I saw the boat kill switch law passed and starts 9/1. I'll admit I only use mine when its only me on the boat.

Does anyone use the Fell Marine MOB https://www.fellmarine.com/ ?

At low speeds I'll move around the boat some (beyond the length of the lanyard) and seems like this would be a good solution.

This reminds me of something that happened to my grandfather. He was fishing alone on a very large lake in Mexico (cannot remember the name). He somehow falls out of the boat while trolling and did not have a life vest. He is treading water and watching the boat disappear into the distance. He decided to start swimming towards the shore which was not in site. About 20 minutes later he hears a boat approaching. He stops swimming and waves his arms to alert the people in the boat. There was no one in the boat because it was his. It was coming straight for him. He grabs it and crawls in. He was exhausted and says he probably would have drown. He was a very religious man and he truly believes (as do I) that God turned that boat around and sent it to save him.

So I have to use my lanyard... ugh. Just one more annoyance. I know it is easy and could save lives, but we're about an inch from regular boat inspections and crap like that.

Hmmm, my boat doesn't even have a kill switch

What is the law? And are old boats grandfathered or does everyone have to install a kill switch?

I have a simple one integrated into my Yamaha control. It's a clip that, if pulled off its pin, shuts off the engine. You're supposed to attach it to yourself with a lanyard while operating the boat.

Usual story. Family suffers a tragic accident and loss, and makes it their life's mission to create a law that might, in literally one in a million type odds, save another life some day, and impose it upon everyone else so they can feel their loss has been justified.

I understand the emotional sentiment but not the actual need to criminalize this.

redass1876 said:

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Hmmm, my boat doesn't even have a kill switch

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If you have an ignition key, you should be able to buy a replacement that you can easily wire in that will have a little clip that a kill switch lanyard fastens to.

If the boat wasn't equipped by the manufacturer (ie pre 19XX), you aren't required to use one. No need to retrofit.

roynonroy said:

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If the boat wasn't equipped by the manufacturer (ie pre 19XX), you aren't required to use one. No need to retrofit.

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Cool. Probably wasn't going to anyway, but good to know.

nm

MouthBQ98 said:

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Usual story. Family suffers a tragic accident and loss, and makes it their life's mission to create a law that might, in literally one in a million type odds, save another life some day, and impose it upon everyone else so they can feel their loss has been justified.

I understand the emotional sentiment but not the actual need to criminalize this.

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The worst part is I don't know that it would have saved their daughter anyways, since she wasn't driving and fell out of the boat and then got hit my the prop.

Surely they can invent a wireless kill switch to keep in your pocket and engages when x distance from the boat.

Never mind OP. Sounds like a good product

Texmid said:

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This reminds me of something that happened to my grandfather. He was fishing alone on a very large lake in Mexico (cannot remember the name). He somehow falls out of the boat while trolling and did not have a life vest. He is treading water and watching the boat disappear into the distance. He decided to start swimming towards the shore which was not in site. About 20 minutes later he hears a boat approaching. He stops swimming and waves his arms to alert the people in the boat. There was no one in the boat because it was his. It was coming straight for him. He grabs it and crawls in. He was exhausted and says he probably would have drown. He was a very religious man and he truly believes (as do I) that God turned that boat around and sent it to save him.

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Sounds like this boat has a cousin who was an extra in Earnest Goes to Camp.

My lanyard is around my wrist whenever the boat is in gear. Second nature I guess. Kinda like wearing a seat belt.

The replies in this thread are 1980's Deja Vu.

I have a 1955 Johnson Seahorse 10 hp with a rope pull start that I refurbished a few years ago to troll around with. How does this new law affect the older motors? It has a tiller handle with a twist grip you can turn to kill the motor.

Seat belt law. Yeah.

For me, I can just add a wrist loop to my lanyard since it is always in and is already attached to the key which I never remove anyhow.

It'll make certain operating actions more difficult or a bigger hassle, ESPECIALLY solo fishing while trolling at low speed, which I do ALL THE TIME.

It isn't quite the same as a seatbelt law for a car, as a fishing boat is more than just transportation.

MouthBQ98 said:

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Seat belt law. Yeah.

For me, I can just add a wrist loop to my lanyard since it is always in and is already attached to the key which I never remove anyhow.

It'll make certain operating actions more difficult or a bigger hassle, ESPECIALLY solo fishing while trolling at low speed, which I do ALL THE TIME.

It isn't quite the same as a seatbelt law for a car, as a fishing boat is more than just transportation.

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We used to have about a 6' stretchable lanyard attached to our kill switch. I would clip it off to my belt loop while driving. I could walk around to the back and check rods, open tackle boxes, etc. without popping off the kill switch. But if I were to fall down or go overboard, it would have tripped the switch.

May be what I do I guess.

