It’s gonna’ be a hot day, what better way to get cool than to step aboard and feel the cool breeze as you speed across the water. Well, not quite! If you’ve never given any thought to dangers of boating in hot weather and exposure to the sun, you’re overdue to give nature’s elements some consideration. And no! Wearing your MAGA hat won’t protect you from the troubles sun and sea can bring down upon you.
First you have to consider is reflection off the water and off your boat’s polished fiber glass. These elements increase the danger to your eye’s so it is best to wear UV sunglasses. The flashback of sun rays from sun on decks and the sea increases the chance of really intense sunburn. If it’s bad enough you may actually require hospital care just as if you got caught in a home or vehicle fire. To avoid this, you should use “SUNBLOCK” nothing less. You need long sleeves to protect your arms, neck scarf, and hat with a broad brim if possible. If you are out in the direct sun for hours be sure to protect your legs with at least a beach towel. Hopefully the boat you are on has a cabin, T-top or other canvas top to get you out of that sun for a while. If there is nothing to directly shade you on the boat, stick a beach umbrella into a rod holder. Just find a way to get some shade. The breeze is deceptive and often masks the danger and then it’s too late when you go home and see the blisters. Fishermen are even more exposed all day off shore with the sun beating down. Take sensible precautions.
Next thing is to ‘Hydrate”. You DO NOT want to become dehydrated on a boat. It can make you dizzy, nauseous, give you a wham of a headache, heart palpitations, cause heat stroke and worse.
Some products like Gatorade are better than water and when it’s real hot, stay away from iced beverages and alcohol, which is a real “No! No!” for the captain and if he’s a good captain he doesn’t want a bunch of rummies as his guests. As captain he’s responsible. Other sedatives such as pot, certain pills etc. can all overact under harsh sun condition’s so if you have to indulge, wait until you get back to land. Real land, not imaginary land!
The next precaution is your footwear. Decks get sizzling hot. I saw a guy cook a flank steak on his gunnel once out at the San Diego wreck. It turned out pretty good, slightly overcooked for my taste. I prefer it to be really pink in the center, not almost grey but you take what you get on board. If you are sitting with your feet dangling down and flip your flip flops off, remember before you step on the deck that the deck is going to be so blistering that I saw one woman actually dance off a boat. She looked like she had a real footloose style there for a minute. They fished her out and she kept her feet in the cool fish box for the rest of the trip.
So there ya go! Get out there on the boat on a sunny day and if it’s really hot do you and your mates a favor, take precautions.
See ya on the water.
Captain Eddy
c Mark C. Nuccio