That Sinking Feeling

You think your boat’s safe when it’s tucked up safely in the marina, but the facts say otherwise: According to insurance statistics, more boats sink when they’re unattended than when underway. While you’re reading this your own boat might be collecting water in the bilge, and, according to Archimedes, when there’s enough accumulation, bingo! Down she goes. If that happens, I know what you’ll say: “The bilge pump failed.” But if you’re counting on the pumps to keep Leaky Tiki afloat, you better take anything valuable ashore now, or sooner or later it’ll be in the hands of Davy Jones.

Not to get overly Shakespearean here, but if your boat sinks in the slip the fault lies not in our pumps, but in ourselves. At least it does for inattentive owners. (If you’re reading this, you’re probably not one.) Boats that sink in the supposed safety of their berths generally fall victim to the owner’s failure to follow