Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish On
As I sit here at 3 AM dealing with the insomnia of adjusting to coming home from China Sunday and thinking about getting out of there 24 hours before the quake hit and just being "lucky" unlike the thousands of people who are living with or died as a result of such a massive disaster I find myself thinking about safety in everything I do especially fishing and boating. I've decided that if I run the boat this year (which I probably will in spite of the gas) that I will increase my foucus on boating safety. I always considered myself a safe boater for everyone on board, (always wore a PFD when alone, personally walked newcomers through all safety equipment prior to departure, etc) but I could be safer. For instance, I will buy an ePerb this year regardless of the cost.
There have been so many informative posts on safety on this site. (Unfortunately so many of them following an accident such as the lobsterman lost of the Isles of Shoals this weekend.) I wonder if it might be an idea to have a forum dedicated to safety so that boaters and surf casters alike can go to a single forum for all that great info.
Just the thoughts of one fisherman in the wee hours.
Tight AND SAFE lines to all!
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Fish On,
Great idea. Glad to hear you made it home safely, too. Things can happen so quickly on the water, by the time a situation develops it might be too late. As humans, we tand to have this feeling that it always happens to the other guy and not us.
A number of years ago, I think it was 1996. I worked for a skipper on occassion from Chatham. He is a ledgendary charter skipper in Chatham and has been for a number of years. He was fishing a rip in the fog as he had done ten thousand times before when a yahoo in a large Hatteras came roaring through the fog at full cruise and literally ran him over. Killed one member of the charter and a second lost him leg as a result. To me, that is absolutely terrifying. I know for the Captain it was the darkest day of his life. It is on all of us to take the time to be prepared and to be safe on the water, not just for our lives but for the others around us.
Great decision getting an epirb. I bought one a few years ago when I wanted to go offshore for tuna. I wouldn't go without one. I got around the cost issue by asking myself, "If my boat sank out from underneath me 40 miles offshore in the fog, how much would I pay to have an epirb with me then?"