Captain's Corner

            Welcome spring! Time for one of our favorite rituals—bringing the boat out of hibernation. CANNOT WAIT to get back on the water, right? Our Spring Start-Up Checklist will make getting set for peak boating season so much easier. And even if you have year-round access to water (we’re looking at you lucky folks who boat down south), spring is the ideal time to give your boat a bow-to-stern go-over and set yourself up for carefree boating all summer long. For those of us who do winterize, however, spring commissioning requires a number of additional actions to reverse the process. De-Winterizing Your Boat for Spring The major systems that need de-winterizing include: Engines Plumbing Systems Batteries and Electrical Systems In addition to de-winterizing systems, other spring commissioning tasks may include: Removing a Winter Cover Cleaning and Waxing Painting the Bottom Taking Care of Teak De-W...

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 E ach year the Coast Guard receives reports of recreational vessel operators who fall or are suddenly and unexpectedly thrown out of their boat. These events have led to injuries and deaths.  During these incidents the boat continues to operate with no one in control of the vessel, leaving the operator stranded in the water as the boat continues on course, or the boat begins to circle the person in the water eventually striking them,  o ften with the propeller.  These dangerous runaway vessel situations put the ejected operator, other users of the waterway, and marine law enforcement officers and other first responders in serious danger. Operators of recreational vessels less than 26 feet in length will be required to use an engine cut-off switch (ECOS) and associated ECOS link (ECOSL) as of April 1, 2021, as the U.S. Coast Guard implements a law passed by Congress. The ECOS and ECOSL prevent runaway vessels and the threats they pose. The ECOSL attaches the vessel o...

This time of year, when the weather is warming and the skies clear, the waters of Lake of the Ozarks and other water ways will be crowded with boats, canoes, paddle boards and jet skis. And inevitably, each year, there will be recreational boating accidents that cause minor and more serious injuries and even fatalities. lets take a look at the causes of boat accidents so you can better protect yourself and your loved ones. Ranking Lake of the Ozarks contributes to 50% of the number of boating crashes, injuries, crashes involving rental boats, and injuries involving rental boats, for the state of Missouri. Lake of the Ozarks is the number 1 recreational lake in Missouri and in the top 10 recreational lakes in the United States.    On the flip side, Lake of the Ozarks is ranked 3rd most dangerous lake in the nation. 2020 Boating Totals for Missouri Total Number of boating crashes 203 Number of injury boating crashes 77 Number of injuries not related to crashes 105 Number of boat...

 July of 2016, when the U.S. Coast Guard inspected two vessels in Key West, FL, they found more than 60 life jackets that were unsafe for use. Despite being properly stored, kept dry and out of direct sunlight, inspectors found that “the unicellular foam buoyant material within the nylon outer shell had degraded significantly over time, broke apart, crumbled and in some instances was reduced to dust.” Though attempts had been taken to properly store the life jackets, they failed their life jacket maintenance and inspection. The storage area, while kept dry, was exposed over time to high heat, causing the 9-year old Type 1 life jackets to literally fall apart within the vest. Footnote – the company that produced this life jacket is no longer in business. DEFECTIVE AND FAULTY LIFE JACKETS LEAD TO DROWNING Drowning from faulty or defective life jackets is more common than you think. A quick search on the Internet reveals numerous incidents of drowning due to faulty life jackets. Aut...

Ahoy, mateys! This be a fair and true listing of a few words and a little trivia as to the origin  having to do with ships and sailing.  These terms come mainly from the great age of sailing ships, the 16th to 18th centuries, and almost all hail from  great seafaring peoples of the day, those being English, Norse, Dutch and German.        Bow                            "forward part of a ship," beginning where the sides trend inward, mid-14 century, from a source such as Old Norse  bogr , Middle Low German  boog , Middle Dutch  boech  "bow of a ship," from Proto-Germanic  *bugon- , from PIE root  *bheug-  "to bend," with derivatives referring to bent, pliable, or curved objects. Stern                            ...

  With increased traffic on the waterways, those at the helm need to maintain a proper lookout. Leave smartphones alone, and know when to tune out conversations on board.  As captain you are responsible for the safety and well fare of not only  all on board, but other boaters as well. 2020 Lake of the Ozarks had 97 incidences 84 of these were boating accidents where drinking, inattention, no lookout contributed to accidents. The Coast Guard describes operator inattention as “failure on the part of the operator to pay attention to the vessel, its occupants or the environment in which the vessel is operating.” Although it’s difficult to determine how many boating accidents actually happen as a result of boat operators or lookouts texting or otherwise using electronic devices such as cellphones, laptops and tablets, there’s little doubt that such activities are a big part of the problem. Rapid growth in the use of wireless devices wreaks havoc for operators of all types...