Mondays 03/28/2011 Question and boating safety tip ANSWERED

[CaptainScott]

Safety Tip:
Life Jackets. Again. It's all about life jackets. Everyone knows if they go overboard and haver a life jacket the chances of survival go up astronomically! While I don't believe the government should tell me to wear a life jacket, I can't help but to think to myself, Why wouldn't I wear one if they are so awesome at saving lives? Well, in my experience it has been all about comfort! Who wants to wear one of those big ugly uncomfortable life jackets? You'll probably die in one of heat stroke on a nice day! So where do the life jackets go? In the lazerette, down below, in a box, under a seat, basically anywhere out of sight! Who wants to be reminded they are not wearing one? So, if life jackets are so uncomfortable that they aren't worn, why have them? Well, because we HAVE to. So, here is my take, if you are spending money of life jackets, one not spend a little extra and get one you'd like to wear? One that is more comfortable? One that does not cause discomfort? Get one for YOU. Not one for the boat. Get one that fits YOU perfetly. Your style and sailing all can impact what life jacket you might select. In fact, you probably have a consistant sert of folks that saili with you. Now I'm not talking the occassional weekend warrior, I'm talking your spouse, children, or regular crew. Did you know that there are more than one brand of Coast Guard approved inflatable life jackets? Did you know you can get an auto inflatable life jacket with no less than a 6K lb sailing harness? Think about it, you need jack lines to keep yourself aboard, why not get a nice auto inflatable life jacket with a harness? Cover two birds with one stone! These go over your clothing and coats and are extremely comfortable relative to the ole orange jobbies of yesteryear! Heck, you can even get inflatable life jackets that look like coats or jackets!! Really! What else do you need? Get one for each member of your crew so everyone has one fitted perfectly! BE the example! Wear yours first! Talk about how cool they are to younger crew! Spend the bucks for extra CO2 and let the younger ones jump in the water! Video them so you can all have a good laugh as the life jacket inflates and scares startles them! Let them watch the video and make fun! Let them video you! You can make wearing a life jacket an easy and normal thing to do when sailing. It can save your life.
Always remember an auto inflatable life jacket is not coast guard approved unless you are wearing it! If you get checked and have 100 of them aboard and not one is being worn, they do not count!!!!!

Question:
You are sailing your beautifully restored Chrysler in all her glory in your native sailing waters. You have two crew with you. Your spouse and a 18 year old kid. Maybe your daughter, nephew, or just a friend. You suddenly find yourself in an emergency. You MUST leave your vessel. All three of you being good sailors already are wearing your proper PFD's. You have a dinghy ( or life raft ) with you sized accordingly. You have oars or a paddle in the dinghy. You must board your dinghy. Your Chrysler is going away rapidly. ( even if she is positively bouyant, lets assume she is no longer habitable ). You have just enough time to grab 5 items and leave your vessel. Please select ONLY 5 items to take with you. Please order the 5 items you take in order of importances and WHY you would take that item instead of another item remaing onthe list.

• Very basic Medical emergency kit including band aids, alcohol swabs, aspirin, and sunburn lotion
• Flare kit. Includes 1 flare gun and 3 day and night flares plus 3 hand held day and night flares.
• ABC Fire extinguisher.
• Hand held mirror
• Working Hand held GPS
• Food rations for three people for one week
• Ships papers including vessel registration, documentation, your passports, copies of driverslicense, and 100 dollars cash.
• 12 guage shot gun with 12 rounds.
• Working hand held VHF radio
• portable water maker.
• 100' spool of floating polypropoline line
• duffle bag with gloves, jackets, sun hats, and rain gear for each crew member.
• 1 very sharp knife with an opening handle that contains water proof matches
• Magnifying glass and compass kit.
• Binoculars
• EPIRB thatis registerd and working
• 1 gallon of fresh water
• personal kit containing 1 rubber glove, napkins, a penthouse, and a bottle of rum

Scott

[J. Austin]

1.Working hand held VHF radio

2.Very basic Medical emergency kit including band aids, alcohol swabs, aspirin, and sunburn lotion

3.Working Hand held GPS

4.Flare kit. Includes 1 flare gun and 3 day and night flares plus 3 hand held day and night flares.

5. The Rum (gonna need it if my girl is sailin' away!)

I sail close to shore and only a short paddle to safety.
These seem to be great supplies for a variety of survival situations.
I think having all of these, although my shotgun is a 9mm, is a great way to give yourself the upper hand in a lot of situations.
Nice list Scott.

