I Must Go Down To The Sea, But Not With The Ship

"I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by...,"

Ah, the sea. Is there a mariner anywhere who can resist its alluring call? Isn't it a joy to just pick up and go?

Those of us who can, boat. Those who cannot, cruise.

I've never done a cruise ship. If I want to stay in a hotel, I prefer it to be on land. When I want to go to sea, I want the motion of the ocean and the spray on my face. I want to feel like I'm on a boat. Do you feel the same?

We should change our snooty attitude.

An August 2008 story in the Daily Telegraph (UK) reports that the P&O cruise ship Pacific Sun was caught in a violent storm 400 miles off New Zealand. According to the story:

"Some passengers told how they were flung across the ship, along with crockery and 'anything not nailed down,' when the ship tried to turn to face its bow into the storm.

"They said huge waves caught it side-on as it manoeuvred, causing the ship to pitch violently."

It's a networked world. So naturally, the event was caught on video.

Now, that's an adventure.

The Pacific Sun is a 47,000 ton vessel. She is described in Wikipedia as a medium-sized ship accommodating up to 1,900 passengers.

I've forgotten what I remember about bad weather cruising. I do remember to slow down when conditions worsen. If you can't make safe harbor, turn the bow into the weather and ride it out. (You should have checked the chart before leaving port for safe gunkholes just for this purpose.) It's a good idea to get those life vests on.

Time to dig out those old Power Squadron books, or the Chapman, at least.

Did you know that Charles F. Chapman, the original author of Chapman Piloting and Seamanship was a founding member of United States Power Squadrons?

Did you know that Chapman wrote the book in 1916 at the instigation of the assistant secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, as a training manual for Navy Reservists?

That would be the same FDR who encouraged Roger B. Upton to take his boating safety movement "national." That movement morphed into United States Power Squadrons.

Did you know that Chapman has a 12 page description of United States Power Squadrons and Canadian Power Squadrons? And that those groups are described before the U.S. Coast Guard?

So which group is more important? Unless that blue light is flashing, I mean?

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John Masefield's I Must Go Down To The Sea is an anthem for boaters, sailors and mariners everywhere. Here's the full work:

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

You have to weather the storm

Ah, to be a man. To master the sea. To feel the spray on your face. To weather the storm. It sounds so romantic until, you know, you're caught in it.

Boat long enough and you'll eventually run aground, they say. Cruise the Chesapeake long enough and you'll get caught in a squall.

Today's Washington Post tells the story of Steve Murfin who was caught in a violent storm last August. Murfin was tooling around the Eastern Bay just off St. Michael's (If you don't know where that is, you're just not a Bay boater) in his 17-foot Boston Whaler.

Murfin had been tracking the approach of a storm. He decided to head to home port about 90 minutes before the weather was predicted to hit. Then, two bad things happened. First he couldn't start his engine. Second, the squall hit at just that moment. Like Gilligan, Murfin's tiny ship was tossed.

A Good Samaritan on board the vessel Her Baby arrived and gave Murfin a tow through the worst of the storm. The Post's description of that adventure is as stirring as any you'll find in classic sea yarns.

Her Baby towed Murfin safely to his dock on the Wye River. She departed without Murfin so much as knowing her captain's name. Just another example of good boaters being good boaters.

Captains are expected to help other boaters in distress, if it is within their capability to do so and when such help does not constitute a danger to themselves. This is especially true in the case of accident.

