A jailable offense

[Deleted member 478]

Yep, last night I committed what is a jailable offense in over-regulated England. I left off a flare at midnight and I didn't get arrested (because I am not in England). I am glad I've done it now because it was a serious challenge in the dark. For instance, which way is up? Getting the lids off was not easy and then trying to work out how to fire the thing after removing the safety pin was the next challenge. Sure glad I wasn't in a liferaft, at night, in a rough sea. And even happier that I now know how to fire a flare.

Before you lot shoot me down for my learning experience, do you actually believe you could fire one in the dark?

 

[longjohnsadler]

Was this roundabout midnight?
Judging by other recent threads firing one off in the dark is not a problem, tho I've not tried it recently.
Now, is that the only jailable offence you'd like to have considered?

 

[Deleted member 478]

yep, was at midnight and many of the boats here (Trinidad) fired off their out-of-date flares. The Coast Guard were a little surprised that we actually bothered to let them know we were going to do it.

 

[AIDY]

Humm..... Yes, only because like you I had a play once.

Would have to cratch the head for a while if it was the first time in the dark in a raft.

They have a bit of kick to them when they go don't they

Happy New Year to you.

 

[Cornishman]

If you learn how to do it before it gets dark you should have no trouble. Dunno about it being a jailable offence, but in crowded waters such as those around the UK it is a bit irresponsible, ain't it? What if one of those myriad of red para rockets was being used for its proper purpose /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[searover]

ubeleivable someone would put a thread on hear saying they didnt know how to fire a flare HHHHHMMMMMM.... then strugled in the dark , please dont volanteer to join your local lifeboat crew....

 

[snowleopard]

and how confident are you that the locals will come to your rescue if you let one off in anger???

my DSC alarm went off in antigua with a mayday alert. i sent out a mayday relay on VHF and MF and eventually got a response from the martinique MRCC after about 15 minutes. the local coastguards were totally clueless.

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: fire one in the dark

Was it the dark? How many Stingo's were under the belt /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Unbelievable that somebody would put a thread on here, preaching to others, when they can't even spell, type or use punctuation properly.

Try giving credit to people for finding how to do things, rather than knocking them for admitting that they can't.

 

[Joe_Cole]

[ QUOTE ]
Unbelievable that somebody would put a thread on here, preaching to others,

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup! He also made it clear that they had advised the Coastguard.....which is exactly what the RNLI does when they give flare demonstrations.

 

[wooslehunter]

Anyone remember cowes week fireworks when eveyone used to let off their out of date flares? That was until some idiot let off a rocket flare horizontally some years ago. Someone was hit in the chest & killed.

Second, if they are let off without telling coastie, it's the same as dialling 999 for fun. Even then no-one else knows & coastie should get a load of calls clogging the airwaves or phones (not sure about the reality though but that's a different matter). Very few people would consider a 999 hoax fun, and would not consider legislation to stop it a bad thing.

Having said that, assuming the local law permits then it seems it was at least done in a responsible manner.

Don't mess with the emergency services - you never know when you'll need them.

 

[stephenmartin]

We invited the RNLI to our diving club to give our RHIB a sea check and a flare demonstration.....its all free and they point out all your boat defects.....

The also let you set off loads of flares....except Schmouli's...(Parachute Flares) apparently they drift for miles and have a habit of landing on cars and veggie patches