Compulsory testing and licensing send the wrong message
Issue 54 : May/Jun 2007
The Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Auxiliary have recently thrown their weight behind the idea of mandatory testing and licensing for the operators of boats. This is not a new topic for me; I just have more to say.
- Big Brother can’t make you safe when you are sailing. In fact, Big Brother won’t even come close. The people in the marine industry are screaming already. They want to see greater numbers of consumers buying and using boats and boating facilities. They don’t want to see a licensing barrier that would reduce the number of people who would consider taking up boating. The net effect of this would be to devise Pablum-grade “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?” type tests that require almost no training knowledge or experience to pass. This would embolden the novice. Having gained the license, he would think he surely knows what he is doing.
- You can’t make yourself safe when sailing either. You can make yourself safer, but not completely safe. Make no mistake: I am in favor of trying to be safer. Some of our readers have noticed that in almost all of the above-deck pictures of your editors, Karen and I are wearing life jackets. You might think we rush to put on a life jacket whenever we have a photo opportunity, but that’s not the case. We are not trying to promote your safety; we are trying to promote ours. We simply wear a life jacket whenever we are above deck and the boat is moving. That is our rule. We don’t say it should be yours.
I do suggest that the captain and crew of any sailboat will be happier, more comfortable, and safer if they study and practice to refine their individual and team skills. This effort is, in fact, so rewarding that most sailors will embrace it without being bullied into doing so.
- Recreational sailing is a voluntary activity. It is also not inherently safe and cannot be made to be so. In my opinion, very few recreational activities are inherently safe. If you want to be a lot safer than you are when you are sailing, sell your boat and go home and lock the door and suck your thumb. Please sterilize your thumb first; there are bound to be germs.
The Coast Guard would almost certainly enforce any licensing scheme, so it seems odd to me that they are supporting this initiative. I would guess that the Coast Guard already has more missions than resources and does not need another job. I’m certain they are very busy; they never return my phone calls. We need to support our Coast Guard. We don’t need to give them more work.
Those readers who have a bit of sailing experience will know that no matter how good they are as sailors, conditions and circumstances will occasionally conspire to put a vessel and her crew at risk. They will also know that, in those moments, good preparation, training, and seamanship will tell and in almost all of such situations the vessel and crew will return to harbor little the worse for wear and with another sea story to tell.
Sadly, now and then we lose one. It is rare, but occasionally conditions and circumstances will test a vessel and her crew, and they will not pass. In these situations, I don’t think it will help to know who is buried in Grant’s Tomb.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