The Boat Handling S102 manual (2002) of the Power Squadron's Seamanship Course has these legal tips for captains offering Good Samaritan tows:

1.  The skipper (of the towing boat) must have the proper equipment and be mentally prepared.
2. Insurance coverage may change if you tow someone. Don't wait until you are faced with a towing situation to look into this. Check your insurance policy now--and every time it is renewed.
3. Before towing, make sure actions are appropriate, reasonable and properly documented because they are subject to review in the event of mishap, damage, or injury. Keep a detailed log of every action taken.
4. Under no circumstances should the owner of the boat doing the towing accept anything of value from the owner or crew of the boat to be towed. Such acceptance is regarded as being engaged in the business of commercial towing.
5. The towing boat skipper should make clear that it is his /her intention to help a fellow boater. The owner of the towed boat must make clear that the assistance provided does not constitute a salvage operation. Crews should remain on their respective boats. If the crew from the towing boat boards the boat to be towed, there is possibly the implication that the skipper of the boat to be towed has surrendered command. The towing skipper should use lines from the boat to be towed.

If the above gives a captain pause, the federal government provides legal cover for Good Samaritan under the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 (FBSA/71). It's summarized in the 64th Edition of Chapman Piloting and Seamanship as follows: 

Any person who gratuitously and in good faith renders assistance at the scene of an accident or other boating casualty without the objection of any person being assisted cannot be held liable for any civil damages as a result of rendering assistance, or for any act or omission in providing or arranging salvage, towage, medical treatment, or other assistance when he acts as an ordinary, reasonably prudent person would have under the same or similar circumstances. 

When you have to weather the storm, it's good to have help.

Postscript: When the words "federal" and "boating" appear in the same sentence, it applies to navigable waters. To me, that means water under the control of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and patrolled by the U.S. Coast Guard. States have Good Samaritan laws, but each have their own local twist. Federal or State, Good Samaritans are not expected to, and should not, attempt something beyond their ability. Standing by until the authorities arrive is also a Good Samaritan act.

Photo Credit: www.whaler.com

Oh, to be on a boat!

What do you do when you want to be on your boat, but cant? Why, you look at videos of other people's cruises on boats.

Thanks to Philiwily, you can find one on YouTube. Phili took a series of time-lapsed photos of his cruise on a Nordhaven 64 from Baltimore to Falmouth (Cape Cod) Harbor by way of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.

Judging from my (very) modest familiarity of the chart of the Patapsco River and the dead calm of the water, Philiwily departed Baltimore just past O-dark-thirty and passed under the Key Bridge in early daylight.

Wish I was there. And I can be, every time I look at this video.

Hat tip to www.mby.com for pointing me to this video.

The Potomac Is A Nest Of Snake...Heads

A story in today's Virginia Pilot says that the invasive snakehead fish, like politicians, are here to stay in the Potomac Area.

Whether fish or politician, is that a bad thing? The Frankenfish won't eat you. The ecological doom predicted for our home waters aren't panning out.

Says The Pilot:

"Yes, they are aggressive and fearsome predators that gobble their prey whole. But so far, they have not ravaged the Potomac's prized largemouth bass population. Nor any other fish, bird or amphibian on which they feed.

"They appear to be coexisting."

The Virginia Pilot covers the Hampton Roads area. Its story described the expansion of the specie from D.C. waters south to the tidal Potomac. Snakes in the Bay is only a matter of time. Queue up Jaws for the snakeheads vs. bull sharks movie that's sure to follow.

But snakehead fry have been observed in the Anacostia River and are expected to migrate above Great Falls to the headwaters of the Potomac.

Which leads to three questions.

1. Do they eat mosquitoes?
2. Will they eat my boat?
3. Could it be a sport fish?

Science is silent on the first question and there are no reports of the second. That last question has some encouraging answers.

The Northern Snakehead can grow to three feet long and weigh to 15 pounds. A thick coat of slime protects their bodies from the elements, a characteristic they share with eels along with the shape of their bodies. They put up a fight and, like eels, are said to be good to eat, if Americans can get past their squeamishness to try.

The fish favors shallow water, especially flats with aquatic grass that gives them shelter. Some sportsmen have hunted them with bow and arrows. Word is, they make a good catch.

Cooking recipes tend to be Asian, reflecting the fish's origin, although a writer for The Las Vegas Weekly said that snakehead tastes like chicken when grilled. The fish is popular in Singapore cooked with green apples and ginger.

