Be Aware
Boating is a great sport. It’s exciting to go tubing, fishing or cruising. There’s plenty of action to go around. Sometimes, with all the action, it can be easy to lose focus on the most important things – the distance between the kids and the pier, the boat and the rocks, and the boat and the buoys. Recently I was following a 30’ express cruiser with two couples on board out of the harbor. Quite suddenly, something captured the attention of everyone onboard and they all looked off into the distance on the port side. To have everyone focused in one direction is usually not a good thing, and in this particular case, with the boat on a direct collision course with a channel buoy about 60’ in front of it, it was a very bad thing. After watching the boat come to within about 30” of the buoy, I yelled out an alarm to the captain who quickly changed directions. Surprisingly, the captain did not offer any thanks for saving him and his vessel, but that’s beside the point. The real point is to not be like him, and keep a lookout in various directions when your boat is in motion, and you’re certain to enjoy a longer, trouble free, boating season.
