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Boating The Ten Boating Rules You Should Never Forget
There are things in life that you could never forget like your name, the faces of your loved ones or who tried stealing your money during high school. When it comes to boating however, these are rules that you must always remember:
Always File a Float Plan
A float plan is a document containing pertinent information about the crew and passengers of a particular vessel, the identifiable characteristics of the vessel and information about their intended journey. In cases of accidents, the Coast Guard will be able to use the information from the float plan to make a more accurate plan when searching for lost boats.
Orienting Your Passengers
You can’t imagine just how many boating accidents were caused by stubborn or ignorant passengers. Don’t let yourself fall for the same trap. Before leaving the marina, make sure that you have completely and properly oriented your passengers about the important do’s and dont's while sailing.
Navigating in the Dark
There may be times in your sailing career that you are forced to operate in reduced visibility. When this happens, the most important thing to do is to remain calm. Secondly, reduce your speed. The dark can be especially traitorous, being able to keep a large vessel hidden from sight until it’s too late for you to avoid collision. Lastly, turn off your engine if possible. The silence will enable you to listen harder for signals coming from other vessels.
Running Aground
This is almost an inevitable aspect of boating so don’t blame yourself when it happens. If and when you do run aground, DON’T act right away. Take the time to evaluate the situation. Ask yourself questions: how big is the shoal? Is there deeper water ahead? Acting and moving early before thinking your plan through may cause further damage to your propellers.
Can You Talk the Talk?
Even if it’s possible to go abroad without learning the native language in advance, it’s simply not the same when you go boating. You need to be extremely cognizant of the commonly used distress signals to ensure that you can readily communicate with other vessels when something happens.
The Final Step
Once you’ve reached your destination or any place you plan on treating as a pit stop, you should observe proper anchoring and mooring etiquette. Respect the privacy of the other boaters. Obtain permission before picking up any guest mooring.
Keep these rules in mind and you won’t encounter any dangers while sailing.
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