 George and his Son. |
Some people boat for a living! Imagine
that! We welcome Member George also known as "Spanky". Since he
joined AVYC George and I have swapped several E-mails. What follows are
excerpts. I call this article... From the writings of Member George of FDNY |
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We talk a lot around here about boating safety. Everything else is on the lighter side. Our member George lives safety because it's the way he makes his living and he takes it very seriously. He does that because it's his duty but also he knows that the absence of safety can produce sad results. Saturday May 27, 2000 4:30 PM I saw something today I thought was quite disturbing. We (Marine 3 FDNY) were tending to FD divers in Somerville Basin located in Jamaica Bay. Our vessel was tied  off to a sunken tug boat 200 yards from a marina with a large dive
flag and flashing blue light. Several boaters ignored the no wake and distance
rules. Boaters are their own worst enemy and ignorance is no excuse. Safety is
a very important issue on the water, and mariners should heed to these safety
rules. Things can go wrong and dangerous very quickly on the water. Get into
boating with safety as a rule not just another law. Tuesday, May 30, 2000 4:10 AM Memorial Day was somewhat uneventful on the water in lower NY bay. I did have a couple of totally avoidable incidents. One boater lost electrical power and was adrift. Normally not a problem, however when pilings and a rocky shoreline is nearby this is a problem. No power meant no bilge pump, no radio, no winch. Boating is expensive no doubt but basic problems require immediate action in order to avoid repairs in the boat yard. If you loose power you must deploy your anchor and practice without the winch, a back-up hand held VHF is great to have and interesting to listen to when you are not boating, I think a cell phone is a must. A great way to save money is to fix your vessel yourself. However, you must do some research. If you replace flooring in your vessel care must be taken how and where you fasten the floor below. Yesterday a mariner nearly lost his boat. He replaced some floor boards and deck screwed through the hull. The bleach bottle he used as a bailer was no match for the combination of holes in the boat and 2'-3' swells. Last observation of the day was a mariner who lost power, went adrift and beached his vessel. Simply deploying his anchor would have made things a lot easier. We were able to reach him with a rope only after raising our motors and using our deck gun to propel our vessel close enough due to extremely shallow area. Some times you have to swallow your pride and deploy your anchor and ask for help. Tuesday, June 20, 2000 8:31 PM Just worked a brutal day in the sun. I cannot stress enough how important it is to wear sunscreen and apply it a few times a day. I am glad I did, I have quite a tan but I have seen people with severe burns and loss of time back on the water not to mention the dangers science has been chatting about lately. Wednesday, June 28, 2000 7:57 AM I remembered how great it is to work on the fireboat from last year, this week I remember how sad it could be. Five people drowned in the last couple of days. Four were related to poor judgment of boaters. One incident yesterday was a WaveRunner pulling a child on a board. The child fell off and was never seen again. A frantic search by people did not work and also delayed "THE" call for help. My operation was to meet FDNY scuba on the beach and create a base for the search on the water. If anyone sees a person go down in the water it is VERY important to make a mental note on the exact location where last seen. This is usually close to where the victim will be found, drowning people are limp and tend to go straight down. After an exhausted diving search by FDNY for 1 hour, NYPD took over with their divers. The search resulted negative. Sadly, this was avoidable At another incident a Kayaker flipped in heavy seas and high winds, there was a small craft advisory in effect. A family was torn apart on an innocent boat outing. We have all done this, I do it everyday for exercise. It is hot and you want to go for a swim off the boat. There are precautions you must take, be prepared for the worst case scenario. If you are anchored in an area with a current the water will sweep you away from the boat, add in a cramp or some other ailment and if the people on the boat cannot operate fast enough pulling anchor or cannot start the boat, a tragedy happens. Be prepared for the worst case scenario. Ask yourself, what am I going to do if my loved one feels sick in the water or can the people on the boat get to me quickly? If you are the captain of the vessel you cannot leave unless someone else is capable. A special thanks to George for letting me share his thoughts on boat safety . |