SOMETHING NEW IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: Weems and Plath SOS Distress Light

At some point this spring on my checklist of things I will check on the expiration date of the emergency flares I have on board. Though the flare testing I did on a few of the expired flares two years ago has me a little apprehensive as to how safe they are to actually use in an emergency situation. Here is a link to the post on that experience. That's why this year I am planning on buying a Weems and Plath Emergency SOS Distress Light  in my on board safety kit. There are a couple of real good reasons to have one on board. For one thing it will flash for 60 hours (2.5 Days) so it can be left on constantly as opposed to having to a limited number of flares that one has to think about rationing. Another reason is it requires no further action other than turning it on.  So it can be quickly left on deck so that one can go back and hopefully deal and correct whatever emergency situation caused one to call for help in the first place.  Someone has to be on deck to launch a meteor flare or hold a handheld one. A problem when one is sailing alone or with inexperienced passengers. It also floats which is an important consideration if one has to enter the water. Plus it's portable so you could take it with you and use it in the dingy too. It would be real handy should your outboard fail in the night on the ride back to the boat. Best of all it does not expire. Though it is recommend the three C batteries that power it be replaced every year. Considering that the cost of replacing one set of expired meteor and handheld flares is more than half of what the Weems and Plath Distress light costs. It seems like much better deal. In addition it comes with a bight orange distress flag so your boat is covered for both day and night emergency situations. Here is a little more on the light:

I probably will still carry flares but, I will probably use this Weems and Plath SOS light as my primary signaling device as it seems safer, constant and more convenient than dealing with emergency pyro technics onboard.

RETHINKING MY LIFE JACKET CHOICE

I've been wearing an inflatable Life Jacket on board BIANKA for decades. Happily, I've never had to use it.  Since it has automatic inflation I've always thought it would save me if I ever went into the water in an unconscious state. I thought it was the best lifesaving device I could wear until I saw...

WHY BOATS SINK: Things that go bump in the night!

I was sitting on a beach chair out on the eastern end of the Isle of Long staring out into the Atlantic about two weeks ago. About fifty feet away from where I was sitting was this:

It was part of a tree about thirty five feet long that was partially buried at the high tide mark another 12 foot piece of the same tree was lying a few feet away. It looked pretty nasty down by the root end:

As thought about the tree and wondered where it came from. I was thinking it is probably a traveler left over from Hurricane Sandy's vist to the area last fall:

I wondered how many other tree trunks were floating out there in the Atlantic vagabond leftovers from the storm? Depending on  the boats construction and how it hits such a piece of debris it could severely damage a boat or maybe damage a prop. It would be hard to see to especially at night. Just another thing to be aware of out on the waters. Coincidently, the tree was located at almost the exact spot that I saw an immense log rolling around in the surf a few years ago. Here is some video of that hull crusher I took with a cell phone:


As I sat back down in my beach chair I made a mental note myself to remember even on a beautiful sailing day there are still things lurking just below the surface that could ruin your day.

SPRING OUTFITTING: Flare Check

While I was doing some of that preliminary organizing I came upon my Olin flare kit:

. So I thought this was as good a time as any to open it up and check to make sure what flares where inside and if any where out of date. Which is a no no with the Coast Guard and just not a good idea in general.

In my  Flare Kit there are both hand held flares and 12 gauge aerial flares:

I was glad to see that non of them were out of date and I could get through the sailing season without having to buy new ones.  I hope to never have to use one but, it is important to have them available just in case. Spring outfitting is a good time to check them and make sure they are not out of date. 

HURRICANE SEASON 2012

We interrupt the Bahamas Exumas blog posts to remind you that the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane season has begun. The people in the Bahamas are reminded of this with every letter they send as the Bahamas stamp above shows. BIANKA has survived through two recent brushes with Hurricanes.  Earl in 2010 and last year with Irene. Experiences I hope not to repeat. Irene was particularly disturbing because  unfortunately I had to be 250 miles away on a work assignment and was not able to check on the boat during or after the storm. The best that I could do was prepare the boat and then hope for the best.  Hurricane preparation for your boat especially when it comes to chafe protection of the lines that hold it should be a top priority as this video shows what kinds of conditions boats on moorings and anchor might go through:


Best to have a plan  in place before a Hurricane threatens.

