PropellerSafety.com

Author Archive for Gary

Boating Safety Messages, Images, & Videos

We pulled a few basic boating safety materials together. We hope these images and videos will assist recreational boaters in becoming more prepared and to make safer choices. Very basic boating safety points include: Take a Boating Safety Course Wear a life jacket when you are on the water Always attach your kill switch lanyard […]

Updated our list of boats striking dredge pipes 2024

We updated our extensive List of Boats Striking Dredge Pipes on January 24, 2024. Our list is now four pages long and includes about 175 individual dredge pipe strikes and mentions several more. Dredge pipe strikes continue to claim lives as reported in Dredging Today as Boater Killed After Striking Dredge Pipe in Cape May […]

Expose on boat propeller accident propels Arizona to action

Every weekend on Lake Pleasant led to a major boating accident for several weeks this summer (2023). Some of these Maracopa County, Arizona accident were boat propeller strikes. A local media outlet, Arizona’s Family released a great video on November 15th, 2023. The video uses one boat propeller accident as an introduction to talking more […]

Mercury Pro XS Fatal Flaw video: flipping into boat

“MERCURY PRO XS FATAL FLAW! ARE YOU AT RISK?” video was released on YouTube October 28, 2023. The video was produced by Team Marine Service, a La Crosse, Wisconsin based marine service & repair business. It focuses on recently manufactured Mercury Marine Pro XS outboard motors breaking off and flipping into boats. Andy Houser of […]

Monitoring outboard log strikes: Yamaha Patent Application

Yamaha’s U.S. patent application, “Collision Information Providing System, Collision Judging System, and Marine Vessel” was published October 12, 2023. Yamaha’s system classifies and monitors three different kinds of collisions. 1. Outboard motor / Marine drive collisions 2. Propeller collisions 3. Vessel collisions These types of collisions are monitored. They are classified. Their intensity is rated. […]

The Leash Saves Bass Angler From Outboard Motor

A bass angler was fishing on Santee Cooper Lake in South Carolina. His Mercury Pro XS outboard motor struck a floating log at about 55 miles per hour. The outboard motor broke off at the swivel bracket during the October 2023 accident. Several large Mercury outboard motor swivel brackets have failed, allowing the outboard to […]

Honda Air Bag Propeller Guard Patent Application

Honda Motor Co of Japan filed a U.S. patent application for a propeller guard partially consisting of an air bag The patent application, US 2023/0278686 A1 “Outboard Motor Control Apparatus and Control Method for Outboard Motor” was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on September 7, 2023. Honda’s patent application has to do […]

Malibu Boats Safety Alert: Bow Seating Hazard

Malibu Boats released a Safety Alert regarding a Bow Seating Hazard on July 18, 2023. Malibu reports the safety alert is due to a tragic incident that occurred with a Malibu Response LX boat. A passenger was washed out of the bow seating during a bow swamping incident. The passenger was then hit by the […]

Comments on Malibu Boats Safety Alert : Bow Seating

Malibu Boats released a Safety Alert in July 2023 regarding bow seating and swamping in certain older Malibu boats. This post will discuss the history behind Malibu’s bow swamping Safety Alert, comments concerning the Safety Alert, and possible future implications. Background History Long ago, some ski boat manufacturers began to offer open bow boats with […]

Walter Greer, 3, killed by boat propeller in Utah

Walter Greer, age 3 from Salt Lake City, was on a wakeboard boat with his family. They were on Echo Reservoir northwest of Coalville (Utah) Sunday, August 13, 2023. About 4:45pm Walter Greer fell from the wakeboard boat. Walter was fatally struck by the boat propeller. Walter was wearing a life jacket when he fell […]