It happened on a sunny day. Not during a storm, rough seas, or a hurricane. Just another perfect afternoon on the water.
“We came upon a jet ski. Capsized,” said Captain Larry Klaas. “There were two people, a man and a woman, clinging to the hull in apparent shock.”
Klaas, who has spent five decades as a captain, has seen how quickly an ordinary day can turn.
“They weren’t waving for help,” Klaas said of the accident, which he witnessed just the day before. “There were countless boats going by them. Nobody stopped. We helped them right their boat. We helped them climb back aboard it. And miraculously enough, the thing cranked up. As they boated away, the young man admitted to me, ‘We just hit the wake of another boat going too fast, and it capsized us in the blink of an eye.’”
On another gloriously sunny morning, a 23-foot center-console boat eases away from a dock in Pensacola Bay. The water sparkles beneath a cloudless sky, and the Three Mile Bridge stretches across the horizon. It is the kind of day that makes it easy to forget how dangerous the water can be.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the state recorded 694 reportable boating accidents last year. Fifty-one people died, and more than half of those deaths were drownings. Year after year, one detail connects these tragedies. Many of the victims were not wearing life jackets.
RELATED: Boating accidents rise in crowded Florida waters
Peg Phillips, a boating instructor and director of the National Safe Boating Council, said stowing a life jacket away is like leaving a seatbelt unbuckled until an accident starts.
“The same applies with a stowed life jacket,” Phillips said. “If you’ve got it under a seat or in some kind of compartment, you’re not going to have time to get to that before you find yourself in the water. So just go ahead and wear it. In Florida, I would highly recommend looking at inflatable life jackets because they’re not hot. They’re very comfortable.”
While the advice to wear a life jacket is simple, Klaas said that the real mistakes usually begin long before anyone leaves the dock.
“The most common mistake is not knowing the fundamentals,” Klaas said. “Not knowing the rules of the road. Not knowing navigation. Not knowing how to use aids to navigation.”
Klaas earned his first captain’s license in 1977. Nearly 50 years and more than one thousand students later, he knows that confidence and competence are not the same thing.
“The more benevolent the weather is, the less attention the boater pays to potential dangers,” Klaas said. “The idyllic conditions tend to lull you into complacency. And that’s when bad things happen.”
Casey Tavernier is a dockmaster who has seen that complacency firsthand, especially around Pensacola Pass. It is the narrow gateway where the open ocean funnels into the sound, and where wind and tides can shift conditions in an instant.
“You might go out, and it’s perfect,” Tavernier said about Pensacola Pass. “It’s a great day. And on your way in, it’s the complete opposite.”
Even the most experienced mariners treat this stretch of water with respect.
“It does not take much to capsize a boat going through the Pass,” Tavernier said. “That’s the point of the lighthouse. People coming from offshore, they see that light, and they know that’s where I need to head. You’re in rain or fog, and you’re ten or fifteen miles offshore, and you see that light. You know that’s where you need to go.”
Suddenly, the safety lecture is interrupted by a pod of dolphins swimming toward the boat. For ten minutes, all talk of navigation and safety drops away as phones come out and everyone watches the wildlife.
But as the boat turns back toward shore, Tavernier goes right back to scanning the horizon.
“I don’t know if you noticed what Casey’s doing,” Klaas said. “He’s got his head on a swivel. The most dangerous direction on a boat is where you ain’t looking.”
“Definitely side to side,” Tavernier said. “Behind you. Always looking back.”
It is a lesson echoed by FWC Officer Chris Boley.
“It’s important you know all the navigational rules, and you keep your head on a swivel,” Boley said. “You don’t know if the boat next to you is a seasoned captain with thousands of hours of experience, or if it’s somebody who’s rented a vessel for the day and it’s their first time on a boat.”
On a crowded waterway, danger rarely looks like a gathering storm. More often, it looks like a text message, a lapse in judgment, or a couple of drinks, as Peg Phillips, director of the National Safe Boating Council, reminds boaters.
“We always say stay hydrated while you’re out on the boat,” Phillips said. “But let’s save the alcohol till you get back to shore.”
For Klaas, the line between a casual boat operator and a truly safe captain comes down to a single concept.
“In a word, knowledge,” Klaas said.
Knowledge of weather, navigation, rules, and gear.
“The two greatest dangers on the water are stupidity and ignorance,” Klaas said.
Ignorance, Klaas said, can be fixed through training, preparation, and awareness.
Boating Safety Resources
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Boating Safety The FWC offers boating regulations, safety information, accident statistics, and educational resources for Florida boaters.
FWC 2025 Boating Accident Statistical Report View statewide accident, injury, and fatality data, including county-by-county statistics.
NASBLA-Approved Boating Education Courses Florida requires boaters born on or after Jan. 1, 1988, to complete an approved boating safety course before operating certain vessels. Courses are available online and in person.
National Safe Boating Council Information on life jacket use, boating safety campaigns, and educational materials.
Navionics A navigation app that provides marine charts, route planning, and navigation tools.
Argo Nav A boating navigation app that includes route planning, local waterway information, and boating regulations.
Before Leaving the Dock
• Check the weather forecast and marine conditions.
• Make sure life jackets fit everyone on board.
• Know your route and review navigational markers.
• File a float plan or tell someone where you’re going.
• Save alcohol for after the trip.
• Keep your head on a swivel and watch for other boaters.
