Beacon Watch

boats, safety, sports

Swim Well

Winterizing your recreational boat correctly is certainly one of the least enjoyable aspects of owning a boat. But it is also one of the most important. With a relatively small investment of time and money, you can insure that your boat will be functioning perfectly when springtime rolls back around. Winterization is important financially (as it saves you from making potentially costly repairs), and it is also an important element of boating safety. (After all, should something go wrong over the course of the winter, there is a chance you may not realize it until the next time you are out on the water!)

Proper winterization involves a number of distinct steps that ultimately depend upon what kind of boat you have. If you are completely new to the process, we reccomend that you check out a comprehensive guide to winterization, such as this excellent resource offered by DiscoverBoating.com.

Regardless of your experience level, however, everyone makes mistakes sometimes. A mistake in winterization can lead to a potentially dangerous situation out on the water, though–which is why it’s important to keep these frequently overlooked steps in mind.

  1. Perform a deep clean and diagnostic examination. Taking the time to deep clean your boat at the end of boating season is an enormous favor that your future self will really appreciate come springtime. But it is also an important safety precaution–it allows you the chance to double-check for any potential problems that have arisen over the past months.
  2. Fill Gas Tank. This prevents condensation from leaving water in the tank. Some boaters claim that they would rather deal with the water problem than waste an entire tank of gas–however, this is ultimately short sighted. (And, with gasoline stabilizer, it is possible to prevent your gasoline from expiring anyway.)
  3. Always Leave the Boat Covered. This step is frequently overlooked by those who are storing their boats in an indoor garage. Because boating upholstery can potentially cost thousands to replace, however, (and because the unexpected does happen from time to time,) the small investment of a cover is always worth it.

Always Committed to Boating Safety.

Boating safety is an ongoing commitment that requires level-headedness, careful maintenance, and an investment in safety equipment. To learn more about the latest and greatest in boating safety equipment, visit Beacon Watch online today.

  Because no boat is entirely trustworthy—think of the Titanic—even if you are the greatest boater in the world, you may one day need to be able to survive in the water without it. This is why one of the most important aspects of boating safety actually has nothing to do with boats. Swimming is one of the most crucial skills to a safe boater, and, of all of the different methods of staying afloat, treading water may be the most useful to a boater. This is because rather than trying to swim to the shore, the passenger of a capsized boat is typically simply waiting where he or she is in order to be rescued. Below are 5 steps on how to tread water efficiently and correctly.

  • Do not try to swim. When swimming, you turn your body horizontally in the water and kick your legs. However, when treading water, you keep your body upright and use both your arms and legs.
  • Move your arms horizontally, and your legs back and forth in a circular motion.
  • Do not panic. Additionally, continue breathing normally. Panicking and hyperventilating can only waste your energy and make it more difficult to actually stay above the water.
  • Lie on your back if you are having trouble staying afloat in the normal position. This will also become difficult after a while, but it uses different muscles and different technique than regular water treading, so it may help you rest and stay afloat longer.
  • Use anything around you to stay afloat. This may seem like a no-brainer, but if you happen to see any floating debris—wood, garbage, etc—in the water, do not hesitate to grab onto it.

Looking for more ways to stay safe while boating? Check out BeaconWatch today for state of the art boating safety solutions.

Believe it or not, there are a surprising number of adults out there who have yet to learn how to swim. If you find yourself among that group, you may feel that it is already too late, or that learning how to swim simply isn’t worth the trouble. Perhaps you really do wish to learn how to swim, you’ve just always procrastinated, and now you don’t know how to start. Whatever the case may be, we’re here to tell you: learning is always possible!

Just in case you need a bit of motivation, here are four great reasons to learn how to swim!

  1. Fun. First of all, swimming can be a lot of fun! From enjoying a quick dip on a hot summer day, to competing in swimming competitions—there are so many opportunities to enjoy your newfound skill of swimming. This alone is plenty of reason to learn!
  2. Safety. On a more serious note, learning how to swim is one of the most important steps you can take in order to stay safe around bodies of water. Additionally, learning how to swim will put you in a better position to help those around you should an emergency situation ever arise.
  3. Health. Swimming is a fantastic form of exercise that works the entire body. Moreover, it doesn’t place stress on the ligaments in the way that other popular forms of cardiovascular exercise such as running do.
  4. Challenge Yourself. We should all be lifelong learners: it allows us to enjoy the richest life experience possible. Taking on the challenge of learning how to swim is a great way to expand your world!

If you’re ready to get started on the new adventure of learning how to swim, we recommend that you find an organization such as your local YMCA that offers a place to practice (and lessons if you so prefer.) Meanwhile, research always helps. Visit the Beacon-Watch blog for a plethora of water safety information!

Why Learn Different Swimming Strokes?

As you could probably guess, learning how to swim proficiently is one of the most important steps you can take in order to be safer in the water. According to the organization USA Swimming, formal swimming lessons dramatically decrease the risk of drowning—especially for young children. This fact highlights the importance of learning how to swim, and learning how to swim well! How can one improve their swimming even after mastering “the basics?” One recommendation that is particularly rewarding is learning new swimming strokes!

4 Reasons to Learn New Swimming Strokes

  1. Swimming several different strokes works different sets of muscles. This allows swimming to be a more complete workout. Additionally, it eases excessive stress on any one set of muscles, thus reducing the risk of a swimming related injury.
  2. Switching between strokes can decrease fatigue when swimming long distances.
  3. Each stroke offers its own advantages. Freestyle is the fastest style, for example; whereas breaststroke offers better visibility. See the list below for more information on different strokes.
  4. Learning different strokes adds more variety to your swimming routine and makes swimming more fun!

4 Basic Strokes to Learn

  1. Freestyle.  As mentioned before, this is the fastest style, and one of the most common. In this style, the arms rotate with hard, above water stokes while the legs perform a flutter kick.
  2. Breaststroke.  Another of the most popular swim strokes. The odds are good that when you learned to swim, you either learned freestyle or breast stroke. In the breast stroke, both arms make circles underwater rather than moving above water; which makes the style slower, but also much calmer.
  3. Backstroke.  The name is pretty self-explanatory—this is a common stroke that involves swimming on one’s back. It is one of the most distinct style of swimming, and offers the advantage of working a different set of muscles from most other strokes.
  4. Sidestroke.  This stroke, which utilizes underwater motion of one arm as the swimmer lies on his/her side, is the preferred method of lifeguards as it leaves one arm free to assist other swimmers.

For more water safety tips, visit Beacon-Watch.com!