Some Boating Myths Debunked.

Driving a Boat is the same as driving a car.

No it is not! Boats float on top of the water and generally the water is always moving. Boats cannot simply maneuver as precisely as a vehicle can on asphalt. Boats have no brakes, and even if they did have brakes you still have the movement of the water as well as wind playing a factor in moving you about. The water has no designated vehicle lanes or signals to direct traffic, so it is imperative to know and understand the rules of the water to remain as safe as possible and avoid collisions with other fellow boaters.

"You do not need to wear a life jacket if you can swim".

You may see many boaters out on the water with occupants who do not wear life jackets. However, when you consider that 90% of drowning accidents involve people who were not wearing a life jacket, perhaps you may rethink this decision. Say you fall off your boat and hit your head, you may become dazed and confused. Or perhaps you could hyperventilate and accidently gasp in water. If you are in cold water, you could also experience hypothermia and/or Caloric labyrinthitis which is an inner ear disturbance which may cause a person to become disoriented which explains why someone may swim down instead of up.

"Ethanol gas is okay for my boat".

Well no, actually it is not. Ethanol may be okay for your vehicle when you take into consideration how much more often you go fill up your tank in your car vs. how often you go fuel up your boat. It is strongly recommended not to use Ethanol gas as it can cause costly damage to many boat motors. There are many o-rings, gaskets and seals in boat motors. Ethanol will speed up the process of eating away at these things. Another issue with the use of Ethanol fuel in boat motors is what is called Phase Separation. This means when your fuel separates leaving the pure gasoline on top of the Ethanol. So, when the Ethanol fuel goes into the engine it does not have the same combustible qualities it once did, which may cause your engine to not run properly.