Golly, I seem to have stirred the waters here... Just general comments on the comments, in no particular order... As others have pointed out, the case with an auto is that you can pull over, get out, kick the steaming hulk in the fender, mumble a few choice words, and walk away... So as a result, other than being sure that I have adequate gas and oil in my vehicle (usually a 4X4 pickup) I just get in and go without considering weather, time, tide, risks, or consequences... The auto makers have included airbags, crumple zones, fuel cutoffs, seat belts, etc., in the design of the auto that makes it impractical for me to make the vehicle more safe, so I don't even think about it... I do carry a shovel in the winter, a towstrap, a small airpump for tires, and a flashlight,,, that's about it... <I live waay out in the boonies> What is amazing <to me> about the national media is that every death in a boat or an airplane is national news... B ut the 110 dead people every DAY in autos is not even mentioned <statistical average, more on weekends and holidays, ymmv, sar, bni> Now, with my airplane, the 'perceived' level of risk is higher and the ability to kick the steaming hulk, give it a good cussing out, and go stomping away, is dramatically reduced... So I do pay attention to the time, the weather, the electronics, that all the bolts are in the hinges etc., that I have a backup flashlight, two moving map GPS, and consider the consequences of my decision making before launching off into an angry sky with a Force 12 gale in the forecast... The same applies to my boat <here I also consider the tide>, but boats are a different world... In the car or the airplane I can within seconds to a few minutes be safely parked or landed, sitting in the cafe and regaling everyone in earshot with tales of my heroism, steely resolve, and fantastic skill... In the boat safety can be hours to d ays away, so a different level of preparation in needed <in my mind>... The biggest risk at sea is having the boat sink under you... If the boat does not sink, and you stay with the boat, chances of a satisfactory outcome are nearly assured... So in designing my boat I have opted for materials and methods that mean that the boat will not sink... This greatly improves my chances of avoiding injury or death if I do something stupid... Notice that every cheap fishing skiff that you buy at SPORTSWORLD includes positive floation... This is for boats that are used within a 50 feet of a river bank 90% of the time... Why would you voluntarily go a 100 miles out to sea, in a thousand feet of water, in something that will go straight to the bottom if holed or swamped? The second biggest problem is fuel starvation / engine failure... I have designed some redundancy into the fuel system... I have the usual spare parts... And I have a backup engine... This should cover 99% of the failures that can leave me stranded... If the 1% does happen, I get on the radio, call for some help, make a pot of tea, and watch the dolphins while waiting... Now Gil makes a valid point... There are boaters for whom having the most elaborately prepared boat is a hobby in itself... They will have backups for the backups... Three con stations with repeaters for the radar, gps, loran, etc.... Automatic pumps, manually controlled pumps, hand pumps, self bailers... Dual fuel filters, backup dual filters, hand pumps and filters, bypass petcocks, and need an hour of going over a 24" x 36" diagram to figure out which valve to open if anything actually does happen for real... The vast majority of these boats rarely leave the sight of land... It makes these boaters happy... Leave em in their little world... denny Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.