No Matter Who You Are. Whether you’re the captain of a ship, the skipper on a boat, or just the family leader at the helm for the day, you are the person responsible for the safety and security of all persons onboard, for damage to property, and for people you might injure or affect by your boat’s course or its wake. Thus, you have a duty and a legal obligation to be a person of trust and reliability. To earn that level of respect, you must know what you are doing and demonstrate it through example and practice.
Required Training. To a degree unmatched by many other forms of transportation, passengers and other boaters are dependent on your skills, conduct and professional approach to boating. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, of those persons involved in fatal boating accidents in 2004, nearly 70 percent occurred on boats where the operator had no formal training in boat handling or safety.
Boating safety and general boating classes and online tutorials are available from many organizations dedicated to keeping our waterways safe, such as the U.S. Coast Guard Auxilliary and the United States Power Squadrons®. Visit www.uscgboating.org for a complete listing of resources.