Both Maryland and Virginia have kill on sight orders for snakehead. Maryland asks anglers to report any fish caught outside the tidal Potomac to 410-260-8287. Virginia asks all anglers to report all snakehead catches, where ever caught, to its hotline at 804-367-2925.

Tastes like chicken, eh?

Photo Credit:

(cc) P3109470 from Mohd Fahmi's photostream on flickr.com

There's Something About Sailors

There's something about working on the water that appeals to recreational voters. And when you can work on the water while in service to your country, that's icing on the cake.

Yeah I know, watermen work real hard for real small pay. There are certain risks involved in Naval service to your country. Ah, but those Navy vessels are so much...more expensive than I can afford.

It's still good to see the Postal Service, the "other USPS," offer a 44-cent stamp series honoring Distinguished Sailors. The stamps were issued in February 2010 and are available online.

Here's the Postal Service's description:

"With the issuance of the Distinguished Sailors stamp, the U.S. Postal Service® honors a tradition of excellence in the U.S. Navy that began with the authorization for two warships by the Continental Congress on October 13, 1775. These stamps commemorate four sailors who served with bravery and distinction during the 20th Century: William S. Sims, Arleigh A. Burke, John McCloy, and Doris Miller. The stamp pane identifies the four sailors, the approximate date of each photograph, and a ship named in honor of each sailor."

Four sailors are honored.

William S. Sims, Admiral, USN, Commanded U.S. Naval Forces in Europe during World War I and later was president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He instigated the effort to improve naval gunnery after the Spanish American war and was effective at mobilizing forces during the Great War, especially in anti-submarine warfare. He was not, however, happy with support received from the Navy Department and was critical in the post-war period. Congress found that his charges had merit, but did not go along with his suggestion wrest authority from civilian leadership in wartime.

Side Note: Sims directed his attacks at Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, but the

department was run by the assistant secretary and future U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was Roosevelt's comment to Roger Upton in 1912 to take his boating safety movement "national" that led Upton to found United States Power Squadrons. Upton made a number of visits between 1914 and 1919 to the Navy Department in Washington D.C. to visit Daniels and Roosevelt in pursuit of that movement. USPS proclaimed Roosevelt an honorary Power Squadron member from the late 1930s until his death in 1945.

Arleigh Burke, Admiral, USN, Fighting admiral during World War II. Best known as "31 knot" Burke for aggressively driving his destroyer squadron to the near-breaking point of their boilers. He served as chief of staff to Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher. As such he played a leadership role in the naval battles of the Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. Burke served three terms as Chief of Naval Operations in the Eisenhower Administration. He lends his name to a class of guided missile destroyers.

John McCloy, Medals Of Honor Winner, USN, Talk about your fighting sailors, McCloy is one of only 19 individuals to win two Congressional Medals Of Honor. During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, McCloy distinguished himself during the effort to rescue members of the foreign community in Peking (Beijing), China. In 1914, Chief Boatswain McCloy was in charge of three picket boats unloading men and supplies during the American operation in Veracruz, Mexico. When his boats came under fire, McCloy pushed away from the pier, exposing himself, to direct fire at the enemy. Though wounded in the thigh, McCloy remained on the water in the boat for 48 hours. In 1919 while serving as a lieutenant on the USS Curlew, McCloy further distinguished himself for sweeping mines from the North Sea after World War I. McCloy was awarded the Navy Cross for that service. Whew!

Doris "Dorie" Miller, Cook Third Class, USN, Enlisted in the Navy in 1939. Transferred to the USS West Virginia (BB-48) in January 1940, where he became the ship's heavyweight boxing champion. Miller had temporary duty aboard USS Nevada (BB-36) to attend Secondary Battery Gunnery School. Miller is remembered today for firing an antiaircraft battery at the enemy on the morning of December 7, 1941, Miller was actually cited and awarded the Navy Cross for his actions carrying wounded members of West Virginia's crew to safety. Admiral Chester A. Nimitz, Chief of the Pacific Fleet and a fellow Texan, personally made the presentation. Miller was assigned to the cruiser USS Indianapolis a week after Pearl Harbor and subsequently to the USS Liscome Bay, a new escort carrier. Liscome Bay was torpedoed near the Gilbert Islands by Japanese submarine I-75 on November 23, 1943. Miller went down with her along with 645 shipmates. His body was never recovered.

