Rick Raeburn, RNLI leisure boat safety manager, passes on a few practical reminders
Many of us are about to set out on our summer cruise – sorting out charts, laying in supplies and looking out the sun block etc – but before we set out, we ought to spare another thought for the safety gear. Yes, I’m sure it was all checked at the beginning of the season, but that was a few months ago now. .
The RNLI have hundreds of volunteer Sea Safety advisors around the country, offering boat owners face-to-face advice on safety equipment through the Sea Check scheme. In our experience, most boat owners have all the basic safety equipment, but it’s surprising how often our advisors discover items that don’t work properly or are badly stowed. This month we have a chance to learn from their experiences. Here are just a few examples of the sort of things our advisors find:
Lifejackets
Look at your lifejackets and at least check that the cylinder in each jacket is securely tightened and free from rust, that the jacket is not frayed or punctured, and that the webbing is in good condition.
Floating lights
By far the most common safety equipment failure comes from the floating lights attached to horseshoe buoys. Many have never been used in anger and tend to sit on the guardrail neglected all season. When you check yours, there is a high chance that it will not light when turned upright, so replace the batteries, check the bulb, empty any water that has entered the casing, and put some Vaseline on the threads before you re-tighten the case. The chances are it will work should you be unfortunate enough to need it.
Nav lights
Most of my sailing is done on the west coast of Scotland, an area blessed with long summer evenings, which means that nav lights are rarely used and tend to be a bit neglected. Before you set off, check that your lights, especially those at the mast-head, are working properly. If there is a problem, it is far easier to climb up the mast and change a bulb in the safety of the marina, than at dusk out at sea on the first night of your trip.
Liferafts
Your liferaft will probably have been serviced over the winter, so it’s now in first-rate condition. But we often come across boat owners who are no longer in the first flush of youth, and when they have tried to lift their raft from its deck cradle, the task has proved almost impossible. Try lifting your raft, then imagine repeating the exercise on a rolling cabin top. If you find it difficult, perhaps it’s time to think about cockpit stowage or, even better, a purpose-built cradle on the pushpit.
Most liferafts only contain the most basic of equipment. We would encourage anyone planning a trip to make up a grab-bag containing essentials such as a hand-held VHF, some flares, thermo-protective aids, spare medication and glasses. I always put in some money, after all, if you end up ashore having abandoned your boat, you may need to buy some basic essentials. The grab-bag could be one specially made for the purpose (available from a number of manufacturers), a large screw-top bottle of the type used for holding flares, or the type of dry-bag used by canoeists. The important points are that it should be waterproof and able to float when it has all the equipment in it.
Distress flares
Have you checked your distress flares recently? We’ve found a number of cases of cracked flares, or hand-held flares with the handles broken off. Usually this is because the flares have been stowed at the bottom of a locker in a plastic bag. They really should be in a polybottle with some form of padding. Even if you’re sure that your flares are in date, it’s worth having a look at them before the start of a trip to make sure they’re well protected.
Fire extinguisher
One of the most neglected safety items we see is the poor old fire extinguisher. Many people buy these when they first get their boat, and promptly forget all about them. Check yours: are they in date? And is the pressure indicator in the green area? This is a good start, but if you have a dry powder extinguisher, also take it off its bracket and give it a good shake – you should be able to hear the powder moving inside the cylinder. This type of fire extinguisher should be stored horizontally to prevent the powder being packed at the bottom, which will prevent it from operating.
Many of the extinguishers we see are very badly rusted (the oldest I’ve seen dated from the 1960s!) and these should be replaced. After all, the cost of a fire extinguisher is very little compared to the devastation of losing your boat. While on the subject of fire extinguishers, halon should have been discontinued from the start of 2004, but I’m sure there are still many automatic extinguishers in engine compartments that contain it. Have you had a look at your system?
On deck
I’m sure you have jackstays to allow freedom of movement when wearing a harness. These days, most are of the webbing type, which are much safer underfoot, but webbing can deteriorate after long exposure to sunlight. Stitching can also become frayed and it’s much easier to check this if the stitching is in a contrasting colour to the webbing. If in doubt, replace them before you set out.
Inform the crew
Finally, there’s little point having all the safety equipment you need, in good condition, if the crew don’t know where it is. I was recently on board a racing yacht where a crewmember had to phone the owner to ask where the flares were kept! So make sure that everyone who comes on board this summer knows where each item is kept and how to use it. After all, it may not be you who has to deal with a situation that arises. If you regularly have different visiting crew through the season, then it might be wise to draw up a storage chart listing where everything is, similar to the ones found on most charter yachts.
I know that all this sounds like a long list of things to check, but a couple of hours’ work will help to ensure that you have an enjoyable and uneventful summer cruise.
Man overboard equipment
If you and your crew are sensible about the use of harnesses and jackstays, you should never need to worry about a man overboard, but this is probably the most common subject that we are asked to advise on. Not so much how to get back to the casualty, but how to get the casualty back on board. There are a number of proprietary systems available, or it’s possible to rig a block and tackle or use the mainsheet. No one system is ideal for every boat or crew, but it is essential that you put together a system that works for you, and try it out until you’re sure that everyone on board will know what to do. If you are in any doubt, then ask us for advice by email at seasafety@rnli.org.uk or call 0800 328 0600.
Emergency steeering gear
Most people carry an emergency tiller but have never tried to fit it. Often our Sea Safety advisors find that the tiller has become so rusted at the bottom of a cockpit locker that it would be impossible to fit in an emergency. Check that yours will work and does turn the rudder. While it’s connected, can you see where you’re going? Some boats have the emergency tiller fitted to the top of the rudder stock in the aft cabin, which means that the helmsman has to be directed by someone on deck, not ideal, especially if, as happened to me, the steering fails on a dark and windy night. Entering a marina shouting, ‘left a bit, right a bit,’ to a helmsman who was down below steering while being sick into a bucket was an experience I’ll never forget!
First published in Practical Boat Owner August 2004.
Reproduced with kind permission of Rick Raeburn/ Practical Boat Owner/IPC+ Syndication.
