Marty's Drift April 2000

Keeping Safety In Mind

Over the past three months I have met, talked with and sold boats to a lot of people in Oregon, Washington, California and Utah. The show circuit has been interesting and a pleasure to meet with people throughout the West. One thing that happened at every show was a young family buying a boat. The parents were avid sport fishers, and they wanted to include their children in the fishing experience. Their major concern was safety. ClackaCraft is a great choice in that regard. The 16 foot boats have the widest bottoms of any drift boats built. This gives them the most stability possible. The higher sides on this boat help eliminate the possibility of a youngster falling out.

Boaters must always remember to operate their boats as safely as possible. Passengers need to stay centered so the boat is not unbalanced. Care needs to be taken for passengers not to all go to one side of the boat when a fish is hooked. Parents need to keep restless children from horsing around in the boat. Accidents in boats simply happen too fast. With very active children, it might sometimes be best to just row to the shore and let the kids run off some excess energy.

One of the most important things to keep in mind, is to always wear your life jacket. Boating accidents happen so quickly there is seldom time enough to pull a life jacket from the storage area and get it on before you wind up in the water. I know this from experience. I floated whitewater rivers for years before I had an accident. When I did have that accident it was in a piece of water with which I was very familiar. My boat was pinned to a boulder so fast that reaching for a life jacket never entered my mind. Wear those PFD's (personal floatation devise). They do you no good under the seat.

Be aware too of boating requirements in your particular state. In Oregon drift boats need to have a PFD for every passenger, a throw cushion and a signaling devise, such as an air horn or high pitch whistle. If you are operating your boat with an outboard motor there are additional requirements. Check them out with your state marine board.

There are a couple other things that I always like to keep in my boat for safety and emergency situations. I always carry an 80 foot lining rope. This has come in handy on several occasions at rough take outs where I can't back up close enough to load the boat on the trailer. I have also used the lining rope to free stuck anchors. I've done this by hooking the lining rope to the anchor rope, getting out on the bank and pulling upstream. I also carry an extra oar lock and a spare oar.

Heading into spring and summer is the peak time to use drift boats. Safety should always be the first consideration.

Give Marty a call at: (503) 655-9532

You can also call Idaho Falls at (800) 394-1345.