To stay safe onboard, it helps to know what the most common causes of boat accidents actually are. Here, we list 4 of them so you can make sure to avoid them happening to you!
1. Not being prepared for the weather
Poor visibility can make boating extremely difficult – and sometimes very dangerous. It is indispensable to check the marine weather forecast before leaving port. Be sure that you and your boat are able to handle the weather that is forecast. Boaters can face problems such as lightning or waterspouts if they do not keep informed of the weather.
Luckily, this is easy to do in MaxSea TimeZero, which includes free and unlimited GRIB file weather forecast downloads. Simply use an Internet connection to download marine weather forecast for the area of your choice. This information can be overlaid on your chart and you can animate the weather to see how it will progress for the next 16 days.
2. Not keeping lookout
When boats experience collisions, the most common reason given is failing to keep a lookout. Objects in the sea and other boats can approach extremely quickly, and it’s important to always be aware of your surroundings.
An effective way to do this in MaxSea TimeZero is to to use the built-in AIS target overlay. You just need to connect an AIS-receiver to view the position, speed and direction of eac
h AIS target near your boat. You can easily set up a guard zone around your vessel. If a target enters this zone, an alarm will sound from your computer to warn you of a nearby boat. If you use radar onboard, even better. This will allow you to view ARPA targets on your MaxSea TimeZero chart. Display radar overlay on MaxSea TimeZero Explorer if you are using a natively-compatible radar.
3. Falling over board
This is an obvious one. It can easily happen and will usually just cause some embarrassment but nothing more. However, if you knock your head when falling, it is very dangerous. If the passenger loses consciousness, it is imperative that they are wearing a life jacket.
Always wear your life jack when on board! According to US Coast Guard statistics, around half of the drowning fatalities in boating involve boaters without life jackets.
Also, try to always wear the emergency engine cut-off switch lanyard so that you can cut the boat’s engine. This prevents the boat from riding away from you and also prevents you getting run over by the boat if it turns in hard circles.
Hopefully, you never need it, but just in case, remember that there is a MOB tool (Man Over Board) in MaxSea TimeZero to mark the exact position of the fall. Then use the Go-To tool to send your boat back to position.
4. Running Out of Gas
If you are in a calm area, this is usually not a huge problem. Just call a towing agency and they can bring you enough fuel to return to port. However, there are many areas with strong currents, or approaching waterfalls where you definitely don’t want to run out.
In this case, prevention is definitely better than cure. Use the 1/3 rule. One third of your fuel going out, 1/3 coming home and 1/3 for what you didn’t expect. Next, always leave with a full tank and know your fuel consumption rate.
If you have a fuel gauge on board, connect it to MaxSea TimeZero so that you can constantly monitor your fuel rate and level.
Unfortunately, these are just a few of the causes of boat accidents. Boating can be dangerous, so please follow this advice and always think safety first!
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