CLEVELAND — As part of the safety awareness for National Safe Boating Week, which ran from Saturday through Friday, the Coast Guard 9th District is encouraging outdoor enthusiasts to 'Share the Waterways' throughout the Great Lakes boating season.
Many areas around the Great Lakes see a large surge in both recreational and commercial traffic during the summer months. The Coast Guard encourages boaters of all kinds to ensure they are familiar with the rules of navigation as well as some best practices while out on the water.
- Maintain safe speeds. Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that proper and effective action to avoid collision can be taken and the vessel can be stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions.
- In determining a safe speed the following factors shall be among those taken into account: visibility, number of other vessels present, the maneuverability of the vessel, stopping distance, turning ability under the current weather conditions, and the proximity of navigational hazards.
- Recreational boaters should reduce speed in “No Wake” zones to prevent capsizing smaller vessels.
- Human-power craft operators (paddle boards, canoes, kayaks) should travel single file, and stay close to the shoreline.
- Avoid ship channels. Cross them quickly if you must. Commercial vessels such as freighters, towboats and tugboats operate 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and cannot stop quickly.
- Learn and observe navigation rules. Stay out of the path of ships, water taxis, towboats, tugs and barges. A pilot’s blind spot can extend for hundreds of feet, and their speed can be deceptive.
- The Coast Guard Mobile App includes excerpts from the navigation “Rules of the Road” as one of its built-in features for an accessible supplemental reference to a boating safety course.
- Designate a lookout, day and night, particularly near commercial traffic. Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and sound to determine navigation rule situations, respond according to the navigation “Rules of the Road,” and avoid the risk of collision.
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A towboat’s or tugboat’s engines can cause water turbulence and currents hundreds of yards behind a vessel, causing smaller vessels or human-power crafts to be pulled toward the tow.
A few moments familiarizing yourself and your passengers with the rules can help ensure a safe and enjoyable experience on the water all boating season long.