Safety equipment

[Daydream believer]

My wife & i did this in 2004
Our biggest fear was one of us going over the side- Actually my wife nearly did off Barfleur when she was helping stack the main.
As a result i rigged a lifting harness attached to a winch. Block & tackle sytems are to easy to tangle. We have a spare halliard off the mast dedicated for this, permanently rigged
We also ensure we were clipped on Always!!
We had a life raft, Spare VHF aerial for the main VHF in event of a dismasting
A hand held VHF, EPIRB & I had a PLB
We always wore life jackets. It is Ok having PLB's but they have to be with you when you are in the oggin so attaching it to an LJ & wearing the LJ is essential
Spinlock ones are the best as they can be adjusted very quickly. So if one changes ones jacket etc they can be adjusted immediately- unlike a lot of LJ's like crewsaver etc
Spinlock now do a small bag to put the PLB in

We had a double lot of flares plus my very pistol with 24 shells. Some in the grab bag

Other kit was life belt, heaving line, floating rescue harness & dan buoy

Also mask & snorkel with a shortie wetsuit to help cut lines from the prop. We later fitted a cutter as we encountered many pots & did pick up some polythene bags. These were as likely to cause a calamity as anything else

Because the bigger dangers are not so much bad weather, but silly things like running aground or snagging the prop etc we prepared more for those. Things such as spare filters can be more important than a life raft

We never did more than 80 mile legs - ( left from east coast UK & went down the french side of the channel) most were less than 50 once we were in Biscay. We made all trips by daylight

We carried lots of spare fuel & the one thing we wish we had ( & now do have) is an Echomax active radar reflector. We had a very near miss from a fishing boat in fog & it was only due to the fishing boat skipper's skill that we missed

 

[Marsupial]

My wife & i did this in 2004
Our biggest fear was one of us going over the side- Actually my wife nearly did off bafleur when she was helping stack the main.
As a result i rigged a lifting harness attached to a winch. Block & tackle sytems are to easy to tangle. We have a spare halliard off the mast dedicated for this, permanently rigged
We also ensure we were clipped on Always!!
We had a life raft, Spare VHF aerial for the main VHF in event of a dismasting
A hand held VHF, EPIRB & I had a PLB
We always wore life jackets. It is Ok having PLB's but they have to be with you when you are in the oggin so attaching it to an LJ & wearing the LJ is essential
Spinlock ones are the best as they can be adjusted very quickly. So if one changes ones jacket etc they can be adjusted immediately- unlike a lot of LJ's like crewsaver etc
Spinlock now do a small bag to put the PLB in

We had a double lot of flares plus my very pistol with 24 shells. Some in the grab bag

Other kit was life belt, heaving line, floating rescue harness & dan buoy

Also mask & snorkel with a shortie wetsuit to help cut lines from the prop. We later fitted a cutter as we encountered many pots & did pick up some polythene bags. These were as likely to cause a calamity as anything else

Because the bigger dangers are not so much bad weather, but silly things like running aground or snagging the prop etc we prepared more for those. Things such as spare filters can be more important than a life raft

We never did more than 80 mile legs - ( left from east coast UK & went down the french side of the channel) most were less than 50 once we were in Biscay. We made all trips by daylight

We carried lots of spare fuel & the one thing we wish we had ( & now do have) is an Echomax active radar reflector; I have needed to go over the side to free nets from the prop so the diving gear has already paid for its self We had a very near miss from a fishing boat in fog & it was only due to the fishing boat skipper's skill that we missed

Thoughts are with the crew and families of Cheeki Rafiki.

We do carry a Active reflector I assume it works (lets not go there) but I agree whole heartedly with the idea that its not always the big things that are showstoppers its the small things. Jubilee clips failing - yes it happens even when they are all stainless and checked, and the hose falls off "something" this can be a real problem off shore if you have no spares like pipe and connectors clips and very sharp knives. I carry a "starter" battery - not needed it myself yet but it has been used in anger on several other boats that were stranded in anchorages until we arrived. Props do fall off - it happens, we carry a spare with a nut and key and diving gear so we can fit it. Have been over the side to cut nets off the prop and rudder offshore so the diving gear has paid for its self many times over. Be self sufficient, carry enough food and water for the worst case scenario - for example at least 4 months at sea adrift if you loose the mast, engine and electrics off the Scillies - next stop the west indies.

Recent events air and sea have emphasised the deficiencies in the SAR "electronic systems" generally so we never have and still don't plan on ever being rescued, just hope we don't have a catastrophic hull failure.

My own experience includes Sat Phones not working offshore something to do with atmospherics and volcanoes apparently but we were three days without it and during that time the battery needed to be charged so in an emergency situation with no sparks it would be as good a chocolate teapot. (we had thick black dust on the deck during those 3 days and no contact at all with the rest of the world no VHF no radar bleeps on the seame no NAVTEX no sat phone no vapour trails in the sky GPS was "flaky" - we did think there may have been a war) - but the boat sailed on, used a thing called a compass, seems to have worked.

We do carry an EPIRB and PLB but I am not sure its worth replacing the batteries in them now, when they go out of date I may scrap them. If they can loose a 777 and give up on an offshore search for a yacht crew after a few hours and big business wont do a cursory stop and search even when they have sighted a hull in the water - what's the point? Its obvious our safety is up to us so we cant expect any help or assistance from anyone else. Its a cruel world we live in.

Let's hope someone with some humanity finds the crew alive and well.