Safety requirements and just plain common sense

[FullThrottle]

Took a granddaughter and her boyfriend fishing and riding around. Great time, caught fish and beautiful day. Went into Lynnhaven River to get gas (still too expensive) and when I got back into the bay I passed a pontoon boat and noticed two guys waving to get our attention. Turned around toward them and saw some smoke. Sped up and got there, asked what the problem was. They asked for a fire extinguisher and we passed one over. As they got the fire (battery cables) under control I asked what happened: Their outboard died on the way home. Then they tried to use the trolling motor to get back and the cables caught fire (I assume the cables weren't large enough for the load). After the fire was out, I towed them about 5 miles to the dock and one of them went to get money from his truck. I told them it's not a good deed if I get paid for it, wished them well and left.

 

Now, for those not thinking ahead some lessons: Never go offshore without a radio. Make sure you meet the minimum coast guard requirements - have a fire extinguisher. Really, I suggest exceeding the minimum requirement and have one twice the size required, they are not expensive. If you add something like a trolling motor make sure your cables can handle the load and upgrade if not. Lastly have SeaTow or BoatUS, or a really good plan to get back when a problem occurs as we all know if unprepared it WILL happen.

 

Just glad we got there before things got out of hand and hope they've learned some lessons today.

 

 

[2-N-TOW]

Good job on being there when needed! 

Most people have no or little clue how to be properly prepared for even the basic stuff on the water.  I think a lot of it is a lot of people are relatively new to boating and have an attitude of "that is not going to happen to me", especially if they have not experienced any incidents previously.  But, not having basic safety equipment on board is not acceptable!  I really hope they learned from this and will be better prepared in the future.

I am with you on going on the little overkill side for safety equipment.  In my knapsack I have a hand held vhf, plb, binocalurs, and an auto-inflate pfd in addition to sunscreen, multi-tool, and fishing pliers.  Regardless if my boat or someone elses, that knapsack is with me.  As for my boat, enough basic tools, spare primer bulb, spark plugs, first aid kit, 2 fire extinguishers, hand held and arial flares, whistle, and a manual bilge pump.  Some of the stuff is overkill 99% of the time, but I am of the attitude that I have to look out after myself first and rely on secondary backup.

BTW...water looks great!  I have had my boat down at Kill Devils Hill for the past month and the wind gods have made it a point to not play nice.  Made it out of the inlet once, only to be frustrated by cobia popping up just inside the sea buoy.  Saw 4 and none wanted to bite.  Even bounced a jig off the head of one and it totally ignored us!  Guess that is why it is fishing and not catching!

[FullThrottle]

35 minutes ago, 2-N-TOW said:

Good job on being there when needed! 

Most people have no or little clue how to be properly prepared for even the basic stuff on the water.  I think a lot of it is a lot of people are relatively new to boating and have an attitude of "that is not going to happen to me", especially if they have not experienced any incidents previously.  But, not having basic safety equipment on board is not acceptable!  I really hope they learned from this and will be better prepared in the future.

I am with you on going on the little overkill side for safety equipment.  In my knapsack I have a hand held vhf, plb, binocalurs, and an auto-inflate pfd in addition to sunscreen, multi-tool, and fishing pliers.  Regardless if my boat or someone elses, that knapsack is with me.  As for my boat, enough basic tools, spare primer bulb, spark plugs, first aid kit, 2 fire extinguishers, hand held and arial flares, whistle, and a manual bilge pump.  Some of the stuff is overkill 99% of the time, but I am of the attitude that I have to look out after myself first and rely on secondary backup.

BTW...water looks great!  I have had my boat down at Kill Devils Hill for the past month and the wind gods have made it a point to not play nice.  Made it out of the inlet once, only to be frustrated by cobia popping up just inside the sea buoy.  Saw 4 and none wanted to bite.  Even bounced a jig off the head of one and it totally ignored us!  Guess that is why it is fishing and not catching!

Now that's funny. I have only been after Spanish and bottom feeders since my rotator cuff/tendon surgery, but I think I ready for some larger fish now. Arm still not 100%, but so much better than a couple of months ago.

As for your backpack, my grab bag is similar. My inflatable isn't in the bag, but I do have a PLB on the inflatable, and an older PLB in the bag along with a Garmin inReach.  Hope never to use them, but they do provide peace-of-mind when land is out of site. The inReach also allows me to message the Admiral with my location and any information like..."I'm going to be late" via satellite and I do use that. Don't want to worry the Admiral.