Friday, June 29, 2007

Boating Incidents

There was a happy ending in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for two boaters on a 23 foot Bayliner that started taking on water for unreported reasons. The men were saved by the Coast Guard and their boat was towed to shore before it sank according to Channel 3, WCAX TV in Vermont.

In South Dakota, some boaters were not so lucky. Either late Tuesday evening or early Wednesday a boat ran into a large rock near something called Jenny Gulch west of Rapid City. The Rapid City Journal reports that a Seattle man died in the accident, and two others were seriously injured.

The two survivors were rescued at around 8:00 AM when they flagged down a fisherman.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Newsday Offers Summer Boating Advice

John Valenti, writing for Newsday in NY, wrote a fantastic article on boating safety this week.

A lot of it is common sense, but the staggering numbers left me to post them here:

Valenti points out that "Nearly 700 people a year are killed in boating accidents. Another 3,500 are injured," according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

How to prevent accidents when you're boating this summer?

Read the Newsday article, but in a nutshell:

Wear a lifejacket

Take a boating safety course

Don't drink and drive/boat/fly or operate any vehicle for that matter

Newsday: Summer boating advice to avoid accidents