See also the full background information provided by the U.S. Postal Service here.

Photo Credits:

Distinguished Sailors, U.S. Postal Service

USS W.S. Sims, DE-1059, www.usssims1059.org

USS Arleigh Burke, DDG-51, www.navalbasecruises.com

USS McCloy, DE-1039, www.navsource.org

USS West Virginia (sunk) and USS Tennessee, Pearl Harbor, Never Forget, drjamesgalyon.wordpress.com

Science Finds What Boaters Already Know: Drinking Is Good

You can never be too rich or too thin, but you can drink too little for your own good. Boaters know that instinctively. Why else would you boat except for the dock party? And what's a dock party without spirits and beer?

Now comes scientific evidence in an article in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. A study shows that moderate drinkers live longer than non-drinkers.

The study confirmed the finding that alcohol consumption is heart-healthy and even helps destroy pancreatic cancer cells. The new news is that non-drinkers have higher mortality rates.

Researchers said that the non-drinkers tend to be from lower socioeconomic classes where life stresses are higher. They say lower income inhibits alcohol consumption because of the costs involved. Hmmm, that sounds like the rationale for why more people aren't boaters. Come to think of it, low income and high stress is a formula for high mortality with or without alcohol. I think those researchers were drinking when they came up with that conclusion, so don't drink the Kool-Ade on this one.

Boaters are generous with the spirits. However, I've never seen my Power Squadron friends drink while boating. We save all that for the dock parties. Age could be a factor. Most of my Power Squadron cohorts graduated high school in 19-none-ya-business.

Captains know, or should know, that alcohol has an accelerated effect on the senses when you are on the water. There's something about the glare of the sun reflected off the water, engine vibration, motion of the ocean (bay, river, lake) and the dehydrating effect of it all.

Plus drinking while boating makes you look stupid when you try to dock--and when those people with the flashing blue lights want to talk to you. They have no sense of humor about BUI. So just don't.

I'll drink to that.

More: See Boating Under The Influence .org

Photo credit: www.free-extras.com

8-Foot Shark Caught In the Potomac River

I've been reading that fishing is good in the Potomac, but this is too much.

Guy named Willie Dean netted what he said is an eight-foot Bull Shark--in the Potomac River in St. Mary's County.

It's Dean who's calling it a Bull Shark. We'll wait for the authorities on that. But it was a real big fish. Really, really big.

The Chesapeake Bay is brackish water and we know sharks visit. But we expect to hear of them down in the Hampton Roads area, not in the Mid-Chesapeake, not in the fresh water Potomac about three miles from Point Lookout. Lemon Sharks in the Bay, maybe. But Bulls?

Bull Sharks have a particularly nasty reputation. They do attack humans. Here's how National Geographic describes them:

"Bull sharks are aggressive, common, and usually live near high-population areas like tropical shorelines. They are not bothered by brackish and freshwater, and even venture far inland via rivers and tributaries.

"Because of these characteristics, many experts consider bull sharks to be the most dangerous sharks in the world. "

And you thought jellyfish were the biggest hazard in the water. Another reason to be careful while boating.

Southern Maryland News published a story and picture of a pod of dolphins frolicking in the Potomac near Tall Timbers. Sharks and dolphins and what comes next? Bears? Oh my.

Special Factors Make For Good Business for West Marine, Brunswick

Hmmm. Perhaps the boating market isn't in thin waters any more. Two industry players report smooth sailing in the second quarter 2010.

