Coast Guardsman's book a wakeup call for recreational boaters

Local boating safety author and retired Coast Guard Senior Chief, Tom Rau, believes the most challenging aspect of keeping boaters safe is convincing them that the marine environment is inherently dangerous.

As a long time boating safety columnist, author, and Coast Guard search and rescue veteran, he has strived to wakeup boaters by sharing actual search and rescue cases through his Boat Smart column. The syndicated column runs in a number of Midwest newspapers. "Unlike newspapers that quickly become yesterday's news, the book offers a lasting reference," said Rau.

It's not been an easy sell for the boating safety crusader. Rau points out in his new book, Boat Smart Chronicles, Lake Michigan Devours Its Wounded, that most boating fatalities, mishaps, and injuries occur on nice days. Coast Guard statistics on recreational boating bear this out: nearly 83 percent of boating fatalities occur during fair weather conditions.

"It's been a real challenge to drive home this point," said Rau. "The marine environment is a beautiful beguiling form that can disarm even veteran recreational boaters." Between 2004 and 2006, of the 15,000 rescue cases the Coast Guard conducted across the Great Lakes, less than two percent were beset by weather.

In the book, Rau points out that in the old days weather was a major concern for sailors. Although they possessed the skills to deal with mishaps, they lacked the tools to out-muscle the storm. Today's boaters have the tools but toooften lack the skills," said Rau, who believes many recreational boaters don't see a need for boating skills or safety equipment.

In the book, Rau tells of a story where Emily Roulbal, a Coast Guard boarding officer at motor lifeboat station Two Rivers, Wisconsin, cited a boater for failing to carry distress flares. She cut a deal with the boater: if he purchased the flares at a nearby marine store, she would give him a warning for failing to have a boat registration aboard. It was a win-win for all until she discovered that he had bought the flares, but later returned them for a refund.

In another story, Rau writes about a Coast Guard Auxiliarist Freda Herman's encounter with recreational boater at a Manistee, Michigan, marina during a courtesy vessel safety check. Members of the Coast Guard auxiliary inspect vessels to assure the boat meets basic safety requirements mandated by federal law. During the inspection, a woman aboard had to call her husband on a cell phone to find the location of safety equipment. "She had to call him twice," said Freda.

This Pollyanna mindset has taken its toll on recreational boaters. Across the Great Lakes between 1986 and 2006, nearly 2,100 people died in cases involving Coast Guard responses. The good news: the Coast Guard saved over 10,000 lives. Most of the cases involved recreational activities. In all, the Coast Guard assisted nearly 300,000 people. Add to these twenty-year figures people assisted and saved by other rescue agencies, including the Canadian Coast Guard and members of the public, and the total number of people that required help could well exceed one million.

"That's a lot of folks who needed help," said Rau, who believes that manditory boating education laws will greatly reduce the need to assist people on the water. "Most boating mishaps can be avoided if boaters posessed basic boating skills and knowledge," said Rau. His book, Boat Smart Chronicles, Lake Michigan Devours Its Wounded, offers boaters the opportunity to gain those skills and knowledge. The book is a wakeup call worthing heeding.

Books available at: www.boatsmart.net, www.seaworthy.com, www.amazon.com, or through local bookstores, book distributors: Partners, Michigan, Ingram Book Group. Book released August, 2006.