MORE GIFTS FOR SAILORS

Here is another gift suggestion for any boater who has a dingy or rowboat. An ATTWOOD PORTABLE PUMP. I use one and it beats using a hand pump to empty a dingy after a rain or in my case one that had a hard to find slow leak. Could also be used to drain water tanks and coolers. Any boater would be pleased to have this handy pump around to help drain things quickly and effortlessly.

FIXING A HOLE

Fixing A Hole

You  might be breezing along one day doing six knots enjoying the ride when all of a sudden there is bang and the boat suddenly stops and you hear water flooding in down below. What do you do? Hopefully you never have to answer this question.  Happily, the folks at Yachting Monthly have purposely holed their test boat and tried several methods to stem the incoming flood of water on their "crash boat". Their tests and results are worth a look so if you should happen to get a hole in your boat you'll know what to do to save it.

TANKER VS. SAILBOAT GUESS WHO WON?

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Another shaking my head what were they thinking video:



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STAYING AWAY FROM DANGEROUS SITUATIONS.

My 30 foot Nonsuch has a free standing mast and therefore no rigging like the metal stays you would see on most sailboats. I was on a charter vacation in the BVI back in the 1980's  with a Captain who was a nautical engineer and had delivered a number of Nonsuch boats. I remember him saying that the Nonsuch had simplicity of design and he liked that no stays were used for rigging it. That kind of appealed to me too from a maintenance point of view. I think of that conversation differently now after I read about this tragic incident that also reminded me of a Captain Courageous moment except that Kiplings story was fiction and this was all too real:

"I grabbed on, we both pulled. We couldn't get him free of the wires in the rigging that were left from the mast and he was pinned by the wires. "I believe the mast either hit him or damaged him in some way [because] he was almost moaning and begging us to please help him." He said he and Ms Thorn "tried and tried" to free her father — the need became more urgent once they learnt Mr Thorn couldn't breathe properly. Capt White said Ms Thorn told him to get a knife from the kitchen to cut the safety line. Their hope was that her father could climb out of the ropes. "I thought about it for a while. I thought if I cut this line I am going to lose him, but his face was [underwater] and the sea was washing over him. I said 'I am going to cut him loose because he is suffering too much. I have to let him have his peace'. "I cut it and it was a terrible thing I had to do. [Ms Thorn] kept shouting 'Daddy, daddy don't leave me' — and it was too much you know."

While I am glad that the Nonsuch has no wire stays that could entangle a person in a rollover. But, this incident seems to make the case for using modern Dyneema synthetic lines on conventional stayed sailboat rigging as an added safety feature.

At least you might be able to cut it away easier in a similar situation and not have to cut the safety tether as occurred in the above incident.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

A beautiful day, sunshine, calm seas what could possibly go wrong?




I still shake my head when I see this video. But, it also reminds me to keep a close eye on those big yachts in my sailing grounds. You know the ones with all that electronic gear. Maybe with a distracted owner or crew on their cell phone or texting  while the autopilot merrily keeps it's course. The good news is the U.S. Coast Guard has now banned all cell phones from the bridge on Coast Guard vessels.

Under the new policy, boat operators are allowed to use cell phones or smartphones only if Coast Guard crews lose traditional radio communications with another vessel, according to national Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil.

"We are trying to be proactive in our safety measures," O'Neil said. "We would also discourage their [cell phone] use by professional and recreational boaters who are under way. Just as many governmental agencies have banned their employees from using cell phones while driving, we should all note that this makes you less safe."

That only leaves all the other boats out there that one needs to worry about.