West Marine reported on July 30, 2010, a second quarter revenue gain of 11.5 percent. Earnings per share for the second quarter was $1.52 compared to $1.46 for the same period last year.

CEO Geoff Eisenberg said the company benefited by last year's closure of competitor Boaters World and by good boating weather in the northeast.

Full story at MercuryNews.com.

It pays to be global for Brunswick Corporation who reported on July 29, 2010, a second quarter revenue gain of 41 percent to $1.015 billion. Net earnings for the quarter was $13.7 million, or $0.15 per share, compared to a loss of $163.7 million, or -$1.83 per share, in the same period last year.

Brunswick is the nation's largest manufacturer of recreational boats under about a dozen brands including SeaRay, Hatteras and Bayliner as well as Mercury and Mariner boat engines.

In it's conference call with investors, Brunswick pointed to continued industry weakness in fiberglass inboard and outboard boat sales. US Inboard demand was down 29 percent in the second quarter, following a 23 percent decline in first quarter 2010 and a 33 percent fall in the fourth quarter 2009. US demand for outboards fell 16 percent in the second quarter, following declines of 22 percent in the first quarter and 29 percent in the fourth quarter 2009.

Brunswick was helped by the overseas market. Boat sales outside the US was up 64 percent for the quarter while engines sales outside the US jumped 28 percent.

Profit in the boat segment was helped by less need for discounting to push retail sales out the door. However, Brunswick reported 27 weeks of inventory in its pipeline. That can't be healthy for a seasonal business.

While the outlook for the US boat market is still grim, Brunswick can count on its bowling, billiards and exercise equipment to pick up the slack. The company's business results were a surprise to analysts and its stock is up over 200 percent from last year.

For the earnings call transcript, go to seekingalpha.com.

West Marine gains by less competition and Brunswick gains from bowling ball sales and demand in Europe. Good if you can get it, but special factors only work once. Demand has to be stronger for the industry to get healthier..

My IBM background tells me to issue some disclaimers here. So I disclaim any expertise as a stock analyst. This report is not a recommendation to buy or sell stock in these or any other company. If this were a recommendation, you should do the opposite of whatever I say. I have a proven talent for buying high and selling low because, like most laymen, I tend to hold on to stocks for too long, then won't sell until it "comes back." Which explains why I'm not running my boat these days--nor in the market for a new one.

Want stock advice? See an expert. Want to talk about the hobby? Stick around. Want to talk boating education or boating safety? Join your local Power Squadron.

Photo credit: Mercury Marine

The Potomac River Is...Clean

Well, cleaner and clearer that it was than when I was growing up way back in 19 none-ya-business.

Rob Hedelt's story on Fredericksburg.com tells how much better the river has become (Trip on the river reveals differences).

Hedelt accompanied two Chesapeake Bay Foundation naturalists on a 44 mile cruise up the Potomac from Aquia Creek to D.C. The naturalists were there to measure differences in water quality of the river in Stafford County, Virginia and Washington.

Water clarity is one difference, ranging from one fathom down river to about nine inches around the Wilson Bridge.

The naturalists attribute much of that to the presence of water grasses, with more of it from Mount Vernon down river, less in the waters around urbanized Washington. Sea grass filter particulates from the water and form a nursery for the tasty Blue Crabs we so love in these parts.

The effort to clean the Potomac has been lengthy and not always successful. Thought it never sunk to level of the Cuyahoga River, Washington residents were once prohibited from contact with the Potomac, much less eat the fish caught there.

These days, governments cooperate more or less on improving water quality. An army of volunteers work to clean out the trash along the Potomac watershed. One of those people is Potomac River Squadron's P/C Howard Gasaway whose involvement in the Anacostia River Clean-Up predates his membership in the Power Squadrons.

Cleaner water means better fishing. That, and the new National Harbor, will reestablish the Potomac as a premier boating destination as time goes on.

That has to be good for the Potomac River Power Squadron. We lost a lot of energy as members moved their boats to the Chesapeake and joined yacht clubs located there.

