“One minute we were just cruising along without a care in the world, thinking about those big Reds we were all about to catch, and then, in the blink of an eye, bodies were flying everywhere, one guy flew over the console and another nearly drown, as our boat ran away, out of control!”

This is a “snapshot” of what happened to a group of fishermen recently here on our bay, the Lower Laguna Madre. Luckily, no one was seriously injured, this time, but sadly this type of incident happens much more often than any of us can imagine, and most times with deadly results. It’s when boats go out of control because of faulty controls, and quite frankly, because of stupid boaters.

In the situation described above, four guys headed out onto the bay for a day of fishing, but were very, very lucky to be able to return to dry land, and not in a coffin. You see, like the vast majority of boaters and fishermen, they broke all three of the cardinal rules of safe boating all at the same time.

I don’t know why, but most boaters treat their boats worse than a bad dog. Some use $100 hatch covers as a cutting board for bait, others clean their boat only when the leaves have piled up so high they can’t find the console anymore. And when it comes to routine maintenance and repairs, that’s the furthest thing from their mind, until their boat, motor or trailer breaks down and ruins a day of fishing. Only when that happens does it get their attention, but even then, so often, their fix for the problem is more like a band aid. If it had been a minor hiccup with their car or truck, they’d spend thousands of dollars to get it repaired correctly, but not their boat.

One of the first rules of safe (and enjoyable) boating is to always check out all of the boat’s hardware, rigging, electrical, fuel systems, steering and controls to make sure that everything is tight, operational and in good condition before heading out. Failing to do that is what nearly killed these guys the first week in February. Had this boat owner done more than just fill up the fuel tank, he might have noticed that his steering was getting rough or harder to turn. Upon closer inspection, he would have noticed that the steering cable outer housing had cracked wide open and the steel cable inside was nearly rusted in two, but he didn’t!

So, now out on the water at 30-plus mph and under load, that steering cable just snapped. In the split second that it took for that to happen, the boat instantly went into a spin, digging on side hard into the water, ejecting all but one guy out of the boat, who feverishly tried to steer the out of control boat, finally resorting to putting it into neutral. Had this one guy also been thrown overboard, you’d probably be reading about a bunch of fishermen that were chopped up by the prop on their out of control boat as it wildly ran around in circles!

Another boater who was lucky enough to be able to tell his story, phoned me earlier this week saying that he needed a new control box. Since control boxes seldom break, I asked him why he needed one, and he said that it was getting harder to put into and out of gear. All he needed were new control cables as it was the shifter cable acting up, and he promised that he’d replace them after his fishing trip that day. Ooops!

As it turned out, this kid went out fishing and made it back to the boat ramp where he had to wait while other boats were loaded onto their trailers. With his motor in neutral and waiting out in the river, his turn finally came and at the moment he was putting the motor into forward gear, the shifter cable broke. Like I said, he was lucky because the motor stayed in neutral. Had it gone into gear and he throttled up, can you imagine the nasty wreck that could have happened?!

Okay, the second rule of safe boating that the owner of that out of control boat learned the hard way, was that everyone onboard must wear a life vest at all times. Had the boat hit one of them and knocked them unconscious, it would have been curtains. And, oddly enough, the one fisherman onboard that boat who didn’t know how to swim, was the one that somehow managed to hang on and finally stop the boat.

The reason, excuse, boaters use for not wearing a life vest is pretty lame. They commonly say that those bulky, orange vests are hot and get in the way. That’s complete bull caca, because there are excellent U.S. Coast Guard approved alternatives, such as the Sterns Inflata-belt and Inflata-vest. These devices are approved for adults, 18 years of age or older and that weigh a minimum of 80 pounds. In the event of a crisis, they can be manually inflated by pulling a rip cord which activates a CO2 cartridge. There are also automatic versions of these devices as well.

Now, the third rule of safe boating, which would have instantly stopped that out of control boat the second the driver was thrown away from the controls, is that curly little red cord that is supposed to be clipped onto the operator of the boat and the other end attached to the motor’s kill switch. It’s called a “safety lanyard”, if it’s clipped on, but if it isn’t, it’s a “hangman’s noose”!

Just like rule No. 2 above, boaters make excuses for not clipping on the safety lanyard, saying they feel too restricted or whatever, because if they move a little to far away from the controls, the motor is accidently turned off…big deal! As an expensive alternative, some boaters have turned to a new, electronic, remote device that is not USCG approved, and as you’re about to learn, it’s a recipe for getting yourself killed.

This remote device is called an Auto Tether and according to its manufacturer, once a person hits the water wearing the remote device, in about one and a half seconds it will kill the motor. Sounds good, but in one and a half seconds, you’ve already been struck by the boat, motor or prop. You see, at a mere 5 mph a boat travels over 7 feet per second, and at 20 mph the boat has moved over 29 feet per second, and in either case, you’re history. Just clip on that curly red safety lanyard and you’ll live to fish another day.

As for the owner of that out of control boat, he says he has learned his lesson the hard way and from now on, he’ll always inspect his boat thoroughly before heading out, will always clip on the safety lanyard, and everyone onboard wears a life vest no matter what!

AS ALWAYS, STAY SAFE & HAPPY BOATING!!!