The Boaters Safety requirement got phased in here in Virginia.  Boat US  offered a free class that met the certification requirements and provided a plasticized carry card for verification.   

Reading this thread hit close to home. We've been getting the crop of summer tourists. Several places rent them jet skies, pontoons, and kayaks. 

 

It's honestly TERRIFYING to watch them all interact. It's not only a lack of respect for somebody else's enjoyment on the water, but a general lack of understanding that you can end up dead or crippled very quickly on the water. 

 

Like others here, I avoid peak times. I also head into shallow back waters to avoid the chaos. 

 

But man, the baseline thing for me is I just don't understand the mental process. It's like they think the universe has special guardrails or cheat codes that are going to prevent tragedy from happening to them or others.

 

And it's not just here on an island chain in tourist land. Feel like I see more and more news stories everywhere about folks getting themselves or others killed or maimed doing the most brain dead stuff.

 

Can't tell if something changed the last few years or if it's always been this way. It's not just motorized vessels either. Saw a news story the other days that a couple of guys drowned taking a canoe out on a reservoir in a freaking tropical storm in another part of the state, for example. 

I basically grew up on the water. We had a camp on a lake and we lived on the N.H. coast and had a salt water boat. Even so I took a CG safety/ navigation course and still carry the old battered certificate in my wallet. This course was taken back before GPS and we had to read charts/ learn compass headings, all of that. I still remember learning all about nun and can buoys and of course red right returning.

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I took the Alabama Boating Basics Course in 1995 when I lived there.  It wasn't required but I took it to get a lower insurance rate.  I'm not sure if it satisfies the requirement.  I also took the Kentucky exam which I'm sure would count if I still lived in Kentucky.  I'm not sure they will accept it now.  I've been thinking about taking the Tennessee exam just to be sure. A little safety education never hurt anybody.

Stand on brother, stand on……

Not taking sides, just asking questions. What are the laws in your state regarding pulling skiers, tubers, etc? In California there must be a second person in the boat. When you drop a skier, that person has to raise a bright orange flag, notifying others that there is someone in the water nearby. If someone in your boat had a flag in the air, the jet skier might not have come so close. People sitting in the water are hard to see. 
Again, not placing blame on anyone. Be safe

16 hours ago, looking45 said:

Not taking sides, just asking questions. What are the laws in your state regarding pulling skiers, tubers, etc? In California there must be a second person in the boat. When you drop a skier, that person has to raise a bright orange flag, notifying others that there is someone in the water nearby. If someone in your boat had a flag in the air, the jet skier might not have come so close. People sitting in the water are hard to see. 
Again, not placing blame on anyone. Be safe

In NC you have to have a spotter(which I did) but there is no flag law. What I've always taught my kids to do is wave one arm in the air as high as they can until I get back to them with the boat plus I try to position the boat between them and any oncoming traffic I see(which can be hard on the water since people come from all directions.) I also don't buy dark colored ski vests it doesn't help much I don't think but anything I can do. Most of my jackets are florescent yellow or orange but I have one pink one and my boys fight to get to one of the other colors so they don't get stuck with the pink one. I try to stay out of the main water but this past trip there were literally people EVERYWHERE and it was hard to find empty water. After the tow rope incident(Which was only like the second run we made) we all decided to just go sit on the shore and play around in the shallows because it was just too dangerous out there.

Face it, nobody is safe when drunks are driving. Did he wake up that morning and decide to do a hit and run on the USS Midway?

They caught him later and charged with multiple offenses. There were reportedly seven people aboard.