Cruising is quite safe

[El Pinguino]

I don't personally know a lot of single handers but I did know three who have vanished in the last 15 years. All three with considerable experience and in well found yachts, one between Galapagos and FP, one in the Tasman, and one in the Indian Ocean.

I doubt any of them turn up in any statistics.

Ooops, that was three I had shared a meal or two with. The fourth one I had maybe greeted once, he was lost somewhere north of Le Maire.

[JPA Cate]

Fwiw, I think singlehanding at sea is way more fraught than doublehanding. Doublehanding, or more, there can be someone always on watch, and out there looking around, looking for anomalies. The singlehander, as he or she ages, may have sudden onset health events, and no one to lend a hand.

Ann

[Mike OReilly]

I'm looking at the combined dataset in the database I mentioned earlier. It combines all these annual USCG reports, so the data encompasses nearly two decades of information.

When I call up "Accident Cause" and sort by "Deaths" (since, as pointed out, this is highly reliable data), the top causes come in as:

Accident Cause
Alcohol Use (1991 deaths)
Unknown (1747 deaths)
Hazardous Waters (1128 deaths)
Operator Inexperience (870 deaths)
Operator Inattention (837 deaths)

The top "Boat Type" that is involved in a death has nearly 5x as many deaths associated with it compared to runner-up (5783 vs 1165) ... can you guess which it is??

Open motorboat

Of course, this doesn't tell us anything about the rate of death. There are waaaay more "open motorboats" out there than cruising sailboats.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Fwiw, I think singlehanding at sea is way more fraught than doublehanding. Doublehanding, or more, there can be someone always on watch, and out there looking around, looking for anomalies. The singlehander, as he or she ages, may have sudden onset health events, and no one to lend a hand.

Ann

One was possibly health related, two were down to the weather, one is a 'no idea' but he was 30s and in good health.

[JPA Cate]

planked timber boats?

[JPA Cate]

And on a totally different note, one friend of ours, was given an antibiotic which resulted in about 18 yrs. of such bad vertigo that they had to sell the boat and move ashore. A health issue leading towards cessation of cruising.

And yet, I still think cruising is basically a very healthy lifestyle (or can be), and safe, as well, as long as one pays attention to the various hazards around. The old saw about being conservative (no old bold sailors) pertains.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Note that the report states that they believe non-fatal accidents and damages are under reported in the data by 10-20 times.

Umm.... Guilty as charged. Slid onto a concrete wall in 6 kts of current, insurance claim at $30K and likely to go up another $3k. No report to anyone (exceptBoat/US). Ooops.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

planked timber boats?

A mini Transat, an american GRP boat, maybe 35 foot, forget the class - (some one might recognise the pic below), a 42 foot Moody and a 36(?) foot Rustler.

Oh and also, was parked next to a ketch in Williamstown maybe 25 years ago.
Pooped entering Port Phillip the previous year, mizzen came down and killed a crew member.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

Umm.... Guilty as charged. Slid onto a concrete wall in 6 kts of current, insurance claim at $30K and likely to go up another $3k. No report to anyone (exceptBoat/US). Ooops.

You'd think that it would be easy to require insurance companies to make the report -- perhaps they do? The law states that any accident over a certain financial threshold must be reported. I think the number is in the small 4-figures ... something like $4k.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

You'd think that it would be easy to require insurance companies to make the report -- perhaps they do? The law states that any accident over a certain financial threshold must be reported. I think the number is in the small 4-figures ... something like $4k.

I suspect the number of reported incidents are extremely low given the vast number of small (open power) boats on inland waters with nary a USCG boat or office in sight.

In Canada I have worked with two municipal and one provincial marine police division on marine projects, none of them report pleasure craft incidents to Transport Canada or the Transportation Safety Board ... unless they are front page newsworthy or involve celebrities. Commercial incidents are another matter altogether.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

You'd think that it would be easy to require insurance companies to make the report -- perhaps they do? The law states that any accident over a certain financial threshold must be reported. I think the number is in the small 4-figures ... something like $4k.

