Even a monkey can steer a boat. That’s not the hard part.
Well, maybe for some humans it is…
But for now, let’s pretend like people are able to drive cars safely and aren’t reckless enough to steer into something. Like I mentioned earlier, cars and boats are different. Some people aren’t aware of the precautions you should take when getting behind the steering wheel of a boat. Normally, if you aren’t in the driver seat of a car with your foot on the pedal, the car doesn’t go anywhere. Once you remove your foot, the car should slow down and eventually come to a stop because of basic physics.
Well the boat doesn’t care if it has a driver or not at the wheel. If the throttle arm was moved, it will stay in that position until someone physically returns it to the resting position. So this means, if you got ejected from the boat, the boats going to: A) either leave you in the dust or B) come at you while your helplessly in the water.
Of course the manufacturers thought hey that’s a really dangerous situation, so they developed a genius solution, a tether. The tether is a cord that connects the engine switch to a hook. Now whether this hook is connected to you or not, your choice. Where many people go wrong, is they either don’t know what that weird dangling cord is, or they think they’re too cool to wear it. I guarantee you no one ever predicts they are going to be ejected into the water, but I find it pure stupidity to not take this precaution. Boats can be extremely dangerous. It’s like you’re driving a convertible with no seat belt on an invisible road that throws you unexpectedly into the air like a trampoline. Oh and if you get into a crash, your left having the tread in water without a phone with boats with huge sharp propellers around you, where most captains aren’t paying attention.
Now the purpose of this blog wasn’t to scare you away from boating. Everything you do in life has some type of risk. It is important to be aware of these risks so we can avoid them.
Boating can be completely safe. You are on a huge open body of water. It’s nice you’re not trying to stay in your lane on the highway next cars only a few feet away speeding past you going opposite way. Many boaters aren’t aware of the laws on the water, but it is a law that you can’t pass a boat within a 100 feet while on plane (on plane means driving faster than just idling (idling means going as slow as possible while in forward still)). Other laws include that you must have a life jacket for each passenger, flares, and a fire extinguisher on the boat at all times for your safety.
I know that I would feel a lot safer on the water if I knew more people on the water were precautious and aware of all the rules. Even if you aren’t the captain, I hope you ask questions such as where are the life jackets stored and if they wear their tether. You should feel comfortable in trusting that person’s capabilities, because honestly, they are responsible of whether or not you’ll step foot on land again.
~The Aquaholic
Devyn,
I never knew that there was such thing as a tether, but it totally makes sense. I also didn’t know that if you fell off the boat, it would keep going. Next time I go on a boat, I will be sure to look out for the tether. I am surprised that captains don’t know what it is. I feel like that should be part of their training.
I have never been boating before (I mean I’ve visited the USS Midway Museum, but that doesn’t really count), so a lot of these terms are foreign to me. I knew that boating could be dangerous because I’ve thought about being run over by a boat, but I’ve always been confused about what the laws are with driving boats. I’ll definitely ask about and look for the tether and life jackets when I do go boating!
Devyn,
Boating. Rules. Are. So. Important. Like any motorized vehicle, boats are extremely dangerous if you don’t take the precautions and time to learn about the rules. Whether it’s from using the tether or just plain obeying the speed limit to prevent bad wakes, you have to consider both the safety of yourself and those around you.
Hey Devyn!
It’s sad that people will take into consideration their look before their own safety when it comes to the whole tether situation. As much as there are people who love water, it is not our #1 natural element, it can lead to dangerous situations for humans quicker than we think. And some people don’t use boats as often as they do cars so obviously we must take precautions when using a motorized vehicle that hasn’t been used for perhaps a whole week until you finally get to use it on the weekend. Again, love reading about all this really fascinating information on boating, keep it up!