..makes up for all that tank slapping! It's one more thing to fix, gives us something to do, and half my crew are girlies, and, half of the other half is getting soft in his old age)
A permanently installed radar reflector is now mandatory since the UK signed up to the new SOLAS requirements, that's why the chandlers are full of them. It will be interesting to see if the racing fraternity comply.
1. Buy a white hand held flare and a white parachute rocket flare.
2. Remove your red ones and replace with the white ones.
3. Starting in the cockpit, put on a blindfold, heave to, go below and fetch the two flares.
4. Fire them off, without removing the blindfold.
Or should you have read the instructions earlier ?
5. Still with your blindfold on, pick up your hand-held VHF and send a Mayday call on channel 16.
Can´t read the GPS with a blindfold on ?
Surely you must have some rough idea of where you are ?
Five miles SW of Something Point ?
The point is that;
All the recommended equipmemt is no use if you don´t know what to do with it, which could make you the best equipped corpse.
Dave, your engine may well be self bleeding the same as my yanmar, but if you have had to change the fuel filters it takes for ever using the little hand primer on the engine pump, with an electric pump its just a matter of hitting the switch and voila!! its primed ready to go..........keith
I'd be interested in that! Last time I did it took me about 30 minutes and the pump is in a really awkward place at the back of the engine on my Yanmar3GM.
A good source for safety recommendations is the "Special Regulations" issued by ORC or RORC (try the rorc website www.rorc.org). This is well worth reading even if you don't race, although you may think that some of the requirements are excessive.
Journeys across the channel, or across the Irish sea. would be classified as "Category 3" - although Cat 2 might be a more appropriate target for anyone doing prolonged offshore sailing. I think even Cat 3 covers everything suggested in this thread, and exceeds the RYA recommendations.
I would recommend an EPIRB (406MHz) - preferrably one small enough to be worn by the helmsman.
lots of people have lots of satety gear, but lots know little about What It's really Like.
So, for example, does anyone know just how hard it is to try and lift someone out of the water? Near impossible, and needs practice.
Or what it's like actually in the water anyway? - go on - at anchor in safe water near shore, get normal kit on (yup, with the fleece if that's what you wear) obviously tie on with long long line and leap in. Then get crew to see if they hurl anything at you and miss by less than 30 yards. Once back on board, realise how effing effing cold it is, how much more the manoverboard needs practising, how boathook is quite crap, the importance of clipping on, that wet fleeces weigh an absolute ton, and how that young chap wearing a wetsuit across the atlantic makes a lot of sense. Oh yes - and why does everyone sail with their wallet in their pocket? Bouyancy?
We are talking about emergency kit for a sailing boat aren't we. You lot seem to want to sail around in a boat that looks more like the inside of an AA van. While I agree that an engine is nowadays just about essential for the last 100 metres of a trip, that's where you can usually get the harbourmaster's launch to give you a quick pluck if need be.
I agree with the views expressed above. All the equipment in the world is no use unless you know INSTINCTIVELY what to do with it. Start with a survival course to get the basics, then work through various scenarios while on your boat. Get your crew involved and if you have young children, make it into a sort of game, but at the same time make sure they learn something. You might be tho one who gets knocked overboard / bashed with the boom Etc., Etc., so it is most important that everyone knows what to do.
You can't phone 999 and get the fire brigade while you are at sea, so make sure everyone knows how to use the extinguishers and fire blanket without having to read the instructions. Your local fire brigade may run 'home safety' courses, so get on one if you can.
Also ensure everyone knows how to operate the radio to shout for help. Make up an 'Idiot's guide' - one useful tip is to get numbers - 1, 2, 3, Etc., on the switches, then it is easy to say 'Press button 1' rather than 'Select channel 16'. Even an 8-year old can follow that. Get your idiots guide plasticised. It's no bloody good if it's sodden wet and unreadable.
I've worked in the North Sea oil industry for almost 30 years, and we have to go through a survival course refresher every 4 years, and we also get a safety brief video every time we travel - both out and in. I'm sure most of the guys could recite the bloody thing verbatim as we've seen it so often, and thankfully i've never had to put any of it into practise, but I'm fairly confident that I would be able to remember what to do if ever the worst should happen.
Two items that everyone has missed (I think!) that are standard requirements for racing (and essential for cruising as well) are a first aid kit and a manual nearby.
Going on a course is also well worth it, and is part of the Yachtmaster offshore and ocean qualifications. The courses are fairly time consuming and can be expensive. A good way of doing it on the cheap (free!) is to volunteer as a first-aider at work, if you have a co-operative/gullible employer. Any HSE recognised 'First Aid at Work' course is recognised by the RYA for Yachtmaster.
A good ruse to get an employer to send you on the course is first of all to check the HSE regulations on how many first-aiders are required where you work. Then when you find out that they are lacking (many are), point out the fact to them and volunteer as a first-aider at the same time. Watch them panic as they book the first available course with your name on it. Worked for me!
You never know it you're going to get one stuck down there, and have to leave it behind (temporarily). On poor gound the use of two anchors will make sure you're secure. Alterntaively in restricted spaces put one out to stern to control movement of the boat. Failing that it sometimes pays to have two types of anchor (say CQR and Fishermans), they all have strong and weak points suiting different gound, many fold down quite small (read flat) for easy stowage.
As for Spare eletronic nav stuff - my view is that if things have gone wrong enough for your primary instruments to be knocked out, you're unlikely (initially) to want to work out your EP or DR position. Turning on a handhelp GPS and getting a fix and putting a mark on the chart (check datum before hand, naturally), will save some time and make you feel more in control. At least then if you're in the position of sending a call out for help you can give them a good idea of your position and rate of drift and direction.
Of course if the US turn the GPS sats off - it ain't going to work. One to remember over the next few months.
We have a Volvo 2030 which is similiar. Impellor is on front of engine so quite accessible.
Last summer whilst crossing Lyme Bay the impellor went. It took me over an hour to fit the replacement in a lumpy sea (a job I could do in less than 10 minutes alongside) because of the fiddly little screws, being thrown around etc.