Embodiments of the present invention relate to a boat driver awareness system that alerts other boaters that there are swimmers, skiers, divers, rope or other hazards are in the water, thereby telling them to be aware and take extra caution in the area. When boating, especially on smaller or busy lakes/areas, this system will alert all other boaters that there are people/swimmers in the water and they can respond by keeping out of the area.

An apparatus that facilitates search and rescue, for example, in open water. The apparatus comprises a substrate with a particular geometry and a perimeter. The apparatus further comprises a cover positioned atop the substrate with the cover also having a particular geometry and perimeter, which correspond to the geometry and perimeter of the substrate. An air-tight seal seals the substrate perimeter to the cover perimeter and creates a sealed internal region. A liquid-releasable vessel holding an illuminable dye located in the sealed internal region, along with an activator that is also located in the sealed internal region. When the liquid-releasable vessel releases the illuminable dye, the illuminable dye reacts with the activator, thereby resulting in illumination of the illuminable dye. The liquid-releasable vessel comprises an opening with a release mechanism (e.g., clamp, etc.).

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a boat driver awareness system that alerts other boaters that there are swimmers, skiers, divers, rope or other hazards are in the water, thereby telling them to be aware and take extra caution in the area. When boating, especially on smaller or busy lakes/areas, this system will alert all other boaters that there are people/swimmers in the water and they can respond by keeping out of the area.

A vessel includes a body, such as surfboard, that floats in water. One or more thrusters, and one or more sensors are provided on the body. A controller is configured to selectively activate the thrusters to cause the vessel to move along a path through the water, receive sensor data from the one or more sensors while the vessel is moving along the path, determine, based on the sensor data, whether a dangerous condition is present in the water; and output a warning when the dangerous condition is present in the water. For example, the collected sensor data may relate to locations and directions of currents in the water, the dangerous condition may relate to a rip current, and the warning may identify at least one attribute of the rip current. A map identifying a location of the dangerous condition may be generated and forwarded to other devices.

A method for increasing cargo capacity of a floating vessel with a buoyant hull for cargo, with a load line presentation device affixed to the buoyant hull without interrupting water flow along the buoyant hull the load line presentation device presenting: a baseline load line indicator plimsoll mark and a plurality of increased capacity load line indicator plimsoll marks, with an increased capacity model in memory connected to a processor in communication with the load line presentation device; the increased capacity model configured for automatically integrating a plurality of variables including: wave size, wave period, wind speed, surface current, vessel length, type of vessel, quantity of disconnected superstructures, quantity of sheer, and bow height and identifying increased capacity load line plimsoll mark for a voyage of the floating vessel, the load line presentation device displays the increased capacity load plimsoll mark improving baseline capacity of the buoyant hull from 1% to 30%.

A method for increasing cargo capacity of a floating vessel with a buoyant hull for cargo, with a load line presentation device affixed to the buoyant hull without interrupting water flow along the buoyant hull the load line presentation device presenting: a baseline load line indicator plimsoll mark and a plurality of increased capacity load line indicator plimsoll marks, with an increased capacity model in memory connected to a processor in communication with the load line presentation device; the increased capacity model configured for automatically integrating a plurality of variables including: wave size, wave period, wind speed, surface current, vessel length, type of vessel, quantity of disconnected superstructures, quantity of sheer, and bow height and identifying increased capacity load line plimsoll mark for a voyage of the floating vessel, the load line presentation device displays the increased capacity load plimsoll mark improving baseline capacity of the buoyant hull from 1% to 30%.

A vessel includes a body, such as surfboard, that floats in water. One or more thrusters, and one or more sensors are provided on the body. A controller is configured to selectively activate the thrusters to cause the vessel to move along a path through the water, receive sensor data from the one or more sensors while the vessel is moving along the path, determine, based on the sensor data, whether a dangerous condition is present in the water; and output a warning when the dangerous condition is present in the water. For example, the collected sensor data may relate to locations and directions of currents in the water, the dangerous condition may relate to a rip current, and the warning may identify at least one attribute of the rip current. A map identifying a location of the dangerous condition may be generated and forwarded to other devices.

Floating vessel with a buoyant hull for cargo, with a load line presentation device affixed to the buoyant hull without interrupting water flow along the buoyant hull the load line presentation device presenting: a baseline load line indicator plimsoll mark and a plurality of decreased capacity load line indicator plimsoll marks, with a decreased capacity model in memory connected to a processor in communication with the load line presentation device; configured for automatically integrating a plurality of variables including: wave size, wave period, wind speed, surface current, vessel length, type of vessel, quantity of disconnected superstructures, quantity of sheer, bow height, a port specific draft restriction, a canal specific draft restriction, and identifying decreased capacity load line plimsoll mark for a voyage of the floating vessel, the decreased capacity load plimsoll mark restricting baseline capacity of the buoyant hull from 1% to 50%.

An apparatus that facilitates search and rescue, for example, in open water. The apparatus comprises a substrate with a particular geometry and a perimeter. The apparatus further comprises a cover positioned atop the substrate with the cover also having a particular geometry and perimeter, which correspond to the geometry and perimeter of the substrate. An air-tight seal seals the substrate perimeter to the cover perimeter and creates a sealed internal region. A liquid-releasable vessel holding an illuminable dye located in the sealed internal region, along with an activator that is also located in the sealed internal region. When the liquid-releasable vessel releases the illuminable dye, the illuminable dye reacts with the activator, thereby resulting in illumination of the illuminable dye. The liquid-releasable vessel comprises an opening with a release mechanism (e.g., clamp, etc.).

A system for a marine vessel operating in a body of water includes a trimmable marine device coupled to and movable with respect to the vessel and an actuator that raises and lowers the marine device. A control module is in signal communication with the actuator. A GPS receiver determines a current and/or predicted global position of the vessel, and a processor accesses a memory storing bathymetry data and retrieves a water depth corresponding to the vessel's current and/or predicted global position. The control module compares the water depth to a depth of the marine device based on the marine device's current position. The actuator raises the marine device in response to the control module determining that the water depth is not enough to accommodate the depth of the marine device at the current position without potential collision between the marine device and the body of water's bottom.