Safe at Sea: SeaKit equipped to address boating crisis
A recent article on BoatTEST.com introduced readers to SeaKits, a damage control kit for emergency boating situations. In doing research for a column on them, I took a bit of a “bird walk” and ended up on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website, with a resulting column on natural disasters, specifically hurricanes. (Of course, as I write this, both Fred and Grace are being tracked as they begin their approach to the Gulf of Mexico and head for landfall.)
SeaKits’ tagline: “Don’t leave the dock without it.” As its website states, “Things happen …” Every boater knows this, whether a hose breaks or a fitting fails, things do happen and your boat is damaged. If you’re out on the water when “things happen,” your day can be ruined and so can your boat.
That’s when a captain with a SeaKit is well equipped to address the pending crisis. Packed in a durable Pelican case, the kit is packed with every tool or product needed to control the damage on board a boat. The items range from the mundane — flashlight, screwdriver, multi-tool — to heavy-duty repair items, like a hatchet with a hammer, TruPlugs and my personal favorite, T-Rex waterproof tape.
A quick Google of SeaKits will land you on its website, where you can watch the video itemizing the entire kit and demonstrating its strength. I recommend you check it out.
Of course, the beauty of the SeaKit is that it contains the items every captain will need when a marine emergency hits, whether it’s a split pipe or a thru-hull penetration. And it’s all located in one highly-organized case.
SeaKits’ website opens with these statistics:
– 4,167: Number of boat accidents per year
– $55 million: Annual marine property damage
– 2,599: Number of marine injuries each year
For more information, visit https://www.seakits.com/.
Pat Schmidt is a member of America’s Boating Club of Sanibel-Captiva. For more about the chapter and its courses, visit www.sancapboating.club or contact education@sanibelcaptivasps.org or 612-987-2125.