How to Support an Outboard or Sterndrive While Towing

Good boating safety starts before you ever get your boat in the water. Making sure that your boat and outboard motor are secure on your boat trailer is just as important as following safe launching procedures and paying attention to the navigational markers on the water. Unsecured, your outboard motor can shift back and forth while you're trailering your boat, affecting your steering and even potentially damaging your motor. Better to make sure your motor is supported while towing. Here's how:

1. Transfer the weight of the motor. Rather than having the outboard motor hanging loose from the back of your boat while it's on the trailer, transfer the weight of the motor to the boat trailer's rear cross member by using a device like the Swivl-Eze 4000 Transom Saver (or something similar). Such devices are inexpensive and easy to install.

2. Snug it down. When you have the motor centered, use the automatic tilt to snug it down reasonably tight, but not too tight. Position the motor in the cradle of the transom saver to minimize the motor's flopping from side to side.

3. Don't use the Flip-Lock. You don't want to use the flip-lock feature when the boat is on the trailer to keep it from moving from side to side. This feature is designed to be used when the motor is in the water. The force of motion when towing will likely break the device. If you aren't using a transom saver, merely tilt the motor up to clear the pavement.

Extend the life of your motor and prevent a potentially hazardous situation by making sure to support your motor or sterndrive each and every time you tow your boat. It only takes a few minutes, but it could save you by protecting your motor and maybe even your life.

5 Tips for Navigating a Boat at Night

Taking your boat out after dark can be romantic, relaxing and picturesque. Those pre-dawn hours can also be when some of the best fishing takes place. However, boat navigation at night presents some additional risks not encountered during the daytime. To keep safe on the water at night, be sure to follow these five boating safety tips:

1. Check your navigation lights before you leave. Your boat's green and red navigation lights help other watercraft be able to place you and your course at night on the water. They are required by U.S. Coast Guard regulations to be visible at least a mile away. Make sure your lights are burning brightly and aren't obstructed by fishing gear and other equipment before  you leave the dock.

2. Look, listen and scan. Good navigation--at night and during the day--requires you to be alert and ever vigilant to the condition of the water, the other craft around you, navigational markers and the changing weather conditions. It's also wise to listen for the sounds of other craft. Some, smaller boats are not required to have navigation lights. Others may have lights that have malfunctioned.

3. Trust your instruments. It's easy to get disoriented out on the water at night. Rely on your instrument readings. Your eyes can play trick on you, especially in the darkness, whereas, your instruments are rarely, if ever, wrong. If your boat is equipped with a GPS device, it's a good idea to rely on its output. If this data conflicts with your visual indications, stop your boat until you can reconcile the two.

4. Avoid using your spotlight. Spotlights are designed for boat captains to see objects far in the distance. Used constantly, they can blind other boaters and can be very dangerous. Plus, the reflection from the water caused by the spotlight can hamper your own sense of space and distance. Use your spotlight sparingly, if at all.

5. Don't rush. One of the most important safety tips for navigating a boat at night is to slow it down. Although it's tempting to want to get home as soon as possible, reduced visibility at night makes it a good idea to take it down a notch.

This season when you go out on the water at night, be sure to practice good boating safety, not only for you and your passengers, but for the others out on the water.