PropellerSafety.com

Archive for August 2013

Molly Moses – 2009 Boat Propeller Accident

Molly Moses, 16, was boating on the Tennessee River at Lake Wheeler shortly before midnight Friday 31 July, 2009. She was with her father, Brian Moses, and a family friend in an 18 foot fishing boat near Findley Island in Morgan County, Alabama. They were returning from a fishing trip, the boat lurched hard to […]

Aaron Tepfer, 10, Cedarhurst New York boy, killed by Boat Propeller

Friday afternoon August 23, 2013 Aaron Tepfer, 10 of Cedarhurst New York, was tubing with four friends on Reynolds Channel, just off Lawrence, New York (an area known as Five Towns). The boat was being operated by the father of one of the other boys. Aaron fell from the tube and was climbing back into […]

USCG’s “Estimating Benefits of Reducing Accidents” Our Public Comment

The U.S. Coast Guard requested public comments on an Industrial Economics Incorporated (IEC) report, “Estimating the Benefits of Reducing the Risk of Recreational Boating Accidents: Alternative Sources of Information on Fatalities, Injuries, and Property Damages” by August 27, 2013 in docket #USCG-2013-0437. The report was funded by USCG to investigate how underreporting / under reporting […]

Mermaid Samantha Maywell of Weeki Wachee Springs Struck by Boat Propeller

Samantha Maywell, 24, known as Mermaid Samantha of Brookswell, Florida was boating with two other Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaids on the Gulf of Mexico about 15 minutes off Hernando Beach on Thursday August 22. Details are still sketchy, but Samantha (Mermaid Samantha)’s left leg was struck by a boat propeller about 4:30 pm. All three […]

Mercury Marine’s & OMC’s Propeller Guard Development $

The two major U.S. recreational marine drive companies of the past many years: Brunswick / Mercury Marine and Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) have been in the forefront of “debunking” propeller guards in court since the 1970’s. In this post we estimate their total expenses in developing propeller guards designed to protect people at less than […]

Propeller Solutions Prop Deflector: August 2013 Update

We heard from our friends at Propeller Solutions in the UK last Friday (August 2, 2013). They are continuing to improve their vane / vein type guard called the Prop Deflector. Propeller Solutions Facebook Page links to some of their recent test data and photos on Dropbox. They also recently announced a new website specifically […]

Size of the Recreational Boat Replacement Propeller Market

Many have suggested the boating industry’s objections to propeller guards may be profit motivated. Some propeller safety advocates and some of those struck by propellers suggest the industry does not want to use propeller guards because guards will reduce the number of dinged up and bent propellers that need replacing. Fewer bent or damaged props […]