By Cristina Cuervo, Rising Senior at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart | Miami, FL
Growing up in South Florida, the water has always been a part of my life, and I have become very passionate about boating safety research and education. I had never thought much about the potential dangers of recreational boating, but this changed significantly after the tragic loss of my friend, Lucy Fernandez, due to a boating incident.
Lucy loved being on the water, and her passing inspired the creation of the Lucy Fernandez Foundation, whose mission is to promote safer boating through education, advocacy, and community outreach. Becoming involved with the Foundation and its student leadership initiative, bLU CREW, opened my eyes to the importance of boating safety and showed me that young people can play an important role in creating change. Today I serve as president of Carrollton’s bLU CREW chapter, where nearly 30 students work together to promote responsible boating and partner with students from schools across South Florida.
As I became more involved in boating safety advocacy, I found myself asking a simple question …
Why are so many boating incidents still happening, even with today’s technology and safety resources?
That question led me to spend the past year conducting an independent research project analyzing Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) boating incident reports from 2015 through 2024. I also had the opportunity to interview Lieutenant Nicholas Korade, Assistant Director of the FWC Boating and Waterways Section, to better understand how boating incidents are investigated and how statewide safety data is collected.
After reviewing thousands of incident reports and statewide statistics, one pattern stood out. Operator inattention or failure to maintain a proper lookout consistently remained one of the leading contributing factors in boating incidents. I also found that operators over the age of 50 represented the largest age group involved in incidents and frequently had no record of formal boating education.
While these findings do not prove that age or education alone cause incidents, they suggest that human behavior continues to play a major role in boating safety. I then used this research to find a solution and explored whether technology could become part of the solution.
Using ESP32 microcontrollers, GPS receivers, and LoRa long-range radio communication, I began developing a boat-to-boat DCT – ESP32 Prototype designed to help reduce distraction-related collisions. The prototype allows nearby boats to exchange their GPS locations directly without relying on cellular service. The onboard software continuously calculates the distance between vessels, and when another boat comes within approximately 100 yards, the system automatically alerts the operator. My goal is not to replace safe boating practices or careful navigation. Instead, I hope technology like this can serve as another layer of awareness, especially in situations where distraction, limited visibility, or operator inattention might otherwise lead to a collision.
I am also working toward developing a companion smartphone application that connects to the device through Bluetooth. Rather than requiring operators to constantly watch another screen, the app would quietly run in the background and notify captains through vibration alerts whenever another vessel enters the designated safety zone.
My research project has shown how data analysis can be used for engineering and innovation in order to help improve boating safety. Although my prototype is still under development, I plan to continue refining and testing it while working with boating safety organizations and members of the maritime community. This past April, I was invited to participate and present my findings and concept to the Florida Boating Safety Advisory Council, and I received great feedback and support.
I believe this project contributes to the National Safe Boating Council’s mission of promoting safer waterways by raising awareness about operator inattention and exploring how technology can support safer navigation. Boating has always been an important part of my life, and my hope is that through research, education, and innovation, we can help more families enjoy the water and return home safely at the end of every trip.
