Our goal at The Carefree Boater is to give you information to make your Boating Experiences as Fun and as Safe as possible.  Here is a great reminder to all of us why we should never swim at a marina.

Our top reasons to NEVER swim at a marina.

• Electric shock is probably the most hazardous on this list. Electric Shock Drowning occurs when poor wiring on a boat or a marina causes underwater metals to become energized.  The marina is all tied together to a common electric system, and a short on any boat goes to every boat, and every boat has an out-drive that goes down into the water and is putting current out into the water.  The strength of this electrical field is determined by how much current is being leaked into the water.  So at every marina, you have a shock hazard.  The shock probably won’t kill you directly, but it will knock you out and then you will drown.
• If you jumped in to go swimming there are some obvious and some not so obvious mechanical hazards.  One of the not so obvious hazards are the many cables that keep the marinas from floating away.  You can’t see them well, but they are definitely right under the surface and you can hurt yourself very seriously jumping onto those cables.
• An obvious danger are the boats going in and out of marina. These props are basically spinning blades in the water. You don’t want to be anywhere near them.
• A hidden danger is carbon monoxide.  Both outboard motors and generators produce carbon monoxide.  The carbon monoxide will stay at about 6 inches above the top of the water, right where your head will be when swimming.
• Another hidden danger are the many fishing hooks that have been lost at marinas (you should never fish at a marina without permission). There are also lots of fishing lines and other entanglement hazards that can hold you down under water and drown you.

Please don’t swim inside the harbor. We can’t stress this enough.  All of the above marina hazards have resulted in loss of life or limb at many lake marinas.