|
You don’t play in traffic, Do you?
The idea is to do something fun or why spend tons of money to drive a
boat? Is it the sandy beaches, brilliant blue skies, and fair trade
winds; Maybe, but…. Where am I going with this?
Though we boat for fun, the boats we do it with are serious business.
Trawlers, particularly heavy metal trawlers (ignore the music
reference), are serious pieces of machinery. They can and do
occasionally get into real trouble. A handful may be caught in Perfect
Storm conditions. Many more, however, face peril near their
destinations, maneuvering in close quarters. Trawlers weigh tens if not
hundreds of thousands of pounds. You don’t “fend them off” or stop them
with a burst of engine power. Without this understanding boats get
damaged, boats cause damage, and occasionally people are injured, or
worse. The fact that you can afford to buy the boat bears little
relevance to whether or not you should be driving it.
None of this is to imply that you cannot boat safely, even in heavy
boats. It is simply a function of understanding the challenge, and
having the proper experience. All of us drive cars, the smallest of
which can easily crush a bicycle or crash through a convenience store
window. With the exception of a few cell phone users, however, most have
learned to modulate the risk by adapting to the physics in play. Tides,
winds, and boat speed all aggravate the problem, but they are all
manageable with training.
Teenagers spend weeks learning to maneuver a 3,000-pound vehicle in
Driver’s Ed. Pilots rack up dozens of solo, dual, and textbook hours
before a passenger is ever allowed in the right seat. Is it too much to
expect that an owner who can afford a motor yacht should expect to put
in a bit more effort than turning a key and casting off lines. Please,
take the time to learn.
But that’s just my opinion…. |
