Same thing happens here in NZ. I live near Wellington, one of the windiest places in the world and sail my little red trailer-sailer on Wellington Harbour (Harbor?) when it's not too bad. Sometimes it's not only "not too bad", but a really beautiful day's sailing can be had.

Every year there are boating fatalities in Wellington. Always the same chain of events. Failure to prepare the boat properly. Failure to read the weather conditions, or to bother getting a forecast. Not having life jackets for everyone on board. Not having a VHF on board, or flares.

In one case, a party of six crammed into a small tinny boat, not one life jacket between the lot of them. The party included a 68-year old obese woman and a six-month old baby. Fortunately, they were all rescued in time by nearby boaties when their vessel went down, but it could have been a very different story.

There is lots of advice available, but not everyone who has access to the water seems to read it or understand it. I did use to try to talk to people I saw going out unprepared, but having received a number of rather short answers, these days I tend to adopt the Larry Niven approach; "think of it as evolution in action" and leave them the hell alone.