bail out the wakes breaking over their gunnels. Seventy is really cool on a flat ocean. It has no place on an evermore-crowded waterway.

Wake, by the way, isn’t even the biggest danger. It’s a question of reaction time. A big center console doesn’t necessarily throw a bigger wake at 65 knots, but certainly doesn’t have enough reaction time, if a kayak or paddle board suddenly paddles into harm’s way.

Pay attention out there.

Safe Boating Speed

No “speed limit” posted on channel markers? That doesn’t mean “wide open.” From the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Rules, this pretty well speaks for itself:

• Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can take proper and effective action to avoid collision and be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions.

See the full rule online for a list of factors which must be taken into account when determining safe speed.

“Traffic density”—which comes to mind on Florida’s busier channels—is certainly one of them.

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