What makes safety on the water?

[Captain Smollett]

Over the years, we've had some discussions about what makes boating/sailing safe(-er) - the gadgets and gear that is advertised as such or the boat, the skipper and the crew?

Today, I found two lists (one recent, and one a few years old) that tell the tale:

First, from the June 2011 issue of Boating Magazine,:

1. Operator inattention - 749 accidents
2. Operator inexperience - 439 accidents
3. Excessive speed - 427 accidents
4. Improper lookout - 335 accidents
5. Alcohol - 308 accidents
6. Machinery failure - 282 accidents
7. Weather - 260 accidents
8. Hazardous waters - 242 accidents
9. Force of wave or wake - 229 accidents
10. Not knowing rules of the road - 110 accidents

The article does not say over what time period this is or even what constitutes 'an accident.'  But, I do find it interesting that inattention (which really should combine #1 and #4) and inexperience/ignorance (combining #2 and #10) comprise 1,631 (48%) of the reported 3,381 accidents.

On the "pop news," weather is generally blamed and alcohol is the big bogey man, but it seems to ultimately come down to competence.

Lest these numbers seem 'one-off,' and not fitting the wx/alcohol party line I can imagine cries of "odd year" or "fudged data," etc, I also found some stats for the State of Arizona published in 2008:

#1 Operator Inexperience

"Operator inexperience is the leading cause of boat accidents in Arizona and nationwide, and has been for 15 years. "

#2 Operator Inattention

"Operator inattention has been the No. 2 cause of boat accidents for the past 15 years."

#3 Passenger/Skier Behavior
#4 Weather
#5 Equipment Failure
#6 Reckless Operation
#7 Failure to Yield
#8 (Tie) Congested Waters and Hazardous Waters
#9 (Tie) Excessive Speed and Alcohol Use
#10 Overloading

Alcohol tied for NINTH?  Wow.  I wonder why whenever there is a boating accident reported, the first conclusion among online commentators (us forum dwellers) is "I bet alcohol was involved."  Maybe, but the stats seem to show it is less of a factor than inexperience and inattention...by a LONG way.

If boating accidents are being caused by inattention and inexperience, no amount of safety gear and regulation of same will change that.  Putting an EPIRB on a boat does not make the operator competent or diligent.  Nor does the latest whiz-bang GPS.  Etc.

Boater education, licensing and other 'remedies' may help the inexperience part.  Can there be anything to help with the attention part?

[Auspicious]

Putting an EPIRB on a boat does not make the operator competent or diligent.  Nor does the latest whiz-bang GPS.  Etc.

In fact, the whiz-bang GPS may be the source of inattention. I'm sure we've all seen a boat go by with a cluster of people around a display with little if any attention to the real world beyond the toe rail.

[jotruk]

just a note about a accident on the lake that occurred a couple of years ago. We had a jet ski hit a 28' ketch rigged sail boat (boat had all sails flying). The jet ski hit the sail boat almost amid ship, the two 14 yo girls operating the jet ski were seriously hurt and almost drowned before they could be pulled from the water. After several weeks in the hospital the driver of the jet ski was asked why she hit it and her reply was that she did not see the sail boat.

[Oldrig]

In 2008 a 63-foot SeaRay (Webmaster, please forgive me for even putting that word onto this website) ran down a sailboat on Buzzards Bay, killing the man at the helm. The stinkpot was on autopilot, heading at full throttle for the entrance of the Cape Cod Canal.

The driver (I wouldn't call him a helmsman), who was eventually convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to a prison term and given a 10-year suspension of his (automobile) driver's license, told officers who boarded his vessel that he had been entering waypoints into his chartplotter at the time, and hadn't even seen the sailing vessel.

Factors involved included: operator inattention, excessive speed and improper lookout. I would also add Dave's point about his having a "whiz-bang GPS" and autopilot system, which allowed him to head for a distant waypoint at high speed, while transiting a region of heavy marine traffic.

The operator was not inexperienced, but he was clearly over his head in technology and horsepower. And I wonder how many accidents at sea are the result of people being able to purchase more boat and equipment than they can handle. This applies to sailors as well as powerboaters.

--Joe

[CharlieJ]

In 2008 a 63-foot SeaRay (Webmaster, please forgive me for even putting that word onto this website) ran down a sailboat on Buzzards Bay, killing the man at the helm. The stinkpot was on autopilot, heading at full throttle for the entrance of the Cape Cod Canal.

The driver (I wouldn't call him a helmsman), who was eventually convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to a prison term and given a 10-year suspension of his (automobile) driver's license, told officers who boarded his vessel that he had been entering waypoints into his chartplotter at the time, and hadn't even seen the sailing vessel.

Which is exactly the reason,  when we were in the Bahamas, making long runs along preplotted (on the charts) waypoints and courses, I moved us about a mile south of the rhumb line. Sooner or later, two large power boats are gonna crash, out there on the Great Bahama Bank, because both were on autopilot, both were running the same track, only one doing a reciprocal, and neither watching.

Scary business, so we simply moved out of the track.

[maxiSwede]

In 2008 a 63-foot SeaRay (Webmaster, please forgive me for even putting that word onto this website) ran down a sailboat on Buzzards Bay, killing the man at the helm. The stinkpot was on autopilot, heading at full throttle for the entrance of the Cape Cod Canal.

The driver (I wouldn't call him a helmsman), who was eventually convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to a prison term and given a 10-year suspension of his (automobile) driver's license, told officers who boarded his vessel that he had been entering waypoints into his chartplotter at the time, and hadn't even seen the sailing vessel.

Which is exactly the reason,  when we were in the Bahamas, making long runs along preplotted (on the charts) waypoints and courses, I moved us about a mile south of the rhumb line. Sooner or later, two large power boats are gonna crash, out there on the Great Bahama Bank, because both were on autopilot, both were running the same track, only one doing a reciprocal, and neither watching.

Scary business, so we simply moved out of the track.

Wow, never seen or heard of such charts. Treat them like shipping lanes and stay out of them!