Old flares

[yachtie8]

Several points seem to not be understood by several viewers:
-Setting off old flares at for example bonfire nights is irresponsible, especially by the sea.
-Setting off old flares is dangerous to yourself- normal operation is guaranteed to happen within the dates on the flare.
Old flares should be removed from the vessel once out of date- if you want more flares to set off buy some more!

 

[fireball]

And the point your mis understanding is the experience that - if looked after correctly, out of date flares can be used.... if they go out of date on 30-April 2005 they are hardly going to be much worse off on 1-May 2005 now are they ...

As your likely to be in a life threatening situation when setting off distress flares then I would think it is reasonable to keep good condition OOD flares as backup ...

As for setting off flares for pracitce - I can see why "they" don't want you to, but it would be very handy to get some practice in ... being prevented from live firing means that you are not prepared for the heat and rubbish flying off and may mean you drop it out of shock first go ...

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Fined in France

[ QUOTE ]
The problem is that an officious official may slap an on the spot fine and impound your boat until it's paid.

[/ QUOTE ]It's not just the flares regs that are different. There are a whole range of requirements - including skipper quals - that could be examined. My understanding is that they are not allowed to do it and they don't do it. Since I rather doubt that I would be the first to be singled out, I shall wait until it becomes a problem before I try to comply with all the local regs from UK to Italy!!

 

[BrendanS]

That's your personal opinion. My personal opinion is that I'm going to continue to carry old flares in a separate polybottle as they might one day be handy, even if only 4 out of 5 fire correctly.

 

[Swagman]

[ QUOTE ]
That's your personal opinion. My personal opinion is that I'm going to continue to carry old flares in a separate polybottle as they might one day be handy, even if only 4 out of 5 fire correctly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here here.

Once went to stand by a sailing yacht off Freo and met up later with crew once rescued.

They too retained out of date flares and only by doing so had they enough to send up the 15 'messages' that we saw - and responded to..........

I retain mine - just hope I never need to use them.

Cheers
John

 

[Bluebird]

Please be aware that para rocket flares do not always extinguish before landing. Consequently, using them inland is not be recommended - not unless you like catching town and country on fire.

 

[Anonymous]

Fair point but surely a few thousand yachties pooping off a few flares on Nov. 5th, presumably in a reasonably 'responsible' manner is an utterly trivial risk compared with Joe Public letting off several hundred thousand tonnes of fireworks from mid September to mid December, sometimes with the deliberate intention of shocking or harming others? One hopes that the average yachtie doesn't want to start a fire and is not too stupid to weigh up the risks before firing a flare.

 

[PilotWolf]

One hopes that the average yachtie doesn't want to start a fire and is not too stupid to weigh up the risks before firing a flare...

Don't you be so sure! Many years ago we were assisting in the rescue of a disabled yacht in thick fog. The coastguard had done well in talking us into the locality but our radar was having problems finding them in the clutter and less than 50 yards visibilty. They reported that they could hear our engines close by and it was suggested that they fire off a flare in the hope we might be able to spot it through the gloom...

We spotted it OK when a red parachute flare came across the deck at about 12 feet high at an incredible speed! They had actually fired it at us! All because no one had specified a HAND flare to them!

Give them their due - their hearing was accurate! The mate's language was pretty close to the mark too after he'd changed his trousers as he d been underneath it's flight path!

PW

 

[Anonymous]

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif OK, so having picked myself off the floor from laughing isn't there an important point here? As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, the lack of practice means that most yachtsmen don't recognise the different types of flare by sight, have never fired them, and don't know how to fire them. Much the same is true of fire extinguishers - most people wouldn't put out a fire with one fire extinguisher - they might with the second, but the first would all be wasted while the user got sorted out. I'm sure the same is true of flares.

Then again, the answer is not to allow private practice at unsuitable times and places but to arrange events where yachtsmen can fire off flares freely, without significant cost. Instead of gathering all these old flares for destruction, why don't we make it possible for people to bring along their old flares to a designated place and time, for practice? Last year I went along to an RNLI demo evening at Falmouth but only a couple of people got the chance to actually fire a flare - one was a young kid who is unlikely to be in charge of a vessel for many years. It was a total waste of everyone's time - except the kid's; he was thrilled!

 

[VicMallows]

Totaly my sentiments also.

Unfortunately in todays 'risk' culture no one will pick up on the idea, even though it might actually work in getting people to replace flares/extinguishers. (Mind you, havn't yet brought myself to 'wasting' an old extinguisher putting out the bonfire!).

Vic

 

[Guest]

Re: Fined in France

Sorry, not true. French apply rules to suit themselves.

You can use the red diesel in your tank, but any in cans can be confiscated

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Fined in France

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry, not true. French apply rules to suit themselves....You can use the red diesel in your tank, but any in cans can be confiscated

[/ QUOTE ]They could. They could also fire rubber bullets at you, spray CS gas in your face and detain you in the local police cells. But they have no right to board a British vessel and impound its fuel whether it is stored in a fixed tank or in portable tanks. It might be different for French vessel, however.....

French yachts must presumably take on red diesel when in the UK (no doubt they try to buy DERV whenever possible and only buy red with great reluctance /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif) and in the case of French vessels I can believe that they are not permitted to import UK red in cans, and that it could be confiscated if they are caught. I can also believe that French yachtsmen would be well advised to keep a reciept for every litre of UK red that they take on.

 

[BrendanS]

I did offer to set up a flare demo session by RNLI or similar in Solent area last year, but no takers at all. In the sessions I've been to, everyone that wanted to had a go - they had loads of flares with them.

 

[Anonymous]

Did everyone feel comfortable in coming forward to try firing a flare? People generally don't like 'going up' in front of others in a group. Just a thought.

 

[BrendanS]

Not everyone did, but everyone was gently encouraged, and most tho not all took up the offer with some encouragement. As always, it helps if a few get up and volunteer first, but quickly take a back seat and then work on the quiet ones

 

[Anonymous]

If most did end up firing them then it was a success. At Falmouth they said that there were very limited numbers and had to have 'special permission' etc., etc. Utterly pointless; surely nobody was surprised to see the result of a flare being set off? The point would have been for people to have looked at them, fired them and held them - remembering to dispose of the end bit safely! Still, my point was that the expired flares could be used to better effect for practice rather than being disposed of at some environmental and economic expense.