New card a plus for boating safety
There will be a moment of truth in the coming year, and many might not even know about it.
You are on a boat at a lake with friends or family and at some point suggest that the capable teenager aboard run the boat for a few minutes.
At that moment, you and the teen have likely just broken the law.
New legislation for 2018 requires anybody 20 or younger to have the new California Boater Card in their possession before operating a boat.
To get the card, boaters must pass a safety test, a sure thing for most who have taken a boater safety course, either online or with one of the volunteer groups that teach them. It costs $10 and is good for life.
The law will be phased in for everybody by age over the next 10 years. First up this month are those 20 and younger. Next up, phased in on Jan. 1, 2019, are those 25 and under, and in 2020, for those 35 and under.
The law is taking aim at the high percentage of accidents caused by those who lack proper training and boater education.
One of the biggest dangers, according to the California Division of Boating and Waterways, is someone who borrows or rents a Personal Watercraft (PWC) such as a WaveRunner or Jet Ski. In 2016, DBW reported that PWC accidents involved 57 percent of operators who had borrowed and 37 percent who had rented — and thus had no training — according to accident statistics provided by Jolene King at DBW headquarters.
In addition, with most lakes full for the first time in years, accident numbers last year (588, with 50 deaths) were the highest since 2009 (627 accidents, 49 fatalities), according to in-house statistics kept by DBW.
Based on most lake levels for January, conditions are again forecast as excellent in the coming year for lake- and river-based boating, camping, fishing and water sports. California has 400 lakes you can drive to, 40 major rivers and 125 tributaries available for recreation, according to my personal survey and counts for my books.
California has 745,641 registered boats, according to the last month’s end-of-year report, but that does not include kayaks (registration not required as small, self-powered craft), according to DBW. Some in DBW estimate there could be more than 250,000 kayaks and more than 1 million boaters in the state, not including rentals.
In Northern California, DBW said the region with the highest number of accidents by far was the San Joaquin delta in Contra Costa County. The mixing of personal water craft and alcohol were often the cause.
To get a Boater Card, the safety course providers must be DBW-approved. The course can be done in a classroom, via home study or online, and the list of approved courses is available at www.california boatercard.com.
For those with a little experience in boats, the online course takes about three hours. The classroom course is better for many, often a series of eight one-hour weekly sessions, ideal since you have time to digest the information and an instructor to answer questions.
The best way to start the program is to download a free home-study course, a 132-page booklet, at www.dbw.ca.gov. The comprehensive ABCs of California Boating can also be downloaded online.
An additional list of approved boating courses is listed at www.california boatercard.com (scroll to bottom of page for link). Most online courses offered by private entities cost about $30.
I have taken both the online course and a formal class with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and found them both valuable. When facing uncertain moments in a boat or any outdoors sport, many think that you will always rise to the occasion, but what usually happens is that you instead default to your level of training.