Boating Safety Week is drawing to a close, but boating safety is always important. We have been asked to wrap up this week by focusing on Situational Awareness.
All of the things we have been talking about over the last couple of months from weather to red tides to rules of road ultimately boil down to situational awareness. You need to know what is going on around you in order to react safely. Keep a lookout, take bearings to verify that your anchor is set, give a wide berth to the erratic bow rider, as well as that crowd at your marina.
Situational awareness also requires monitoring Channel 16 on your VHF. In this way, you will be aware of military exercises, hazards in the water, and the transit of cargo and military vessels through the channel.
This video provides a way to test your situational awareness, or at least as well as can be done from the comfort of your own home.