Safety & Seamanship

Earlier last month, I had the chance to join renowned sailing author Lin Pardey and survival expert Steve Callahan (author of Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea) for a round table discussion at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Show, in Port Townsend, Washington. Since my own approach to cruising was shaped by the philosophy of self-sufficiency that Callahan, Lin, and her husband Larry have long advocated, I wasnt surprised by their responses when discussion turned toward two categories of safety equipment weve covered extensively: the combined inflatable life jacket/harness and electronic devices used to signal distress.

Sailors know the most about the things we use the most. We check our amp hours every day, our standing rigging frequently, our sails every time theyre up, the anchor shackle before settling in for the night. After all, these are the things that keep us comfortable and safe on a daily basis. The corollary is that we know the least about the things we use the least. How often do we check the chain on the backup anchor, the lines on the drogue, the clew of the storm sail? After all, its human nature to not think about things we hope we never have to use.

If you reach for the onboard first-aid kit and find out there isn't one, don't panic during an emergency. Some out-of-the-box thinking will help put the needed medical tools in your hands. The guiding rule to survival is to use whats available and improvise.

Most sailors find entering a new anchorage or harbor after a long day on the ICW an adventure. However exciting it may be, most of us also find that it carries a considerable amount of stress, particularly if entering in fading daylight or deteriorating weather. Not only do you have to contend with navigational issues, but there are other burning questions like wheres the best place to anchor; where can I get supplies or fuel; is tonight all you can eat ribs at Hawg Heaven Restaurant; or is there a dinghy dock nearby? To help you navigate all these questions and concerns-not to mention the unknown waterway-you need a good ICW guide that has all the facts, figures, and the right array of local knowledge.

The key to safe, stress-free ICW cruising (or less-stress at least) is proper planning. Get the most up-to-date ICW guidebooks and charts, and study them well in advance. When planning the field-test trip down the ICW for this article, PS tester Capt. Frank Lanier came up with a general timeline and lists of major stops he wanted to make along the way, but he let his day-to-day progress drive his schedule. He always planned out the next days run prior to heading out (typically the night before), which also gave him a chance to review the latest weather forecasts and its potential effect on travel plans.

Rope splicing is a sailorly art form that has many boaters scared skinny. They havent learned the skill, and they fear that using a knot instead displays their ignorance and is perhaps less secure. The EZ Splice (www.ezspliceusa.com) promises a means of splicing a rope in minutes without any special skill. The lines are trimmed to length, inserted into the EZ Splices tough plastic housing with just a little tail sticking out, and 12 stainless pins are pounded in with a hammer. We found it to be fast and easy, and the result was a consistently neat splice. But the million-dollar question remained: How secure was it?

Any suggested references or sources that I might check for an abandon-ship checklist? Its not the most pleasant of topics, and I know it will vary from boat to boat, but I would like any information on the basics that should be on any such list. We appreciate any help you might provide.

Telemedicine, the ability to remotely treat patients in far-flung corners of the world, was still in its infancy in 1998 when it was put to a highly publicized test aboard a storm-tossed sailboat in the Southern Ocean. Russian competitive sailor Viktor Yazykov was participating in the solo Around Alone Race. His boat was about 900 miles below the tip of South Africa when his rig began falling apart. While Yazykov was repairing a broken shroud, an elbow he had injured earlier in the race grew inflamed with infection.

Early into the 645-mile race between Marion, Mass., and the island of Bermuda in 2009, trouble brewed aboard the C&C 40 Corsair. The bizarre situation that the crew of Corsair faced is described in detail in a 2011 article, Lost at Sea, written by Diane Kelly in Ocean Navigator magazine. It all began when the navigator, 75-year-old Ron Chevrier, started acting strangely.

Has Practical Sailor reviewed sunglasses since the 2009 article? The feature wed really like to have is to be able to read our chartplotters screen without removing sunglasses. A review of that particular feature would be extremely helpful.