Motor Boating - Positive Attitudes

Positive Attitudes

Operating a boat safely demands that operators develop alertness, judgment, caution and foresight.

Alertness

1. Carefully monitor the surroundings;
2. Observe and assess navigation conditions, weather changes and passengers’ behaviour.

Judgment

1. Assess whether the boat is adequate to meet the navigation conditions;
2. Choose the best route.
3. Operate the boat to suit weather conditions (e.g., it is important to slow down in bad weather to avoid losing control of the pleasure craft, which could increase the risk of injuries or loss of life aboard).

Caution and foresight

1. Assess the risks involved in each maneuver;
2. Plan what route to take;
3. Accept your own limits as a boat operator.
4. Be thoroughly familiar with your boat and its maneuvering capacities (e.g., know that a pleasure  craft  traveling at  high  speeds  requires  more  distance  to  stop  in  case  of  an emergency, and that its operator must be even more alert since he/she has less time to react to new conditions).