S.S. Minnow - Woman Killed

BULLETIN: FORT LAUDERDALE -- The woman killed aboard the S.S. Minnow when it crashed into an unopened Andrews Avenue Bridge on the New River late Saturday was identified on Monday as Frances Eaton Strock, 75, of Deerfield Beach.

Dwayne

USCG to take action against propeller injuries

WASHINGTON - The National Boating Safety Advisory Council has issued a set of resolutions directing the U.S. Coast Guard to analyze and address propeller strike prevention efforts underway in the recreational boating industry, the National Marine Manufacturers Association reported yesterday.

The resolutions in summary can be found here.

Many of the resolutions have to do with the use of kill switches.  We have posted several articles about kill switches and how they could have saved injury and loss of life.

See also SPIN.

Dwayne

Ghaleb Tayfour - Fatal Hit and Run at Sea

Officials say fatal hit-and-run crash at sea hard to solve, especially as time passes

We have followed this story for a while now.  The authorities and family appear frustrated with the lack of evidence as to who killed this young man and fled the scene.  Any evidence that anyone has would be helpful.

Dwayne

Iowa House rejects change in boating bill

This is a bill following a boating crash that killed a dentist named Brosnahan.  We have followed this story for some time.  This is the kind of legislation that follows horrific accidents and hit and run boating.  If folks don’t want tighter boating laws they need to learn how to behave on the water.

Dwayne

Hypothermia

Hypothermia is a an insidious killer. 

See this site on Hypothermia.

Dwayne

Boating Safety Bill Clears Okla. House

 Boating Safety Bill Clears Okla. House

Senate Bill 1495, by State Sen. Kenneth Corn (D-Poteau) and State Rep. Ken Miller, would create the "Kyle Williams Boating Safety Education Act," prohibiting anyone under the age of 12 from operating a vessel with a motor in excess of 10 horsepower or any sailboat more than 16 feet long.

The bill, named after a 12-year-old Edmond boy who was killed in a jet-ski accident in August 2004, also requires children between the ages of 12 and 16 to complete a boater safety education course and be accompanied by an adult before being allowed to operate such vessels.

"Oklahoma is one of only eight states that don't require any boater education for teenagers and children prior to operating a boat," said Miller, R-Edmond. "

Dwayne

Hero Missionaries Make the Ultimate Sacrifice in Boating Accident

Two Arkansas missionaries die in boating accident

By all accounts these two men gave their lives so that two younger men could live.

Dwayne

Boat and Serve Your Country at the Same Time

Times…they are a changing.  I have posted a fair amount of stuff on homeland security.  In those posts there were discussions about the limitations of the Coast Guard due to low budgets and lack of people. 

The Coast Guard has a new program wherein they are asking for the public’s help with homeland security.  It it is a good idea and one that is a must given the limitations of the Coast Guard.  If you care you should write your Congressperson and ask that they support an increase in the Coast Guard’s budget as we need them.

This new program is called America’s Waterway Watch.  The program allows all of us to serve our Country while enjoying our favorite pastime of boating.

In the site the Coast Guard says this:

America's Waterway Watch is similar to the Coast Watch program of World War II, which caused the early growth of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, a group of citizen-volunteers who were mobilized as a uniformed, civilian component of the Coast Guard to scan the coast for U-boats and saboteurs attempting to infiltrate the shores of the United States. Today, America's Waterway Watch goes one step further: It calls on ordinary citizens like you -  who spend much of their on and around America's waterways - to assist in the War on Terrorism on the Domestic Front.

The Coast Guard explains why they need your help:

The enemy this nation faces today is unlike any other in our history. The operatives who may be attempting to enter the United States via our waterfront areas, whether as stowaways on ships entering our ports or on pleasure craft entering our marinas, do not wear a uniform or carry arms openly. They have chosen to attack us using unconventional warfare, and we  must be prepared to report events such as people entering our country illegally along the hundreds of miles of coastline, and people preparing to attack our critical infrastructure. America's Waterway Watch calls on all port and waterfront users to report suspicious activity in and around the area where they live, work and play.

 

Dwayne

Shark bites boy near Marco Island

 

Lesson here….NEVER jump into a school of jumping bait fish!!

They may be running from something big.

Dwayne

Editorial: Boating, alcohol a deadly combination

U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that from 2000 to 2004, nearly 45 percent of fatal boating accidents in Wisconsin were alcohol related. That's too many.

Based on current levels in most States is is simply better not to drink and drive any kind of motorized vehicle.  Its not safe and its not legal except at very minimal levels.   Why take the chance?

Dwayne

Conservationists Sue to Keep Motors out of Grand Canyon

From the Environmental News Network

Four environmental and river rafting groups are suing the National Park Service in an attempt to stop helicopter flights and motorized rafting in the Grand Canyon.

They said:

“We feel like we're going to battle on behalf of all American citizens. They deserve to have the Grand Canyon designated as wilderness," said Jo Johnson, co-director of River Runners for Wilderness.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, attached a rider to a 1981 bill that would block any federal funds from being used to support removal of motorized boats from Grand Canyon, even if they were only used for drawing up planning documents.

The Park Service reversed course on its mission to phase out motorized boating following Hatch's move and hasn't attempted again since.

A proposal to designate most of the Grand Canyon as wilderness was put forth by Grand Canyon managers in 1993 and has never been transmitted to Congress or any president since, as would be required, according to the Colorado River Management Plan.

Here in Florida we have many waterways that are designated as no-motor zones.  It seems (to me) that there should be a way to balance folks having fun on the water with protecting the environment and wilderness. 

Dwayne

Literature

The Old Man and the Sea on Imax

Dwayne

Art

Mary Cassatt Mother And Child In A Boat

Airboat flips over in Everglades, killing driver

MIAMI (AP) -- A state wildlife official says an airboat flipped over in the Everglades, killing its 26-year-old driver.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Jorge Pino says Ryan Anthony Carraway of Fort Myers was pronounced dead at a Miami hospital.

It wasn't immediately clear how Carraway lost control of the single-passenger airboat in the Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area of the Everglades.

Pino said his agency was not sure how fast the driver was going.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Dwayne

Locals aid in search for missing teen and now Second Drowning

 

CLAY COUNTY -- Putnam County Rescue Squad members have been among emergency workers this week who came from nearby counties to assist Clay County emergency personnel in searching for a missing teen, who authorities believe drowned after a boating accident.

Jonathan Hudson, a 16-year-old Lafayette resident, reportedly fell from a small boat into Dale Hollow Lake on Monday while on spring break with his friends. He never resurfaced and has not been found.

Now there has been a second drowning in the same small lake.

This is an update on the story.

Dwayne