Six More Stupid Ways to Injure Yourself or Others On A Pontoon Boat
In the first installment of this two-part series, we highlighted five dangers (aka: Five Stupid Ways to Injure Yourself or Others) you could experience on a pontoon boat. In this second, and final, installment we introduce six additional dangers - that you may or may not have considered. Our intent is to bring these dangers to the forefront of your mind right now, so that when you are out enjoying the waterways - you will have been exposed to concepts that emphasize good precautions to take - so that your focus will be on enjoyment of safe and thoughtful boating.
Let's start with Danger #6 and work our way up to Danger #11:
Danger #6: Passengers riding in dangerous areas - don't let passengers sit in seats or on parts of the deck from which they can easily fall into the water when a your boat makes sudden changes in movement. Sitting on the bow, rail, transom, sun deck, swivel fishing seats, and like areas should not be allowed. Neither should standing during transit. If someone falls from the front of your pontoon boat while you're in transit, there's very little you can do (if anything) to prevent the propellers from hitting them as your boat passes over the top of them.
Danger #7: Boat running while swimmers and skiers enter the water - Shut off the engine before swimmers and skiers are allowed to enter the water. If you must turn the engine on before everyone's back in the boat, make sure that no one is under the boat, or near the engine. Don't let your passengers rush to get into the water. Making people wait until you kill the motors isn't being a grinch, it's being smart.
Danger #8: Unbalanced loads - don't distribute all the weight to one portion of the boat. Let all the passengers know that they all should stand on an particular part of the boat at the same time for safety sake. It's easy to lose sight of this when there's something funny going on in the water and everyone rushes to the port side to see it. Pontoon boats are pretty stable, but don't tempt fate by throwing out common sense and putting physics and pontoon boat engineering to the test. Keep your pontoon boat load evenly distributed.
Danger #9: Too much weight - don't overload your watercraft. Don't take twelve people out on a boat that's designed for six. It's not just a load balancing danger, but you're putting dangerous strain on the structure of your watercraft and it's engine.
Danger #10: Leaving inland waterways - Pontoon boats were designed for inland waterways. Rivers, small and mid-sized lakes, and ponds don't put boaters in jeopardy like larger bodies of water such as the Great Lakes, or the Gulf of Mexico. Even trying to boat long stretches of the Mississippi River can be dangerous. Avoid open seas and oceanic voyages on pontoon boats. Waves and winds on the open sea or oceans can be stronger than you (the skipper) and your pontoon boat can handle.
Danger #11: Carbon monoxide poisoning kills - especially if your boat has an enclosed canopy and you've got a backwind blowing your boat motor exhaust fumes into that canopy. Keep in mind that carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas and can still kill you even if you're on the open water.
Boating can be a safe and fun recreational activity if we're mindful of our actions and take responsible steps for avoiding many of the situations in which people get hurt or killed. By keeping these six 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.
