But are open waters really open? The answer is clear. NO! Blue water is cluttered. It has a wide array of debris floating both on the surface, as well as partially or fully submerged. Logs, lumber, plastics, and containers (from 10 feet long to over 40 feet in length) are just some of the items floating about on the great blue ocean. By the way logs, lumber, and plastics also float about in coastal waters as well!
If this is the case, then it behooves all boaters to be extremely wary of our waters. Traveling at high speed and connecting with a submerged object is akin to riding your bicycle and hitting a rock. The bicycle bounces, and more times than not, you end up fall off. When your boat hits an object, depending on its mass, your boat can react in one of several ways.
Newton' First Law of Motion:
An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion at a constant velocity unless acted upon by another force.
First and foremost the boat will decelerate quickly. This will cause all passengers and object that are not tied down to continue in the direction they were traveling, at the same velocity. These people and objects will then either make brute force contact with parts of the boat, the other objects or sail right over the boat, ending up in the water.
Secondly, the boat may itself become airborne. There is no way to predict how your boat may react to being airborne, but it’s quite possible that it could invert; landing upside down and automatically capsizes.
Thirdly, and needless to say, not the last possibility is that the boat will just sink, quite possible as fast as the Titanic.
In our Sausalito accident, one of the passengers was ejected from the boat. He unfortunately died. No cause of death was listed in the article, but neither the deceased nor the two other passengers were wearing PFD’s (life jackets).
It is also worthy of note, that the two injured remaining members of the boat used a cell phone to call for help. The Coast Guard wishes again to inform the boating public that your safest and best source for calling for help is your marine VHF radio. The reasons are many, but high up on the list is the possibility of other boaters hearing your distress call and responding and/or assisting in getting help. No one, with the exception of the party you called can hear your cell phone conversation!
For more information about safe boating, safe boating courses or information about the United States Coast Guard or Coast Guard Auxiliary, contact your local Coast Guard unit (found in the yellow pages) or see us on the Internet. The Coast Guard is located at www.uscg.miland the Coast Guard Auxiliary is at www.cgaux.org.
