LESSONS LEARNED
1 WEAR A PERSONAL LOCATOR 7 BEACON (PLB): You can fall overboard any time, not just in bad weather. If your crewmates lose sight of you, you can still be found. Know by touch which buttons to push – you might lose your specs, it might be dark, or your vision might be blurred by salt water. 8
ENERGY & WARMTH: Dress for the 2 worst-case scenario and eat and drink well, before standing watch in bad weather. You probably won’t get time to eat or put your thermals on in an emergency. 9
BEWARE HYPOTHERMIA: Lean people 3 succumb to hypothermia far quicker than those packing a bit of weight. They need 10 to be watched and given more food, rest and warm clothing.
COLD SHOCK: Be prepared for the 4 cold shock if you have to abandon ship. 11 Keep your mouth shut and breathe through your nose to minimise the amount of water you ingest. Getting your breathing under control must take priority.
TEAMWORK: Look out for one another 5 when abandoning ship: check lifejackets and harnesses, and be mindful of one another’s needs. Talk each move through, then act together. Positive talk is incredibly important. Once you’re in the water, tether yourselves together. 12 PLACE YOUR EPIRB IN A GRAB-BAG: 6 …or risk losing it. Also, having the EPIRB, flares, handheld VHF radio and other rescue essentials all in one, secure place can save precious time. 13
USE LANYARDS: Ensure that the items in the grab-bag, the bag itself, and other emergency essentials such as your PLB and knife, have lanyards – and use them. The risk of losing items in an abandon-ship situation is high. Luckily, we lost our VHF unit only after we no longer needed it.
LIFERAFT MOUNTINGS: Consider how well your liferaft is mounted to the boat. Would the mounting survive the enormous hydraulic pressures that would be exerted on it in a knockdown or roll-over?
USE FLARES Use your flares even if you think your rescuers have seen you
– it removes all doubt. BEWARE TOUCH-SCREEN CHART PLOTTERS: They interpret rain and spray drops hitting them as your finger. Use a different type, or have a back-up. STORM SHUTTERS OR BATTENS:
Fit them when bad weather is forecast – waiting until the storm is raging is too late. Battens reduce the likelihood of the windows being burst by the distorting forces exerted on the roof and hull during a knockdown or roll-over. Shutters can significantly reduce water ingress if any windows are burst. This could make the difference between the boat sinking and making it home. ACCESSIBLE BILGE PUMPS:
Site manual bilge pumps where they can be used safely. A sinking proceeds frighteningly fast in the final stages. Consider fitting the largest-capacity electric bilge pump possible. KNOW YOUR BOAT’S LIMITATIONS:
Do not expect your boat to cope with conditions it is not designed for. Don’t take it on a long sea passage if it’s not designed to survive knockdowns and roll-overs: stick to coastal waters where you can run to shelter if the weather turns nasty.
ANCHOR READINESS: Keep it ready 13 for use at short notice, but ensure it’s well tied down. 14 WEATHER FORECAST CAUTION:
Expect worse than the weather forecast, and sail accordingly. In our case the wind reached 15 knots higher than forecast.
TRACKING APP AND AIS: Use a 15 tracking app and AIS, and have someone on shore monitor the app. Brief them to alert the emergency services if it stops working, in case the worst has happened and you can’t send a Mayday message yourself. It will assist your rescuers.