Lessons In Boating Safety

Learning the hard way.

Wife Catherine sensed something amiss even before I thrust my hand into her cold, freshly mixed cocktail. Wives are like that, ever alert to drama, but genuine concern did little to mask the pain. The seared flesh on my finger was both unsightly and unbearable.     

Sadly, it could have been avoided if only I had taken seriously the solid, professional boating advice given to me weeks before by veteran boater Neil Barker of Escape Boating. “You should replace the cranking battery on your boat as it is too small for the job,” he had warned me. And while the battery ‘checked out’ it needed to be upgraded, and he also suggested a long set of jumper cables.

Remove a battery that ‘checks out’? No way. Extra-long jumper cables? In one ear and out the other. It would not be long before I learned to regret those decisions.

Catherine and I were fishing mid-week in a big Limpopo dam. We trekked far up river looking for cooler water in the afternoon heat. But then, when it came time to leave the ignition key provided just a dying groan and no juice. We had not seen another boat all day and were certainly alone in the river channel. Besides, even if another boater appeared we did not have jumper cables. Fleetingly, I recalled Neil’s warning.

“No problem,” I told Catherine. “I’ll just swap out one of the 24-volt trolling motor batteries, hook it to the cranking leads and we will be on the way.” The transfer was made quickly and without incident. We returned to the launching area, loaded the boat and returned to the lodge.

I began the task of moving and re-connecting batteries in mid-40’s heat when a wrench slipped from my sweaty hands and touched opposite poles. Sparks flew and the spanner shot onto the boat deck, burning a black hole in the carpet. The lower jaw of the tool melted to a stub. Then I began to feel the pain – to my horror I saw that my wedding ring had melted onto my finger and I could see the white and lifeless skin! I pulled and tugged on the ring until it came off, with flesh attached. My first impulse was to jump from the boat and find ice. Unfortunately for my thirsty wife, it was her cold drink that provided momentary relief.

The pain subsided that evening and left me with numbness. Foolishly, I returned to fishing the next day, handling bass and dipping my injured digit in the lake water. Within a few days infection set in that forced a visit to my doctor who reckoned that surgery would more than likely be required to remove the dead flesh.

Fortunately the wound healed without surgery but it was a long road to recovery. There were three daily applications of medicated lotions, follow-up wraps with a combo of paraffin gauzes and regiments of anti-biotics for weeks after the incident.

I showed Neil Barker the nasty wound and told him the story. I awaited the “I told you so” but it never came. Instead, Neil offered some solid boating advice.

“Too many bass anglers buy expensive boats but opt for cheap, undersized batteries. Not only can that decision lead to physical injuries, like yours, but to serious boat problems,” he said. All electronics, fish finders, trolling motor systems, electronic ignitions remain at risk if the batteries are incorrectly connected, and it happens more than you realize.  

In addition Neil said that all boaters should have jumper cables the length of their boat in order to jump start the cranking battery in an emergency and to assist fellow boaters who find themselves dead in the water.

There was no need for Neil to rub it in – I learned my lesson the hard way and he knew it!