TradewindSailor
Well-Known Member
I have just read the January issue of YM. The letter of the month by Jonathan Winter admonishes YM for not wearing lifejackets in a 'rising force 6'.
Personally I have only donned my lifejacket once in 10 years of full time cruising, and that was in a hurricane when I feared that I would have to abandon my yacht as it was dragging towards a reef and I thought I might have to jump to dry land. In the end the anchor dug in and all was fine.
I have single-handed, and sailed with a small number of crew. I have always made it quite plain to every person on board that if they fall over the side and become detatched from the boat that they a likely to die. It is very difficult to find them even in broad daylight in an ocean swell, and at night it's almost impossible. If you have 10 crew it may be another matter .... but short-handed, travelling at 8 to 15 knots with a spinnaker up makes the chance of recovery very remote.
I advocate using a safety harness when conditions warrant it. I have two lanyards on all the harnesses on the boat so there is no excuse not to be unclipped. At other times I train my crew not to hold onto the guardrails and to use hand-holds towards the mid-line of the boat. There are always plenty of handholds, and jacklines are set up well inside of the gunwhales so that it is impossible for anyone who is clipped on to get more that their feet wet.
It is very important to learn how to move around on a boat, keeping one hand for the yacht at all times. Likewise each member of the crew must be told of the dangerous areas like the foredeck and in way of loaded sheets, etc..
For me, unless I am transferring to another vessel or land, life jackets are a liability for the following reasons:
1 The permanent foam type are too bulky and get in the way,
2 The inflateable variety are unreliable: they can fail to inflate, they can split on inflation, and they can be set off in a rain storm,
3 All life jackets give a false sense of security. You might float in the water, but you can still drown, die from hyperthermia or exposure, and are completely useless at keeping you where you should be - on the boat.
I guess this might provoke some adverse reaction ....... but it is my experience of 40 years of sailing in dinghies and yachts. I have only had one crew fall over the side and that was on a dinghy where you are expected to get your weight as far over the edge as possible. This is simply not the case with a cruiser.
Personally I have only donned my lifejacket once in 10 years of full time cruising, and that was in a hurricane when I feared that I would have to abandon my yacht as it was dragging towards a reef and I thought I might have to jump to dry land. In the end the anchor dug in and all was fine.
I have single-handed, and sailed with a small number of crew. I have always made it quite plain to every person on board that if they fall over the side and become detatched from the boat that they a likely to die. It is very difficult to find them even in broad daylight in an ocean swell, and at night it's almost impossible. If you have 10 crew it may be another matter .... but short-handed, travelling at 8 to 15 knots with a spinnaker up makes the chance of recovery very remote.
I advocate using a safety harness when conditions warrant it. I have two lanyards on all the harnesses on the boat so there is no excuse not to be unclipped. At other times I train my crew not to hold onto the guardrails and to use hand-holds towards the mid-line of the boat. There are always plenty of handholds, and jacklines are set up well inside of the gunwhales so that it is impossible for anyone who is clipped on to get more that their feet wet.
It is very important to learn how to move around on a boat, keeping one hand for the yacht at all times. Likewise each member of the crew must be told of the dangerous areas like the foredeck and in way of loaded sheets, etc..
For me, unless I am transferring to another vessel or land, life jackets are a liability for the following reasons:
1 The permanent foam type are too bulky and get in the way,
2 The inflateable variety are unreliable: they can fail to inflate, they can split on inflation, and they can be set off in a rain storm,
3 All life jackets give a false sense of security. You might float in the water, but you can still drown, die from hyperthermia or exposure, and are completely useless at keeping you where you should be - on the boat.
I guess this might provoke some adverse reaction ....... but it is my experience of 40 years of sailing in dinghies and yachts. I have only had one crew fall over the side and that was on a dinghy where you are expected to get your weight as far over the edge as possible. This is simply not the case with a cruiser.
but best to stay on board with a life line
