G
Guest
Guest
In Motor Boats Monthly November 2002 the opening letter from a reader is a long winded one from someone claiming reasonable boating/sailing experience. He fears to ignite a yacht flare, be it rocket or hand held, and says this means that he would not know what to do if such action was needed.
There is a somewhat unhelpful editorial reply!
What the correspondent and the editor fail to remember is that flares come in red, white and blue. Red is distress and should only be lit in your garden, maybe a mile or two inland! White has no meaning other than to attract attention: 'I am here'. Has the boater never lit a white flare to scare off a steamer? As for rockets, white is equally innocent, though commonsense should be used as to its
destination.
The correspondent can solve his problem this weekend. Buy a white handflare (though surely there should be some on his vessel) and a rocket white - and train himself in their use.
There is a somewhat unhelpful editorial reply!
What the correspondent and the editor fail to remember is that flares come in red, white and blue. Red is distress and should only be lit in your garden, maybe a mile or two inland! White has no meaning other than to attract attention: 'I am here'. Has the boater never lit a white flare to scare off a steamer? As for rockets, white is equally innocent, though commonsense should be used as to its
destination.
The correspondent can solve his problem this weekend. Buy a white handflare (though surely there should be some on his vessel) and a rocket white - and train himself in their use.