Photo Credit: (cc) richmanwisco on flickr.com

Are Your Charts Outdated, Captain?

My instructor in the Piloting class told me something astounding. I am supposed to navigate my boat using paper charts and that round thing on the dash covered by that glass bowl. What is it called? Oh yeah. The compass.

This is the Age of Technology. We don't convey messages by pen and paper. Most boaters don't pay much attention to chart books, if they even have one on-board.

For the longest time, United States Power Squadrons treated Global Positioning Systems (GPS) as back-up to nautical charts and the skills to read them. Not that they were being old fashioned. How's a recreational boat captain to know where to go if the GPS conks out?

USPS adapted to trends and boater preferences to treat GPS as the primary navigation tool, without backing away from paper charts (every boater should have the chart on board of the waters they ply).

Now the challenge is to get captains to check the accuracy of their nav tools from time to time. It turns out that is something of a problem.

A survey of boaters by the Alliance for Safe Navigation found that only one-third of respondents regularly undated their on-board navigational data.

“Unfortunately, these survey results indicate that boaters simply are not aware of how often conditions change and how those changes can affect their safety,” explains President Ron Walz of OceanGrafix, a founding member of the alliance. “The truth is that waters do change—and inaccurate chart information can turn a safe and enjoyable cruise into a dangerous situation.”

Highway surfaces do not change, except for the damned potholes. Water always change. Wind, current and tide works its magic both on the surface and the sea floor.

So yes, it really does help to swap out those old paper and electronic charts for more current ones and to glance at the Coast Guard Notice to Mariners from time to time. If you are a thorough captain who plots your course on paper before transferring it to your GPS, be sure you've set the GPS to the same datum as on the paper chart.

If you don't know what I just said, schedule yourself for a Piloting class or GPS seminar offered by your local Power Squadron.

If you don't know where you are going, you'll run aground when you get there. Put more bluntly, boating's a bitch when you are lost on the water. Don't get lost because of outdated information.

Full disclosure: United States Power Squadrons is a member of the The Alliance For Safe Navigation as is Jeppsen, Sea Tow, BoatUS, and OceanGrafix. The Power Squadrons and BoatUS would have you avoid incidents on the water. Jeppsen and OceanGrafix would like to sell you stuff that enables you to know where you are--and avoid hazards--on the water. If you have to call Sea Tow...well, you probably weren't paying enough attention to the other four.

USPS members are offered discounts on navigation products offered by Jeppsen and OceanGrafix and receive discounted membership in BoatUS.

Boating Education Saves Lives

You get into a lot when you get into a boat. Too

many recreational boat captains do not appreciate how tricky the water can be until they get into a jam. What they do then may cost them their lives, or save it.

So Many Lessons In Tragedy

Anthony Brown of Silver Spring, Maryland, commander of Potomac River Power Squadron, suspects that less experienced power boaters think of their vessel the way they think of their car. That thought occurred to him when he read Nick Schuyler's account of the tragic accident that took the lives of two NFL players as told in Schuyler's book Not Without Hope. Victims of the February 2009 Gulf of Mexico accident were pro football players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith, and Will Bleakley, a friend of Schuyler. Cooper was the owner and skipper of the 21-foot boat.

Cooper's anchor snagged on something on the seabed. Unable to get it up, the group tied the anchor line to the stern of the boat and tried to pull the anchor free. That's a big no-no, according to Brown. The dangers of tying off the anchor to the stern of a boat is one of the early lessons students are taught in the Power Squadron's Seamanship course. In Cooper's case, the anchor did not give way. Instead, the stern was pulled under water swamping the boat. The four men were thrown overboard as the boat capsized.

Brown suspects that the group thought of the boat as a tow truck. Faced the same situation a week before the accident, Cooper did one of the smartest things a skipper can do when an anchor can't be unsnagged. He cut the line, sacrificing the anchor for the safety of the boat and passengers. Schuyler says Cooper was determined not to lose another anchor.

