Bermuda Water Safety Council Holds Seminar

April 22, 2014

On Sunday, April 13th, the Bermuda Water Safety Council [WSC] held Boating Seminar at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club [RBYC].

Over 50 people took advantage of the event, held for the first time, which was designed to give participants a practical demonstration of basic boating skills.

This year, the WSC focused on two aspects of safe boating practices: safe boat handling, and rules to avoid collisions, saying that these two aspects were chosen because “many boating accidents occur through poor handling practices and insufficient knowledge of the collision regulations. ”

The participants were divided into groups of approximately 10 and were taken through 5×30 minute rotations which included the following:

Handling vessels with outboard engines
Handling vessels with single inboard engines
Actions to be taken when approaching other vessels [rules of the road]
Electronic navigation and safety equipment
Safety and firefighting equipment

These seminars were followed by a brief lecture and Q&A period where participants were encouraged to ask the presenters questions and to discuss safety issues. Three of the seminar instructors were certified Royal Yachting Association instructors who regularly offer power boat international level 2 certification through the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club’s RYA certification courses. These course are available to the general public.

Ralph Richardson, chairman of the WSC, said he would like to thank the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club for hosting the event and would also like to thank volunteer instructors, Sgt. Mark Proctor and his team from the Bermuda Police Service Marine Division, Thomas Herbert-Evans, WSC member Paul Doughty, Paul Evans, Nathan Bailey and Jay Hooper for their assistance as instructors.

“The WSC plan to hold regular seminars that will be designed to encourage safety on and off the water.

Click to enlarge photos: