FAILURE ANALYSIS

Over 50 percent of boats don’t pass a VSC on the first try, says Harry Jacobs, long-standing Coast Guard Auxiliary member and an approved vessel examiner. Jacobs points to six of the most common reasons for a boat not to pass the 15-point exam.

• No boat registration

• Discharged fire extinguisher

• Malfunctioning navigation lights

• Lack of age-appropriate life jackets (when children are aboard) • Improper letters/numbers or spacing of the state registration

number on the boat

• Expired or insufficient number of signal flares