The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Marine and Environmental Lands Unit likes to go deep. Even though they mostly patrol the relatively shallow Intracoastal Waterway, they need the capability to enforce the laws or rescue boaters in distress in state waters up to nine nautical miles out into the gulf. With a new SAFE Boat joining their diverse and versatile fleet, their rescue and enforcement capabilities have expanded. 

SAFE Boats are billed by their manufacturer as a “virtually unsinkable platform.” Unlike most boats which are made of fiberglass, the SAFE Boat’s sides are surrounded by a collar system that is filled with polyethylene foam. The hull is made from aluminum instead of the more traditional fiberglass. Its construction makes it strong, light, and buoyant. 

“They’re great in rough seas,” said Deputy Travis Fernandes. The boats are self-bailing so if they take a wave over the bow it will drain. The agency currently has three SAFE Boats, one of which has a fully enclosed cabin, which is useful to have in driving rain and six-foot seas – it’s not only dryer, but safer too. The SAFE Boat is also better equipped for towing other vessels long distances from offshore to inshore. It can pull a vessel behind it with a long line, and then when they get to inshore water switch to hip towing where the vessels are tied tightly together side by side, which allows for greater maneuverability. 

The boats are also sturdy: hard to break and much less likely to damage any other boat they make contact with, which is sometimes unavoidable during a marine stop where the deputy has to deal with currents, wind, waves, or uncooperative people on the other vessel. “These boats are just forgiving,” Fernandes said. “If you bump something you usually bounce off, whereas in a fiberglass boat it would be major damage.” If the front part of the collar system is damaged it can be repaired in hours, and damage to the side can be fixed within a couple of days. Damage to a traditional fiberglass vessel would take much longer to repair. 

PCSO needs sturdy boats because the Marine Unit sometimes has to do some pretty extreme things with them. Besides rough weather rescues, they have to handle things like runaway boats. The unique characteristics of the SAFE Boats make them ideal for operations like that. “You can put this boat up to the side of another boat, just hug it, and the foam on the side creates friction so it’s a lot easier to stay with that boat.” This allows deputies to make dramatic leaps onto runaway vessels, such as the one you might have seen nationally publicized a while ago.

Most of the time there is only one deputy on a boat, which means they may have to get creative to effect a quick rescue and save a life. The SAFE Boat gives them a new way to do that. One deputy recounted a story of using a SAFE Boat to rescue kids who were stranded on pilings in rough waves. Usually, he would have needed a second deputy at the helm to keep the boat in place while he rescued the kids, but with the SAFE Boat he could do it alone. “I was able to pin the nose of the SAFE Boat to the piling on the back side of the tide, kept it in gear, and was able to jump off and grab the kids.” 

“You couldn’t do that with a fiberglass boat,” Deputy Fernandes said. “No one thought about doing that until we had SAFE Boats. Now you can push up against something, keep the motors engaged. You’re by yourself, you don’t have someone to take the sticks. You can do these rescues on your own.”

The SAFE Boats are ideal for tactical operations too. A ladder in the front makes loading and unloading on a beach easier. Being able to get right up to another boat or a dock without using fenders or tying off means you can load and unload people quickly. If they needed to ferry a lot of deputies to a big fight on an island, or take SWAT operators to a boat with an active shooter, the SAFE Boat is a good platform. “If it’s a hostile environment you can take a crew of deputies and unload six people in three seconds,” Deputy Fernandes said. 

With a fiberglass boat, they were essentially turning a recreational vessel into a law enforcement boat, stripping out things an angler might need and adding what a marine deputy needs. But this boat feels much more like a purpose-built law enforcement vessel. For example, it has a cutout area that makes it much easier to pull an unconscious person or a combative subject out of the water. 

