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 BOATERS CARD: How far behind are we with Power Boat education in Canada

Are we really behind after all there is the Boaters Card program, if we have one of these cards, away you go. However does this make you a captain? I think as power boaters we assume that once we tempt fate and get the boat in and out of our slip we got it figured out. We can drive our cars through traffic so the water ways are easy, no big deal! That is the attitude right up until we are in trouble, and then the repair technicians and rescuers phones start to ring off the hook on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Same old story my boat is not running right, mean while the engine compartment is half full of water. This type of call happens more than you would think. Or the weather changes and they leave the boat some were unplugged on a wall because the owner is scared to get back to his/her slip.

Most boaters do not have any perception of how easy or quick you can sink a boat. This summer a boat had mostly sunk at the dock it was still in a position were the water was below the rub rail, another boater decided to board the boat while it was down in 15 ft of water, in the time it took for the helpful boater to step on and then right off the boat had completely sunk. This boat was a thirty foot cabin cruiser. As a matter of fact the bigger the boat the faster it will sink, so were do you store your life jackets? Every boat has a sweet spot or a point of no return and once that is crossed, in a minute the boat is gone.

The average boater has no idea were to look or what to do in the case of a break down, except to panic. So the question is can you read the weather? Do you have a VHF licence? do you know what the markers mean? Or who has the right of way? what is a Williams turn and why should you know? I have been with more boater card holders who cannot answer these basic questions, and these seem to be the same boaters who head out with 8 or more persons on there boats all the time.

At least Sail Canada requests that you must have 18 hrs before you can get a certificate for a basic sailboat skills. However no required hours for the Power Boat certificate. What this means is most boater card holders have little to no experience before getting their card and heading out on to the water themselves. The sad part is a sailboat under power can only achieve 9 knots, and will run aground far before you can hit the shore line in most cases. So would it be that bad if power boat operation required a basic course for you and your co captain . After all if you were out in the lake do you have someone on board who would be comfortable to take your place and get you home?

So why don't we take one weekends worth of fuel money and really become boaters, you may even get an insurance discount out of it. I would feel at lot safer at the gas dock if I knew the boater trying to squeeze in or hold off knew what they were doing for sure, wouldn't you?

Power Boaters need to set aside their egos and get on the education band wagon, boats are getting bigger faster and more sophisticated every year and that trend is going to accelerate over the next five years. When you think about it boats are more like airplanes than cars, and you cannot take an on line course to fly. You have courses for all other motorized vehicles that can cause a death. We are doomed to advanced operation education sooner or later if we embrace the idea now and get involved boaters will have some say in the direction and costs of an advanced operators course. If we ignore it there will be a day when it is legislated for us and we will have to accept the decisions that are made for us at what ever cost is determined.
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If power boaters continue to make more insurance claims and have more accidents every year there will be mandated changes by the province. It has already happened in Europe. I hope that this makes you think about power boat education as a responsible, safe acceptable idea to get in on, and support.

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