Universally, there are two types of boaters. The first group contains the clued up, conscientious, courteous and all-round good eggs, while the second is generally a mob of oblivious, obtuse and, for the most part, uncouth elements. To which cluster do you belong?
Prepare
Stupid
You’re backing down the ramp and, with a queue of 10 vehicles behind you also waiting to get on the water, you deem this the appropriate time to prepare your boat and load it with the day’s supplies.
Sensible
You’ve packed the supplies and prepared your boat in the parking lot before backing down the slip and you’re confident that things such as your engine, fuel, safety gear, fenders, etc, are all ready. You therefore don’t take much time on the ramp and the boaters behind you are impressed with your promptness.
Golden rule
Stupid
After jackknifing your trailer twice, you finally manage to offload the boat successfully, but then you notice that it’s sinking for some reason.
Sensible
You’ve gone through your checklist while still in the parking lot; including ticking off the box that reads ‘reinsert your drain plugs!’ So after reversing smoothly down the slip – mostly because you’ve practised this several times on your own time – you offload the boat into the water successfully and, lo and behold, it floats!
On the water
Stupid
Somehow you remembered your bung plugs, you’re on the water and you’re not sinking; so you triumphantly bang it into reverse and start backing out at pace. However, you don’t trouble to look behind you, because it’s other people’s responsibility to stay out of your way, right? You consequently fail to see the jetski idling behind you and smack into it, carving a few wounds into its hull before your propeller is ripped out.
Sensible
Once you’ve successfully launched your boat, you make sure there are no swimmers, boats or other objects near you before starting your engine. You then slowly reverse from the slip, all the while checking for potential obstructions at your rear. Resultantly no one is injured, nothing is damaged and you can look forward to a great day on the water.