SAFETY AT SEA AND ON THE DECK

I was on someone elses boat recently and came upon this scene on the deck:

Now the batteries may have been dead as far as the boat owner may be concerned but, maybe not totally. Still there is no excuse for a situation like this. A little movement and that chain  would make a nice buss bar with all the current remaining in the batteries flowing through it. Pretty soon you would have the makings of a pretty good boat fire. All I'm saying is be careful where you stow things even if only temporarily.

TANKER VS. SAILBOAT GUESS WHO WON?

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Another shaking my head what were they thinking video:



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HOW HORNY IS YOUR BOAT?

   You should have some way of making an attention getting sound on board your boat. Just shouting will "Hey You" probably won't be acceptable.  I carry at least two sound signaling devices on board the first is a simple whistle which is used mostly for emergency type situations where I need to get another boaters attention.  It does not have to be fancy or expensive. It just has to get someones attention. I keep it on a lanyard near the helm ready and available at a moments notice. I also have one attached to my life jacket in case I fall overboard. The nice thing about a whistle is you can keep it in your mouth and have both hands free to do what ever needs to be done to continue to control the boat, render assistance or tread water and still continue to sound whatever signal you need to.  The other sound signal device I have on board is a Taylor Rechargeable Air Horn

Sure you can buy Air Horns with screw on replacement air canisters and you can keep buying replacement canisters. But, for me I like having an air horn that does not depend on me remembering to go to the marine store to make sure I have enough air canisters on board to make a signal for an extended period of time. Such as when one is sailing in fog.  You refill the Taylor unit it by a common air valve on the bottom of the air horn.

Even though the unit comes with a hand pump that attaches to this valve as shown  in the first photo. Pumping it up to full pressure using the hand pump can give one a pretty good work out. What I use instead is a compact 12 volt air compressor instead:














I simply attach it to the air valve of the horn and keep it handy in the cockpit ready to use in conditions like when underway in a fog means I'll be sounding the horn more than usual. As shown in the photo below:

 NOTE: Make sure you do not pump up the Air Horn more than it's rated capacity.

When the air runs out you simply turn on the compressor and refill it. The compressor also has a built in LED light on the side that can be operated separately or in combination with the pump:

To me it makes the most sense to have a unit like this on board. I also like that it I can still use the hand pump as a back up pump to refill it. As a cruising sailor I always like to have a back up.

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.

TAKING NOTE OF EARL

I spent part of last night in the cockpit with a notepad listing all the things I could think of to prepare the boat for Earls arrival on Friday. Today I started the prep. I pulled out the spare anchors. Rigged an extra chain at the bow for the anchors and secured it around the mast. Tonight I'll continue the prep after checking with the Hurricane Center. NOAA is still using the word "possible" in talking about the tropical storm conditions on Friday. Meanwhile I continue to plan for the probable ones.
Sent from on board BIANKA
http://biankablog.blogspot.com/

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.

DROWNING: TV vs. REALITY

Back on land for a day. I came home to see if the stainless steel tubing cutter I ordered had arrived so I can start on phase two of my solar bimini project. But, damn it did not show up. Alrighty then! I'll spend  some time checking up on some of my favorite blogs including Capt. Brucato's NY TUGMASTER. When Capt. Brucato speaks I listen up and I'm not even a member of his deck crew! Today he is saying to check out former Coast Guard rescue swimmer Mario Vittone's blog and especially an article he wrote on drowning that he published about what signs to look for in the drowning victims behavior. Here is one of the money quotes:

So if a crew member falls overboard and every(thing) looks O.K. – don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them: “Are you alright?” If they can answer at all – they probably are. If they return a blank stare – you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents: children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

Vittone's article does contain some very important information for both boaters and those on the beach. It is aptly titled DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING and yes, it is a must read.

MAST DOWN, MOTOR ON!

Bob over at BOATBITS had not posted for a few days which was unusual for him. But, I assumed he had been off on a sail. I was partly correct. His CAL 34 was demasted as he sailed "toward" Antigua. After he cut away the mast he turned on his electric motor and headed to Saint Criox for repairs. Here is the money quote:

"The motor to St Croix was uneventful, if a bit slow, but we made port with battery power to spare thanks in no small part to our Electric Yacht drive and Honda generator as they ran for twelve hours without a rest in really big sloppy seas and just seriously all around kicked some serious butt!"

While it's sad to read about the demasting. The good news for those of us with electric propulsion systems is that his electric motor did the job of getting the boat to St Criox for repairs in less than ideal conditions.