Marine Advice And Tips For Boating, For Mainly Small Boat Safety
So Boating can be very fun and enjoyable, sometimes catching some amazing views and sights that you would'nt normally see from the land, but on the other hand, it can also be very dangerous and hard work.
Before you start boating, you should do your homework and learn everything there is to know about boating and get all the boating advice you can from your friends and boating pals. I would recommened reading my safe boating guide, Here: Boating Guide.
You should make sure you have all the correct documents and license's (These can be found Here) and that you are carrying all of the necessary safety boat equipment and wearing the right boating outfit for the day, These are my favourite boating outfits Here.
Doing all of the above should make your boating trip very enjoyable, with maximum sea safety, and minimum glitches along the way. Underneath my two article's below is a list i wrote for you, of Ten general tips for boating and small boat safety.
Below are two article's i have previously wrote, that are available for download and print - for FREE!
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Ten General Tips For Boating And To Keep Your Boating Safe!
For maximum sea safety, pleasure and enjoyment, comply and keep with all of the tips below. These are my General Boating Tips. I also have a maritime list of tips and information on these topics to - Towing, Trailers And Storage, Boat Handling Tips and Safety Tips.
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Common Sense - This is one of he biggest tips i have, boating and safety at sea mainly evolves around the fact of common sense and just thinking about things with a cool head and not making rushed decisions and mistakes. These rushed decisions can end with bad outcomes. My boating advice to just slow down and think about your decision before making a move.
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Carry The Correct Safety Equipment For Boating - Take the right, needed safety boat equipment and wear the right sea clothing for the day and weather. You should make a boating checklist or even use mine so that you can never forget any marine safety items. A maritime list of safety boat equipment you need is a really good idea, an idea i have been using for quite a while and works!
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Know How To Use The Boat Safety Equipment - Not only do you need to take and carry the powerboat equipment for maximum safe boating, but also know efficiently how to use it! Especially boating equipment like your VHF radio, Gps and Lifejackets. You may want to take a short VHF boating safety course where you will learn how to use the VHF radio and after a short VHF test you will be awarded a certificate that then legally allows you to use a VHF radio.
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Carry Plenty Of Fuel For Your Boating Trip - I have learnt this over the years, you may think you have enough fuel and that the sea is flat but if you go 20 mile and then turn around and the sea becomes very choppy and rough you will use a lot more fuel and inevitably run out of fuel! This is not a good situation to be in, so make sure you have plenty of fuel on board!
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Course's Course's Course's - Do the necessary marine course including your powerboat level one and two, navigators course and radio course all very important and can really make you a lot more experienced and make sea safety on your boat a lot easier and a lot safer. Also do your homework! Join a few forums like the rib.net forum and learn from others and read books and safe boating guide like this one Boating And Sailing Guide, even speak to other experienced boaters who i'm sure would be glad to help!
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Lifejackets! Take Lifejackets With You! - I see so many people without lifejackets and quite frankly they are just risking there life! Safety at sea is such a high priority on my mind and should be on yours as well. A lifejacket may not seem like much but really can save your life at sea! It is one of the most important pieces of safety equipment for boating. Lifejackets can range in price from £30 second hand on eBay to around £250 for a brand new top range Crew-saver. There are no excuses!
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Test Your VHF Radio Before Every trip! - Simply test your radio before you go out on every trip, send out a call to the coast guard asking for a radio trip like this "(nearest coastguard) coastguard this is (call sign) request a radio check please over" its as easy as that!
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Check The Weather And Tides In Your Area - Check the tides and weather for where you are launching from. In some marina's you can only get out 3 hours either side of high tide and when it is spring tides you may not be able to get out at all! This is necessary for inshore safety, after all you don't want to hit a sand bank at 45mph!
- Do Not Drink And Drive - Just like driving a vehicle on the road you can be prosecuted for drinking and driving but that shouldn't matter, you should want to be sober enough and be able to keep safe boating at sea.
- Learn To Swim - After all if anything goes wrong you will all most certainly need to be able to swim, but it is also a good thing to be able to do if your in to boating anyway, you can have so much fun in the sea swimming and if you ever want to do any water sports like wake boarding then it is a necessary skill you need to be able to do!
