Originally posted by: Regs
Gummy Shark
I see. I thought this would be normal in aussie land, except for the whole key thing. Why where the keys on a wire? Can't figure that one out.
All boats have a tether that hooks to the driver in case they get knocked overboard by a wave. The tether disables the engine so the boat doesn't keep running without a driver, avoiding a collision and giving the driver a chance to swim back to the boat. Some boats have this device along with a traditional key, while other use just the tether as both a key and a kill switch.
It was VERY foolish for this person to not have a flotation device on the tether. Every experienced boater knows that anything that can fall in the water will do so at some point in time, if you want to keep it you have to tie it down or make sure it floats.