Can someone with knowledge explain how this could have saved Kali...she fell overboard, I assume off the front (?) Her cousin was driving, the prop hit her and I assume hit her head killing her?

Is the thought that if a switch was installed he could have pulled it? Why couldn't he just turn the key and achieve the same result?

Either way great example of government over reach.

How does this apply to a boat under power of a trolling motor? My 12' tinyboat doesn't have an outboard and my trolling motor doesn't have a kill switch on it. Neither does the trolling motor on my in laws pontoon fishing barge

Don't honestly know the answer to your question as I haven't read her story. Was the boat at idle or at speed when she fell over? Did the operator leave the helm with the boat in gear to go help her? I don't know. What I do know is that I am a fan of the kill switches. I think everybody should use them, and the list of legit reasons not to use them is pretty short in my opinion. But I am not sure I think it ought to be a ticketable offense to not use one. Would have to see some stats on how many injuries and drownings could have been prevented with them before I get onboard with that.

Funny story on the fob kill switches. A buddy of mine had a real nice bass boat and it was equipped with the wireless fobs for a kill switch. The fobs would activate the kill switch if they detected water or got so far away from the boat. One day we were just fun fishing and it was a little windy. While cutting across the lake we speared a wave and water came over the front soaking both of us. Well as we started up the next wave the fob activated because of the previous wave that came over the front and the motor died. This caused the nose of the boat to drop and we took another wave over the front and there was not a dry stitch of clothing on either of us.
After that trip he had the wireless fob system removed and went back to the lanyard. Prior to that he had other battery issues with the fobs on the wireless system, and getting soaked was the final straw for him to have it removed.

Two times it helps: solo driver gets thrown overboard by some event (collision, rough conditions, reckless operation) and can't swim well enough for conditions.
Idiot with tiller outboard starts it in gear standing in the back and gets thrown out, leaving the boat running out of control.

I think in the namesakes case, she was on the bow and the operator managed to break the rear loose and spin the boat out and she was thrown into the water and somehow run over by the prop.
I guess the theory is the operator was thrown around some and couldn't maintain control of the boat but unless it circled around a bit of distance, i'm not sure killing the engine would matter. It takes a little bit for drag to slow the boat and prop, and a boat with a dead engine has almost zero control, either.

Couple fun ones..

Driver and passenger tossed at 35 second mark. Another boat helps driver jump back in boat still going 30 mph at the 2:40 mark in the video (about 10 minutes later real time)





Driver tossed 0 rescued almost immediately. Boat does donuts for a while. Boat starts hitting stuff around the 6 minute mark

Lost a friend 6 years ago where the kill switch would have likely saved his life.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Lost a friend 6 years ago where the kill switch would have likely saved his life.

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So you are saying you like the law?

My Dad drowned fishing without a life jacket 9 years ago. I don't think there should be a law mandating wearing them. We are either free or we aren't.

Now ... if the purpose is to keep it from running over other people after you fall out, then there may be a legitimate reason.

I use AutoTether which is a similar product.

I tend to lean toward the freedom side of stuff like this. It was mostly a general comment related to the topic, and to encourage folks to wear them, regardless of what the gubment requires. Guy was a CPA, great dad, extremely avid hunter and fisherman, and picture of responsibility in everything he did. But with one mistake, left a wife and two boys behind. It was one of those "it can happen to me or any of us" moments in my life.

SoupNazi2001 said:

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Add this story to the list of amazing survival stories after falling off a moving boat. I remember this one.
Swimming 9 miles in the Atlantic Ocean at night is pretty amazing. Probably helped that he was an NFL athlete!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/investigators-ex-dolphins-player-did-swim-9-miles-after-falling-overboard/amp/

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"Dolphin swims 9 miles". I don't see the big deal.

One of my good friends lives in Port Alto and has a number of stories about kill switches. The one that got me to wear mine was a couple years back, a boat was found in the water near port alto with no one aboard. Can't remember how it played out exactly from here but essentially they found the guy who the boat belonged to when they went to move the motor, they realized something was attached to it. Sure enough it was the guy's skull.

I'm not sure if this ever made the news or what, but these accidents do happen more often than people think. My friends and I are on the water every free day we get, and after hearing that story we all decided we needed to wear kill switches. I have a carabiner that I just clip it to my pocket. The rule is if anyone catches you with the boat on and no kill switch, you owe that guy a case of beer.

DannyDuberstein said:

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I tend to lean toward the freedom side of stuff like this. It was mostly a general comment related to the topic, and to encourage folks to wear them, regardless of what the gubment requires. Guy was a CPA, great dad, extremely avid hunter and fisherman, and picture of responsibility in everything he did. But with one mistake, left a wife and two boys behind. It was one of those "it can happen to me or any of us" moments in my life.

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Well said