Boat Handling Is A Skill

Chris Pickwick, of Adelphi, Maryland, a squadron past commander and boating instructor, says the incident forcefully illustrates the need for safe boat education and how to handle unexpected boating situations even when on a simple fish

ing trip.

"The United States Power Squadrons and a number of other private and state organizations offer safe boating education. This training would have been helpful for the four football players aboard a 21 foot boat who experienced a boating accident 75 miles from shore in the middle of Winter.

"After taking such a course, these boaters would have known that four big men on a small boat might have at least made the boat unstable if not overloaded according to the boat's U.S. Coast Guard Maximum Capacities Vessel Plaque. They would also have been aware that standing on the boat’s rear deck would contribute to its instability as would surging the engine. They would also have known not to anchor from the stern as this also drags down the lowest part of the boat. These boaters would have known the proper way to free the anchor, and the need to make a float plan in case of emergency.

"Other courses offered by the Power Squadrons such as Seamanship, Piloting, Advanced Piloting, and Weather would have offered them further instruction them on how to plan a safe trip, how to handle the boat in heavy weather, the need to monitor the weather and to call for help before it was too late and the best way to manage hypothermia once in the cold water."

Schuyler is the lone survivor of the accident and the only one with a first-hand description of what happened. He is not an experienced boater, so Brown is not sure that Schuyler has the best grasp of Cooper's action. But the story itself is a cautionary tale for recreational boaters.

What's A Recreational Boat Captain To Do?

Recreational boat captains have fewer hours on the water than commercial captains or watermen. They are not required to meet commercial certification nor even have nautical charts on board. Sooner or later says Brown, every skipper must decide whether he is a boat driver or pilot.

For Brown, that was easy. He was looking for a way to reassure his non-boating, non-swimming passengers that it would be OK cruise with him. He took the Power Squadron's Safe Boating and Seamanship course before operating his boat. "I spent the equivalent an hour of class room time for every two hours of on-water time in my first year boating."

Organizations like the Coast Guard Auxiliary, community colleges and State authorities offer boating safety courses. Commercial schools go beyond that, but target their offerings to those who want a commercial captains license. The Power Squadrons may be the only group that certifies recreational boat skippers as having a body of knowledge in piloting and seamanship.

Skippers who take the Power Squadron curriculum from Seamanship, Piloting, Advanced Piloting to Navigation would be able to plot a course anywhere in the world as long as they have the proper charts, a sextant and a GPS. They would also be exposed to what can go wrong during a voyage and how to cope with it.

Know Before You Go

"All of boating is based on maritime practices and traditions" says Eugene Roberson, Mitchellville, Maryland, Potomac River's safety officer. Roberson points out that the captain of the Titanic was an experienced seaman, yet he sunk his ship. Boating is fun, but anything can happen on the water.

There's more to learn than safe boating, adds Roberson. Boating demands more self-sufficiency than does driving. The captain needs to know his mechanical and electronic systems. There's no pulling over if your boat breaks down in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. "Boating education saves money as well as lives."

About The Power Squadrons

Potomac River Power Squadron is one of over 450 local affiliates of United States Power Squadrons, the world's oldest and largest non-profit volunteer boating organizations. Potomac River Power Squadron was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1915 and is a 501c(3) non-profit educational organization. It's members volunteer their time on boating safety and education as a civic service. Most members boat on the Chesapeake Bay or Potomac River, but live in suburban Maryland or the District of Columbia.

Potomac River is one of four squadrons active in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The others are based in Rockville, Maryland, Northern Virginia and Mid-Potomac, centering on the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers.

The Power Squadrons offer a safe boating course that meets the requirements of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. The squadrons offer advanced classroom courses on boating. Its members volunteer to offer courtesy Vessel Safety Checks for non-commercial boats and perform other civic services around boating. United States Power Squadrons has been honored by four U.S. presidents for its boating safety and education programs.