Worthy Seaworthy magazine, EAC identified

Seaworthy EAC

There’s no question that some boaters out there, even pros, are misusing electronics, which is why we have terms like “radar assisted collisions” and more recently “computer assisted groundings” spoken only half in jest. Now the January issue of Seaworthy magazine identifies a whole category of marine accidents they’re calling Electronically Aided Collisions or EACs. Seaworthy, aka “The BoatU.S. Marine Insurance and Damage Avoidance Report” is a terrific publication, I think. Using the vast boots-on-the-ground research conducted by BoatU.S. adjusters, the editors present the real hazards of our past time in a calm, useful manner. They have a sense of humor too, for instance titling a sidebar on a mast accident “It’s not the falling that hurts, it’s the stopping,” and including this quote in the EAC feature:

“My wife used to refer to the boat’s nav system as my $10,000 video game. After I bent both props and rudders on some rocks while I was showing her how the system worked, she started calling it my $20,000 video game.”



Seaworthy’s January issue is not online yet, but lots of other worthwhile pages are, as well as a free issue offer.

Ben Ellison

Ben Ellison

Panbo editor, publisher & chief bottlewasher from 4/2005 until 8/2018, and now pleased to have Ben Stein as a very able publisher, webmaster, and editing colleague. Please don't regard him as an "expert"; he's getting quite old and thinks that "fadiddling fumble-putz" is a more accurate description.

3 Responses

  1. docket says:

    I worked on the claim related to the boat in the picture. It was an autopilot failure by a captain who left the helm. Boat turned 90 degrees suddenly into the side of the ICW. The captain/owner lost the claim on his total loss

  2. Ben Ellison Ben Ellison says:

    Thanks, Docket. The article also notes no one was seriously hurt, so I presume no one was nappy up forward. Do you know why the autopilot failed and what type it was?

  3. docket says:

    Ben, I will look it up in my file and see if I can find it. I know that I took the captain’s deposition and I assume that I asked him that question. I do know that there were no significant personal injuries other than hurt feelings. I also know that the boat is not floating in the photo although it looks like it is — it is simply sitting on the bottom of the ICW. Where did the photo come from?
    Also, any news on the dimensions of the Garmin 4212 or the “secret” and never to be built 5212.

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