Five Stupid Ways to Injure Yourself or Others On A Pontoon Boat
Boating can be a safer and more pleasurable recreational activity if you're mindful of your actions and take responsible steps for avoiding the basic situations in which people get hurt or killed. By keeping these five dangers in mind, and making it second-nature to avoid them, you'll be far safer on the water and find your time on the water more enjoyable.
Danger #1: Smoking while putting fuel in the gas tank - It might seem like common sense, but it's worth emphasizing that gasoline is still highly flammable even if your boat is sitting on top of all that glorious water. Don't smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or whatnot around the engine or fuel tanks.
Danger #2: Smoking while near the battery (especially while recharging the battery) - This one is more subtle because most people don't realize that charging marine batteries produces hydrogen. (You've heard of the hydrogen bomb, right?) Hydrogen is highly explosive, and can build up in a closed battery compartment when recharging. So the best rule is to not smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or whatnot around the your battery at all.
Danger #3: Operating the boat while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Most people will agree that drugs (even prescription drugs) and alcohol impair judgement and response times and shouldn't be used when driving a car. On boats drugs and alcohol can be even more deadly because there are fewer protections (no airbags or seatbelts, right?) and the mindset on a boat is usually more relaxed. Why are people usually more relaxed on a boat? Cars may be recreational to some, but to most people their a practical mode of transportation. A pontoon boat, however, is primarily recreational, and when we're in our recreational mindset we often don't think defensively like we do when we're on the road in our cars and trucks. Keep in mind that drugs and alcohol should not be used by pontoon boat skippers and that they cause serious impairments and subject everyone to more danger.
Danger #4: Unfamiliar operators - don't just let anybody skipper your pontoon boat. Inexperienced boaters may not have the maturity or temperment to guide your craft wisely. Use your best judgment before you hand over the well-being of your passengers (and yourself and those folks in other vessels) to someone who isn't a proven and experienced boater.
Danger #5: Piloting in reverse - when someone is in the water, don't back the boat up and injure them with the propellers. Too many bad things can happen when the propellers of your engine start moving your craft backwards closer to the person in the water. Boats don't have brakes - they DON'T stop on a dime.
This concludes our first installment of this two-part series. The second installment, entitled "Six More Stupid Ways to Injure Yourself and Others on a Pontoon Boat" will highlights six additional dangers of boating - so that your time in the boat can be more safe and rewarding. Make sure you read the second article and test your knowledge of the common dangers that boaters can face - and see just how safety-aware you are!
