Take drownings, of the 586 people who drowned in recreational boating accidents in 1997, 307 occurred in ‘Open Motorboats’ and of those 288 were not wearing life jackets. Canoes and kayaks came in second, claiming 96 drowning victims, and of those, 74 were not wearing life jackets. Rowboats, personal water craft, Pontoon boats, and small sail craft made up the balance. In fact, only 24 people drowned off larger cabin motorboats. What really makes the small boat claim ominous is that almost 89 percent of those involved in small craft drowns failed to wear life jacks. Over the last ten years over 7,500 boaters died because they simply failed to wear a life jacket. That’s tragic.

And what’s even more tragic, heavy weather was not a factor in most of these drownings, nor in drownings involving larger boats. Of the total 819 recreational fatalities, only 169 involved hazardous waters and adverse weather, which represents about 21 percent of fatalities. No, most occurred during fair weather and in small seemingly non threatening bodies of water such as rivers, streams, creeks, ponds, reservoirs, even gravel pits. Of the total 819 recreational boaters who died in 1997, 650 perished in these type waters. So why then are people ending up in the water.

According to the report nearly 65 percent ended up in the water due to capsizes, falls overboard and floodings and swampings. It seems to me there are two insidious forces at play here that should make one extremely cautious in seemingly non- threatening environments: one, the inherent instability of small boats and two, the easy access to small bodies of water. Western Michigan offers myriad streams, lakes and rivers that most can reach with little effort and to which one can haul, drag or carry small water craft.

Unfortunately, all too often the carriers bring everything except life jackets and boat smarts. This is readily apparent when you run down the cause of accidents listed in the report. Nearly 70 percent of known cause of accidents can be traced to: