Dear Mr. Rau,

On the 22 of July about 3 miles off Holland in Lake Michigan, my husband and
I came up on an overturned vessel with 5 guys in the water.  They had been
there for over 2 hours when we spotted them and called the Coast Guard.  We
were able to pick up all 5 of them, and CG EMT Officer Masri was landed on
our boat, examined them, and got them stabilized before transferring them
back to the CG rescue boat. All ended well, luckily for them, due in large
part to the very, very fast response of Coast Guard Holland.

When we returned to the Coast Guard Station in Holland and spoke with the
rescuing officers and commented on how quickly they arrived at the
overturned boat, they told us that the reason they were able to do so, was
that not only did I say that we were approaching an overturned vessel, but
gave our coordinates as well, in the FIRST transmission.  They said that
they were sprinting to their rescue boat before the second exchange.

You are responsible for the fact that Coast Guard Holland arrived so
quickly!  I heard you speak at the last Chicago Strictly Sail boat show in February and bought a copy of your Boat Smart Chronicles and read through it.  The
chapter, "Sensible Boating, Key to Search and Rescue," really stuck in my
mind, especially the "Make the Call Count." When I put that original call
into the Coast Guard, I was thinking about that chapter and very consciously
added our coordinates. Because of your book, their response time was
unbelievably fast.

When I bought the book, I had no idea that it would be put to good use so
soon.  It should be required reading for every recreational boater!!!!!!

By the way, when I mentioned reading your book to the CG Holland officers,
they got a chuckle, as at least one of them use to work under you.

Thank you for all of you campaigning for safe boating.
Tina Kelsey
"Wings"

June 8, 2008, Amazon book review from T.W. Cook Texas: Coast Guard Commander Roger Dubuc is right! “This book should be required reading for every recreational boater in America”

Anyone serious about boating should read this book. I'm a fairly experienced boater, with plenty of boater safety training, but all that didn't sink in like the actual "case studies" in this book - they really bring the points home, and it's a lot less painful and less expensive learning from other people's mistakes instead of making them yourself. This book is a pretty easy read, the author does a good job of drawing you in and making the subject matter very approachable and engaging. The book is very worthwhile and will undoubtedly make you a safer boater.

My home library contains hundreds of books on boating, and perhaps one percent of these can be considered truly important. Tom Rau’s “Boat Smart Chronicles” is one of those rare, important books that seeks to alter how we think about small boat safety, and—dare we hope—reduce the appalling statistics on recreational boating deaths, injuries, and property losses.

Drawing on nearly three decades of SAR experience in the US Coast Guard, Sr. Chief Rau melds together true accounts of boating incidents on Lake Michigan, together with expert analysis of what went wrong, and draws from this cogent advice for the recreational boater. Rau also elicits the insights of dozens of professionals from NOAA forecasters to harbormasters, from tall ship captains to marina operators. This is not the province of theory but of bitter lessons learned.

Some may shy away from this book because of its focus on Lake Michigan, but that would be a great mistake. By focusing on a body of water, Rau makes it possible to do a surprisingly in-depth analysis of the topic, and out of this emerges a way of thinking about boating mishaps that is applicable to any other waters from rivers to coasts, inland lakes, and the Great Lakes.

Boating instructors will want to borrow liberally from these true stories to illustrate the consequences of failing to Boat Smart. With its nail-biting accounts of boating accidents and its deep insights, “Boat Smart Chronicles” has the potential to change your views on boating safety and the way you think about safety aboard your own recreational vessel.

–Fred Petillo, United Sates Power Squadron

To Whom it may concern.....

Boat Smart Chronicles is I believe the most AMAZING tome ever written about boating safety and the consequences of not paying heed to the forces of nature.  Tom Rau should receive a Pulitzer Prize for this insightful, dramatic, and most informative literary work!!!

Most Cordially Yours,

Bruce C. Williams
Senior Partner
The Reed Group, Michigan

I love your book and recommend it to all the sailors I know.  I teach piloting and advanced piloting in the Power Squadron and can't recommend it enough. I've gotten about a dozen of your books sold. I'm trying to get my buddy at West Marine to carry it.  I think if you're going to sail on big water you owe it to yourself, your family and your crew to read it.  Anything you can do to get it out there is a real service.

Thanks for your service.

Ed Spengeman, United Sates Power Squadron