8615-R4_ML&P_LSLA_2024_SummerNewsletter_Web

Kids Riding On The Bow While Underway Steve Sayian

inches between hulls. The first thing that may happen is the person (assuming they are wearing a life jacket) pops up and may hit their head on the aluminum framework, or bounce off one of the hulls. About 18 feet from the bow is the engine mounting structure. This is a reinforced aluminum structure that has a very sharp entry point facing foreward. If the person impacts with this, more serious injury can result. Tri-hull boats have the engine mounting structure attached to the middle hull. Traveling aft, the distance between the pontoon and engine structure is about 18 inches wide on either side. Assuming the person doesn’t impact with the engine mounting structure and is pushed between the pontoon and the engine structure, the next possible injury would be to hit the thrust plate on the outboard engine that’s about six inches below the surface or worse, the spinning propeller which may be about a foot below the surface. Either way, an extremely severe injury may occur. This is not written to incite fear or cause panic, but to make you aware of the possible serious things that could happen in a split second! The faster you are moving, the shorter response time you have to act if something happens. If the kids want to sit on the bow, do it while stopped or anchored. The Warden’s office said there is no law that is violated in doing this, but they did say that the Warden may come over and educate you on the hazards of doing this. The Safety Boat will also approach you and educate you about these

Kids riding on the bow of a pontoon boat on a sunny warm day while underway is a lot of fun, enjoying the spalshing of the water, and having a soft drink and a snack. The truth is, a serious accident may only be minutes away. There are a lot of pontoon boats on Little Sebago and it seems to be the average size is about 22 feet with both longer and shorter ones. Let’s say your moving along at about 8 miles per hour (MPH) on your 22 foot boat, which is a nice crusing speed for an easy ride. Do you realize that 8 MPH is 11.7 feet per second? That means that the boat travels 23.4 feet in two seconds, which is longer than the boat! If something happens that causes the feet of one of the kids on the bow to get pulled in by a wave, or a sudden movement and they fall off you have less than 2 seconds to prevent a very serious accident. Assuming you heard or were told the person has fallen off, and whether you were concentrating on driving and not distracted with conversation or other involvement, you are most likely out of time to prevent any very serious accidents. The inside distance between the pontoons underneath is about four and a half feet and the height of the aluminum deck structure above the water is about 16 inches. Tri-hull pontoon boats have an underneath distance of about 18-24

hazards if we see this. Safety is No Accident!

Feel free to contact the Safety Boat with any questions. We are always happy to speak with boaters!

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