1. Always wear a life jacket. Modern jackets are sleek, comfortable and stylish, hardly resembling the blocky vests of yesteryear. Auto-inflating models further minimize bulk. It’s important to wear a life jacket because when an accident happens, the Safe Boating Council says, there’s rarely time to grab one. Eighty-four percent of drowning victims in 2011 weren’t wearing a life jacket.
2. Always file a float plan. Leave your itinerary at home with family or friends. If you don’t make it home or check in, they’ll know who to contact and where to start a search. Available for free from the Coast Guard, an ID sticker for your boat could speed up search efforts if the vessel is found without you in it.
3. Check the weather before you hit the water, and use a marine radio to get the latest forecasts. “Weather conditions can change very rapidly,” says Bill Gover, commander of USCGA’s Apostle Islands Flotilla. Don’t take a chance on iffy weather; you can always reschedule.
4. Learn safe boating. Some of the leading causes of death and injury on the water are operator inexperience, inattention and the failure to keep a proper lookout. Eighty-nine percent of fatal accidents in 2011 occurred on boats whose operators had received no boating safety instruction.
5. Don’t drink and boat. Alcohol use was the leading contributing factor in 16 percent of boating deaths in 2011.