[EmergencyExit]

I'll go ahead and jump in and mess up the answer first so you others will chime in with good answers

EPIRB thatis registerd and working (somebody notice and come get me)

Flare kit. Includes 1 flare gun and 3 day and night flares plus 3 hand held day and night flares. (somebody see me and come get me)

Working hand held VHF radio (somebody hear me and come get me)

Hand held mirror (in case all electronics are dead)

1 gallon of fresh water (my native waters are freshwater, but that doesn't count in the discussion if we assume larger waters - at present I could row to shore in 5-10 minutes. I need a bigger lake)

[Alanhod]

Well Captain Scott knows me well.

I wear my life vest constantly when on a boat. I'm a strong swimmer and very experienced 42 years of skin and scuba diving. I sail solo a lot, so if I go overboard, I am as ready as I can be.

My life vest has a whistle, reflective tape, compass, multi-tool knife (Leatherman style), hand held VHF (Waterproof), sailing gloves and flashlight/strobe light diving style waterproof to 130 feet deep (Strobe runs for about 12 hours). This life vest is a full vest not inflatable. The water here is real cold, in the 40 degree range most of the time. This full vest gives me a little more survival time in the water.

I'm always in my PFD when on the water, Always! I do not force others to wear one but the PFD's are on deck ready. One PFD for each person on board, no exception.






I always thought Captain Scott thought I was a little wonky for wearying my PFD constantly every time we've been out on a boat.

And everyone on board gets to hear my safety speech before we leave the dock. I talk about PFD's, Radio and how to use it, fire suppression, how to start and operator the motor, location of medical kit's (yes I said kit's, as in the ordinary kit and the heavy duty kit), flares and there use, location of inflatable life raft with oars. I also geve 1 man overboard drill for everyone who ever sailed with me, by tossing PFD overboard and recovering it.


Okay now for the list to choose from if I did not pack all that on me at all times...

1. EPIRB that is registerd and working.
2. Working hand held VHF radio.
3. Working hand held GPS (Do I take this if I have the EPIRB? Yea I'd grab it to give position over the radio.)
4. portable water maker.
5. Duffel bag with gloves, jackets, sun hats, and rain gear for each crew member.

Thanks
Alan

[lecker68]

Flare kit. Includes 1 flare gun and 3 day and night flares plus 3 hand held day and night flares.
1 very sharp knife with an opening handle that contains water proof matches
Working Hand held GPS
Working hand held VHF radio
Ships papers including vessel registration, documentation, your passports, copies of driverslicense, and 100 dollars cash.
I may be wrong but in my case here I am less than 1/4 mile from land not just an Island.

[CaptainScott]

ANSWER:
There is no 100% correct answer for everyones own situation.

The idea here was to simply make you consider what you might need should the worse case scenario happen to you.

In the spirit of providing SOMETHING I'll answere what I'd take for the waters I sail in and why.

These are in no particular order.


Here are my general sailing habits and areas. Mostly daysailing. That means we generally travel when it is bright out. We are always near land. Saun Jan Islands, Gulf Islands, Puget Sound, Straights of Juan De Fuca, Straights of Georgia, etc etc. It can get very nasty but we are always near help.Water is generally in th 40's and Puget Sound never really gets HOT. BEcause of these issues, I would choose first from the big list these items.

Working hand held VHF radio
We are almost always near US or Canadian Coast Guard stations. Unlike an Epirb, we could get help from non professional rescue

Working Hand held GPS
Would be nice to tell them where I am!

Flare kit. Includes 1 flare gun and 3 day and night flares plus 3 hand held day and night flares.
While flares help find us they can go un noticed. Still I'd like them because I'm likely going to make land in my dinghy and a hand held flare would make a great fire starter!

Ships papers including vessel registration, documentation, your passports, copies of driverslicense, and 100 dollars cash.
Why these? The assumption is I am smart enough to hold out for a day or two if I had to but it is more likely I'll will be rescued sooner. If I'm in Canadian waters then the money, documents, and passports would be a wonderfull help.


duffle bag with gloves, jackets, sun hats, and rain gear for each crew member.
Remember it rains a lot around here and it does not get very warm very often. Some protection from the elements really helps when in a dinghy!

So, for those of you who did not answer, think long and hard about what you'd really need if you ship goes down. Not only does your life depend on it but your family, friends, and guests all rely on YOU to be prepared!

[lecker68]

Thank you Scott as we are getting closer to launch we need to get the brains focused on safety because if you are not going to be safe DON'T leave the dock.

[Paul]

Had a problem for a second, Lyle. Just got home from work and missed the "a" in an important word in your sentence. I thought it said you were preparing for lunch. I couldn't figure out what that had to do with anything. Point is - fatigue ain't a good thing when you're trying to concentrate on being safe!

[Alanhod]

I always like having lunch after a launch.

Ah you know me, can't help myself.

But safety first even before humor.

Thanks
Alan

[lecker68]

We all like lunch after the launch. At least you are on the water.