The one outboard-powered aluminum boat in question was running every channel marker in West Neck Creek on the wrong side, and neither the operator, nor the passenger, was wearing a life jacket. (And, yes, I know the Coast Guard rule only calls for having a life jacket in the boat, but if you have any care or concern for the folks in your boat, why not "make" them wear the life jacket? It might help you avoid a lawsuit.)
In the other case, I watched a man motor by my partner and me in a V-hull with a young girl and young boy as passengers. As in the first example, no one was wearing a life jacket--and that's despite the fact the young girl on board was sitting on a raised pedestal seat in the bow. The only thing positive about this example was the fact the man was running the boat on the correct side of the markers.
As I thought about these two examples, several questions crossed my mind. Were any of the people involved familiar with the rules of safe boating? Were they even thinking about what they were doing at the time? Had any of them ever seen West Neck and Pocaty during low-water periods?
It's people like these who often become U.S. Coast Guard statistics. In 2012, for example, there were 163 nationwide boating accidents involving collisions with submerged objects, resulting in 12 deaths and 56 injuries, with a price tag of $1,019,215 in associated damages. The No. 1 event in boating accidents and casualties nationwide in 2012 was ejections from vessels--1,085 cases were reported, with 269 deaths and 1,018 injuries, and a price tag of $5,120,544 in damages. We also need to consider falls overboard, which, in 2012, amounted to a total of 360 cases, with 210 deaths and 183 injuries, and a price tag of $201,491 in damages.
Perhaps you're like a lot of other people I used to interview when I worked at the Naval Safety Center--people who had been injured and maimed in mishaps. I can't tell you how many times I sat and listened to them describe what had been an "it can't/won't happen to me" attitude--before their day of reckoning occurred.
And just so no one has to ask the question, my buddy, Charlie, is the man who shot this photo oh-so-many years ago. We both were in Godfrey's Creek this particular day. We have spent a lot of time bumping into each other over the years.
And, yes, I know how "junked up" this boat was--I took plenty of ribbin' from my wife the whole time I had it (and I have to admit I even got to laughing as I was looking at the boat just now). But that's not the point I want to make here.
I had taken my stepson to Pocaty, and after fishing all day, we were making our way back out on the gas motor. Thankfully, I just was making headway at the time we came to where a big ol' submerged stump--one I hadn't learned yet--lay in wait. The motor's shaft hit that stump with enough force to shatter one of the bolts holding the motor on the transom, and I don't recall ever hearing a worse noise until several years later, when I witnessed a guy in a Ranger hit another stump in Pocaty while running on step.
No one was injured in either incident, and we all made it back to West Neck Marina on our own, but some folks aren't as lucky. Instead, they turn what was supposed to be a day of fun into a tragedy. Acquaint yourself with the Rules of the Road (one place you can start is here: http://www.boatus.com/foundation/guide/navigation_1.html) and do as the slogan says: "Boat Smart!"
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