Circumstances That Require You to Report a Boating Accident in Ontario & Canada

Contact the local authorities at the earliest possible time if any of the following occur:
✓ A boating accident results in a person’s death
✓ Anyone sustains a serious injury and requires hospitalization
✓ A person is missing
✓ The boating accident causes property damage in excess of $5,000
If you are involved in a boating accident,you must contact local law enforcement to file an accident report as soon as possible following the incident.
Federal law mandates that you submit a boating accident report to the Minister of Transport within 14 days in these cases:
✓ A personal injury to the operator or passengers requires medical treatment that goes beyond first aid but doesn’t warrant hospitalization
✓ Property damage amounts to more than $2,500

More ➥ https://wynperlelaw.ca/when-is-a-boa...t-an-accident/

And ➥ https://www.boat-ed.com/canada/study...101199_115855/

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Circumstances That Require You to Report a Boating Accident in Ontario & Canada

Contact the local authorities at the earliest possible time if any of the following occur:
✓ A boating accident results in a person’s death
✓ Anyone sustains a serious injury and requires hospitalization
✓ A person is missing
✓ The boating accident causes property damage in excess of $5,000
If you are involved in a boating accident,you must contact local law enforcement to file an accident report as soon as possible following the incident.
Federal law mandates that you submit a boating accident report to the Minister of Transport within 14 days in these cases:
✓ A personal injury to the operator or passengers requires medical treatment that goes beyond first aid but doesn’t warrant hospitalization
✓ Property damage amounts to more than $2,500

More ➥ https://wynperlelaw.ca/when-is-a-boa...t-an-accident/

And ➥ https://www.boat-ed.com/canada/study...101199_115855/

Gord, It simply does not happen.

[Kettlewell]

Of course, sailing within the USA where the USCG is based is probably much safer than most other places simply due to the fact we do have the Coast Guard, Tow Boat US, and Sea Tow almost everywhere. Though we do have some pretty rugged cruising areas like in Alaska or Down East Maine, but those areas are less frequented too. When I was younger I sailed up to Labrador and back and we were on our own for the most part, other than an occasional local boat we might see. Plus, it was rocky, fogbound, almost no buoys, there was ice, and at times we sailed off of the available charts at the time. I like to imagine that people who sail off to places where help will be unavailable are more self-sufficient and won't need outside assistance if something goes wrong, but I have run into a lot of people who seem to depend on luck to stay safe. Of course some of those accidents that do happen will never be reported. Like shark attacks, most boating accidents occur where most boaters are, and that's also where they will most likely be reported. But, I can't say that I know well anyone who has perished while cruising. The worst accidents have been some pretty nasty injuries: mangled hand while anchoring, broken leg slipping on the boat, etc.

[Panope]

During the 20 years that I was immersed in the world of small aircraft, I kept an accurate record of pilots that I had met at least once, who later died in a crash.

I count 13 crashes with 21 dead people:

Aircraft: Yak 52.
Fatalities: 2
Stall/Mush to ground out of steep turn at 1000 feet.

Aircraft: Homebuilt ?
Fatalities: 1
Stall/Mush short of runway with dead engine

Aircraft: North American T6.
Fatalities: 2
Stall/Spin. Low level aerobatics. Insufficient altitude for recovery.

Aircraft: ?
Fatalities: 2
Cause: ? (accident occurred on another continent)

Aircraft: RV8
Fatalities: 2
Flight into IMC – Non instrument rated pilot

Aircraft: Husky.
Fatalities: 2
Stall/Spin after Zoom on takeoff

Aircraft: Quicksilver Ultralight
Fatalities: 1
Stall/Spin After Zoom on takeoff

Aircraft: One design (modified)
Fatalities: 1
Intentional 5 turn spin. Insufficient alt. for recovery. Pancake.

Aircraft:Seneca.
Fatalities: 1
Deviated from IAP. Flight below minimums while IMC. Hit trees.

Aircraft: RV8.
Fatalities: 2
Stall/Mush/Spin. Steep turn in traffic pattern.

Aircraft: Tripacer.
Fatalities: 2
Hit Mt. Pilchuck while descending into Arlington. Probably IMC.

Aircraft: Quest air.
Fatalities: 1
Collapsed landing gear/overturn on rollout

Aircraft: T-6.
Fatalities: 2
Failed Engine. Crash landing in trees.

As far as I know, alcohol was not a factor in any of these crashes.

Again, the above list comes from the pool of pilots that I had previously met in person.

I have probably met a similar number of sailors but I cannot think of a single fatality.

I have probably met at least 100 times more automobile drivers (who have thousands of times more hours of exposure), yet I can only think of only 2 fatalities.

I no longer fly in small planes.

[kayakerChuck]

I have conflicting reports.

Sheila's mother is pretty sure that sailing is the most dangerous thing we could possibly be doing.

We did have a victory last year. We got Sheila's parents on our boat! Admittedly, it was only for 10 minutes and we never started the motor or left the dock.

(I don't think mom believes us when we tell of our motorcycle adventures. It was cool sitting in Glacier Lodge, watching a blizzard rage outside. It was even funnier when some of the other guests commented about it being kinda early to be there on snowmobiles.)