{"id":1352,"date":"2015-10-05T13:22:25","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T20:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/?p=1352"},"modified":"2023-06-07T22:40:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T05:40:12","slug":"emergency-preparedness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/general\/emergency-preparedness\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency Preparedness"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>&#8220;The boat&#8217;s on fire!&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The steering wheel isn&#8217;t working at all!&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I think the steering cables broke!&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The jib is tangled up and I can&#8217;t furl it!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I really dislike all those doom and gloom skipper&#8217;s tips out there, however, there have been a number of incidents on the bay and around the docks recently which have driven home to me\u00a0the importance of safety and being prepared for whatever might happen!\u00a0 Every single safety and preparedness item listed here was needed as a direct result of one or more incidents on the bay this summer. \u00a0Each quote above represents an\u00a0incident I was personally involved with this summer.<\/p>\n<p>Every Tradewinds member knows that all boats are equipped with certain safety gear that should be checked each time before sailing, and I&#8217;m sure we all do, however, do we really or are we just going through the motions?\u00a0 Here are several items taken directly from the Tradewinds Pre Check List and what to do about them.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Anchors and Ground Tackle<\/strong>.\u00a0 Not only should you verify there are anchors about, figure out what will be needed to deploy one or both of them.\u00a0 Check the windlass &#8230; how does it work and does it work properly?\u00a0 Is there a pin holding the anchor in place?\u00a0 How do your remove it.\u00a0 Is the rode made properly fast to the boat?\u00a0 This summer, deploying an anchor during an emergency saved vessels from nasty consequences on three\u00a0different occasions that I am personally aware of.\u00a0 Broken steering cables in one instance, a broken rudder in one, and a fouled jib with a flooded motor in the other.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Emergency tiller<\/strong>.\u00a0 Where is it?\u00a0 How is it assembled?\u00a0 Where is the rudder post?\u00a0 Can it be used with the wheel in place or does it need to be removed?\u00a0 How?<\/li>\n<li><strong>PFDs<\/strong>.\u00a0 Are they the proper size(s) for all parties on board?\u00a0 Where are they?\u00a0 How do you put one on?\u00a0 How are they adjusted?\u00a0 Is the Throwable PFD easily accessible to the helm station?\u00a0 If not, it&#8217;s useless.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fire extinguisher(s)<\/strong>.\u00a0 Where?\u00a0 In good condition?\u00a0 How do you remove it from it&#8217;s holder?\u00a0\u00a0 How do you use it?\u00a0 Remember that if you need a fire extinguisher it is going to be under some very trying circumstances.\u00a0 Actions that seem easy when not under pressure can seem nearly impossible when an emergency strikes. \u00a0Very recently, I received a call regarding a fire on a boat. \u00a0I responded quickly, however, before I got there the skipper had emptied two fire extinguishers on the fire and gotten everything under control. \u00a0I would hate to guess what would have\u00a0happened had the skipper not known where the fire extinguishers were located, and how to use them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Visual distress signal<\/strong>.\u00a0 Where?\u00a0 What kind(s) are there?\u00a0 Flag? Flares? Smoke? Signal mirror?\u00a0 Do you know how to use them?\u00a0 Which would best draw attention to your situation?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sound signal<\/strong>.\u00a0 Again, where is it?\u00a0 If it&#8217;s not in the cockpit with the helmsperson, it&#8217;s not in the right place.\u00a0 Also (and this is one of my pet peeves), do you have both the air bottle and the inflator pump.\u00a0 I would hesitate to guess the number of times I have found these two items in totally different locations on the boat.\u00a0 They should never be more than six inches apart!\u00a0 Either one is useless without the other!\u00a0 Always test the sound signal before leaving the dock.\u00a0 Blow the horn &#8230; does it make noise?\u00a0 Does the inflator work properly?<\/li>\n<li><strong>First aid kit<\/strong>.\u00a0 Where is it?\u00a0 Is it sufficient?\u00a0 Before you even get on the boat, learn how to use one.\u00a0 Take a first aid class.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s one to think about.\u00a0 Recently, there was a report of a person in the water near the ferry building.\u00a0 The vessel notifying the coast guard informed them that they really didn&#8217;t want to pick them up because they thought the person was intoxicated.\u00a0 The Coast Guard was close by, only taking a few minutes to get there.\u00a0 When they arrived, they found the victim was not intoxicated, he was suffering from hypothermia!\u00a0 Do you know the symptoms and the treatment? You should also know that in case someone is under injury pain, a <a href=\"https:\/\/synchronicityhempoil.com\/product-collections\/hemp-tincture-500mg\/\">CBD Tincture<\/a> is a natural supplement that can be used to help with pain relief. It may also have some anti-inflammatory properties, so it might relieve chronic aches and pains from headaches to backaches or arthritis in your hands! It doesn&#8217;t matter if you&#8217;re a recent or long-term sufferer of a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, just visit this <a href=\"https:\/\/docmj.com\/florida\/tampa\/\">DocMJ website<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Thru hull plugs<\/strong>.\u00a0 Where are the thru hulls?\u00a0 Where are the plugs?\u00a0 I personally like to have two sets on board.\u00a0 One\u00a0correctly sized plug wired to each thru hull, and one additional set of plugs just in case.\u00a0 Recently, a 40 foot sailboat sank off Berkeley, because it was &#8220;taking on water.&#8221;\u00a0 I don&#8217;t know the source of the water, however, I have wondered if the use of a plug might have been all that was needed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Safety Preparedness<\/strong> also included inspecting critical systems and parts, which is what SAFETOGO and COOL are all about.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Standing rigging<\/strong>.\u00a0 Inspect the stays and the shrouds.\u00a0 Check the turnbuckles.\u00a0 Fish hooks in the wires?\u00a0 Cracks in the swages? Too loose?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Running rigging<\/strong>.\u00a0 What does each line do?\u00a0 Check for\u00a0chafe.\u00a0 Clutches and cleats working properly?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Steering<\/strong>.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t just check for the center point of the\u00a0rudder.\u00a0 While turning the wheel, does it feel right?\u00a0 Is it loose?\u00a0 Too much play?\u00a0 While backing out of the slip is the rudder firm or does it pop back and forth like the cables are loose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here is a final thought.\u00a0 Sometimes, challenges happen in singles while out sailing, however, often times when one thing goes wrong, something else (or two somethings) are going to happen to make it even more challenging.\u00a0 For example, the jib gets fouled on the forestay and the outboard motor floods and won&#8217;t start.\u00a0 Or, a boat&#8217;s\u00a0rudder post breaks at the same time as the jib sheet gets fouled on the propeller.\u00a0 In a matter of seconds,\u00a0steering, propulsion, and sails are all lost. \u00a0Are you ready to handle that kind of an emergency?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The boat&#8217;s on fire!&#8221; &#8220;The steering wheel isn&#8217;t working at all!&#8221; &#8220;I think the steering cables broke!&#8221; &#8220;The jib is tangled up and I can&#8217;t furl it! I really dislike all those doom and gloom skipper&#8217;s tips out there, however, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/general\/emergency-preparedness\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-skippers-tip"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1352"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3338,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352\/revisions\/3338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tradewindssailing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}