When you’re up at the cottage, or at least up in cottage country or on a boat somewhere, you don’t want to be thinking about things like accidents or emergencies. You’re having fun, carefree, and the whole point of boating is to get away and escape the city and leave your troubles behind. But it’s a freedom that comes with a responsibility because, even if you decide you’d like to be foolhardy and reckless out on the water, you’re involving the lives of other people, either guests or fellow boaters you don’t know. There are different reasons why learning boating safety is essential.

The first and most obvious is that people’s lives are at risk. You’re using a flammable liquid in gasoline to zip around a huge body of water. You ought to no better than to drive a boat under the influence of alcohol, even if you are of age, but there are other boaters you don’t know on the lake who might imbibe and drive. Between drowning, horrible crashes, hypothermia, there are many conditions you need to be prepared for should something horrible happen. This entails learning the emergency procedure should these things happen, and learning how to properly conduct yourself so that it doesn’t happen in the first place.

Other reasons to learn boating safety include preparation for milder considerations that can still heavily affect your trip. Have you taken the weather into consideration? You can’t go out if it’s lightening! Does everyone in your boat have a PFD (Personal Flotation Device)? Is there a class 5 BC fire extinguisher on board? How about a buoyant 15 metre heaving line? Other things you’ll need in the boat, and you’ll be trained to use, include a bailer or manual water pump, a watertight flashlight or Canadian approved flares, a sound signaling device, and either a paddle or an anchor with at least 15 metres of rope or cable attached.

Other things you ought to have in your boat are a Marine First Aid Kit, drinking water, sun screen, a hat, sunglasses, dry clothing, some snacks in case you can’t get ashore , waterproof matches and a knife. The boating safety course will go into more depth about how to use each of these items so that you’ll be fully prepared when you get out on the water.

For the boating experience to be truly pleasurable your mind will have to be allowed to wander off to some serene mental place where your life’s troubles disappear, and all you hear and feel are the sounds of the water and the world around you. But so long as you are unprepared in the case of an emergency, there’ll always be that lurking threat in some remote corner of your mind. The only way to truly extinguish this gnawing feeling is to do the responsible thing-take a course on boating safety for you, your guests, and the countless people you share a lake with. Have fun on the water!

Author Bio: Taking the boat on Lake Ontario this weekend? Don\’t get caught without an Ontario boating license. Take time today to complete a boating course, you can take the test online and have a pcoc today.

Category: Education
Keywords: society,technology,education,outdoors,transportation,travel,entertainment,recreation,family,leisure