Boats Running Aground and Engines Failing

[Kevin]

Boats Running Aground and Engines Failing

In a quick scan of the day's boating news we found multiple stories of boaters adrift, as well as a few boats running aground.

Engines Failing, Boats Adrift
With no power on their boat and a storm moving in, three boaters on Lake Erie were in a tight spot Monday night (full story from WTAM)

Meanwhile, down in Virginia Beach, Firefighters responded to the Intracoastal Waterway yesterday after a call from three adults and three children on a disabled boat. (full story from HamptonRoads.com)

It seems that About.com Powerboating guide Ericka Watson's latest edition of Boat Tips, which tells you what to do if your engine fails while underway, couldn't have been timelier.

Well Grounded
A novice sailor over in the UK called for help for two separate incidents this past weekend – Once when he was lost, and a 2nd time when his boat became grounded, according to KentOnline.com.

And in Rhode Island, after several confusing reports about the type of boat and number of passengers, it has been determined that a workboat flipped over in rough water near the Sakonnet Lighthouse on Monday. The three men on board (not 7 as we first mentioned on our Facebook page) found terra firma on the rocks around the lighthouse before being rescued.

Of course, even an able-bodied seaman runs into trouble once in a while. Take the case of former President George H.W. Bush. He was a naval airman in WWII and is a very experienced boater and fisherman and knows the area where he was boating quite well. But even he couldn't avoid running aground yesterday near his home in Maine. There were enough locals snapping pictures to get the story on the evening news, but of course everyone was fine.

Safe boating should be taken seriously, regardless of your experience level. Check out Ericka's article on engine failure as well as the FirstBoat safe boating page for more tips.