The SAFE Boat is a great multi-purpose law enforcement boat, but it can’t do everything. A SAFE Boat needs about two feet of water at idle speed, or a little less when it is running on plane. But there are lots of local places such as Weedon Island or the back of Shell Key that are much shallower. If anyone gets into trouble there, a SAFE Boat can’t reach them. Luckily, PCSO recently got a new Dorado, which can handle shallow water with ease. The Dorado can run in three to six inches of water when it is on plane, and can manage about six inches otherwise if the motor is up. 

PCSO’s Marine Unit has a boat for every occasion, all the way down to airboats, Jon boats, and even kayaks. “Every boat has its purpose,” said Deputy Fernandes. “On busy weekends and holidays we might have five vessels on the water, a mix of boats with different capabilities.” 

Our northern neighbors sometimes say that Florida doesn’t have real seasons – no first snowfall, no crocuses bringing the first breath of spring. Visitors and snowbirds soon discover that our state does have seasons after all – we just do things a little differently. Here in Florida we divide the year into the dry season and the rainy season. As you might have guessed from burn bans and the brown crunchy condition of your lawn, we’ve been in the dry season. But the rainy season starts in May, so now is a good time to prepare for driving in the rain.

According to AAA, wet pavement contributes to more than 1.2-million traffic crashes every year. Add to that reduced visibility, and it’s a recipe for a fender bender or worse. Follow these tips to stay safe on the rainy roads.

Lights: If your wipers are on, your lights should be on. In Florida, it’s the law to have your vehicle lights on when you’re driving through rain, fog, or smoke. Don’t just use your daytime running lights – you should manually turn your lights on. You can’t count on your car to turn its lights on automatically – we have plenty of sun showers where the light is bright even when it’s raining. Your car’s sensors might not register the need to turn on the lights, so make sure you do it yourself. 

Don’t use your high beams – they’re for seeing far away in unlit areas like country roads or highways, and can actually reduce visibility in the rain. Flashing hazard lights are usually not the best idea either.  

Tires: Make sure your tires are ready for the rain. Check for wear, damage, or bulges, and look at the depth of the tread. Keep your tires inflated to the recommended pressure. 

Speed and Space: It can take two to three times longer to stop on wet roads than on dry roads, so it is important to slow down, and make sure you leave enough space between you and the vehicle ahead of you. You’ll have more reaction time if you drive a little slower. 

Focus: Distracted driving contributes to a lot of accidents even in otherwise ideal conditions. When you’re driving in the rain, it’s even more important to give all your attention to the road. Keep your technology hands-free, save the snacks for later, and don’t let passengers distract you. Don’t use cruise control in the rain – it makes drivers focus less on their driving, and in rainy conditions you need to be responsive. Cruise control can also make it harder to recover from a loss of traction.

Skids: You need friction between your tires and the road to maintain control over your car, but when there’s a layer of water between them you can hydroplane or skid. It can also happen when light rain mixes with oils on the road. To avoid skids slow down, avoid hard braking and quick turns, and don’t drive through standing water on the road when possible. If you start hydroplaning, take your foot off the gas immediately and steer in the direction you’re sliding. When you feel your tires regain traction, you can steer gently back in the direction you want to go, and apply the brakes. 

Polarized glasses: If you ever see someone wearing dark sunglasses while driving in whiteout rain conditions, they’re not trying to look cool. Polarized glasses increase the visual contrast and cut down on reflections from other cars’ lights on the water, turning that blurry mess through your windshield into a clear picture. (They can also help in fog or snow.)

The transition from dry to rainy season can be gradual or dramatic. Conditions start to become favorable in Pinellas around the middle to end of May when the high-pressure system over the Atlantic known as the Bermuda High sets up, gulf temperatures rise, and there’s more moisture in the air. The early period of the rainy season is known for intense storms that sometimes produce hail or tornados. Storms later in the season tend to be longer and heavier, increasing chances of flooding. And of course hurricanes can come at any time (though they are more common later in the season.) As we move into the rainy season, be ready to drive smartly and safely.