A week to play it safe

Ahoy.

“Boat Smart. Boat Safe. Wear It!” This is the theme that the

National Safe Boating Council is using for this year’s Safe Boating

Week, which begins Saturday. The council is trying to educate boaters

that it is not enough to just have a few lifejackets stuffed in a

locker on board the boat, you must wear the lifejacket to increase

your chance of surviving serious accidents.

The National Safe Boating Council works with the National Assn. of

State Boating Law Administrators to organize this annual event with

the help of a grant fund from the Aquatic Resources (Wallop-Breaux)

Trust Fund, derived primarily from the boater’s fuel tax.

Coast Guard statistics show that in 2001, just about 80% of the

fatalities from boating accidents were not wearing a lifejacket.

Afterward, the accident investigators found lifejackets stored aboard

most of the vessels.

Florida leads the nation with boating fatalities, with California

a close second on the top 10 list on National Safe Boating Council’s

Web site.

The statistics for 2001 boating fatalities: Florida, 52;

California, 48; Louisiana, 43; Texas, 41; Washington, 33; Michigan,

28; New York, 25; Alaska, 21; Wisconsin, 20; Virginia, 19; and Ohio,

19.

People 40 to 49 years old are the most at risk to die from

capsizing (32%), falling overboard (29%) or being struck by a

propeller (14%).

Watch out, as the data shows that most fatalities happen in May,

June and July. I think that these months are the worst because it is

the time when most boaters who have not touched a helm since the

previous summer go boating.

Keep in mind that I am only mentioning fatalities in this column

and not boat accidents. Fatalities have to be reported and are much

easier to track than boating accidents annually. Most boaters never

report an accident unless there is harm to a person or major damage,

so the boating accident statistics are not accurate.

This is a good campaign, but the question still remains: “How

practical is it to always wear your lifejacket?”

California has enacted laws for children to wear lifejackets while

on smaller boats, but the statistics show that adults are ones most

at risk. Standard lifejackets are not very comfortable and not very

fashionable to wear while yachting. Lifejacket manufacturers are

finally starting to address comfort and style.

A few boating coats are incorporating flotation materials built in

the lining. I have yet to try one for comfort and warmth. Also, the

inflatable lifejacket market is trying to earn the seal of approval

from the Coast Guard.

Don’t try to take your inflatable lifejacket on any airliner with

the new security checks, though, because you can not bring the small

CO2 canister that is used to inflate the lifejacket on board.

I think that we will see more inflatables being worn in the near

future, and I still need to try one of the coats. Remember to check

the laws of the state in which you will be boating for that state’s

lifejacket laws.

I am curious to hear about any Safe Boating Week events that are

occurring in the Newport Harbor area. I have not heard of any events

nor seen any press releases that list events locally here.

Let me know if you know of any events, and organizations can start

thinking about joining in for next year’s Safe Boating Week. The

National Safe Boating Council has a lot of information and printable

materials on its Web site at www.safeboating campaign.com.

The tip of the week was sent to me from Balboa Yacht Club’s own

Stan Cochran for his recommendation of a boater’s weather Web site:

“I use for the normal coastal run or Newport-to-Catalina dash:

cdip.ucsd.edu/models/ socal_now.shtml,” Stan wrote in an e-mail. “I

have found it to be pretty good at predicting the comfort factor. But

you probably are familiar with this one.”

Thanks Stan, and yes I am familiar with this site, but I do not

think that I have listed this swell model in my columns. This site

shows a swell model from the Harvest buoy to below San Diego.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to Mike@BoathouseTV.com or visit BoathouseTV.com.