Diary and Log  C.T.A  Preparations                 Safety at Sea

 

     A major concern for us at sea is Safety. Here's a quick review of the safety routines we use on Double Waters and the equipment involved. First and foremost, Life Jackets-as seen on our lovely assistant here! We wear these pretty much all the time when we're in the cockpit and all the time when we're on deck. When the going gets rough, on night watches or when doing stuff on deck we always wear Safety Harnesses as well.

        We have handholds all through the boat and lee-cloths on all the beds to try and make life as comfortable as possible down below. We also fitted a bar across the cooker so you grab that instead of accidentally tipping the stove over.

        If a man (or woman...or boy) does go overboard we have an exact routine that both parties must carry out. The man who saw him go over board must immediately stand on the highest point available, hollering 'man overboard as he goes, and point at the M.O.B (He must keep the unfortunate soul in his sight at all times, especially if there is any swell). There is a series of actions involved in quickly and safely locating and recovering the man over board. Such as-Throwning over lifebuoy and danbuoy, activating M.O.B position on GPS and, rather obviously, turning the boat around as fast as possible.

We have 120 litres (stored in 5 litre bottles around the boat) of emergency water as well as 5 ten litre jerry cans of water to supplement our in tank supply (we also have an extra 50 litre tank plumbed in, usually used for cooking as the plastic gives a slight after taste), so we have plenty of emergency water if for some reason our tanks give out on us. Life Jacket Tests

Life Raft MaintenanceI've never really experienced any heavy weather sailing so I'll just include the Heavy Weather Checklist that we put together.

If it all goes horribly wrong and we have to abandon ship we have- Liferafts, Emergency Water, Food, Fishing Kit, ect - everything that we hope would keep us alive and well. We also have an Epirb (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) to try to alert someone to our unfortunate circumstances.

Fire onboard is a major hazard so in response we take great care with use of gas and fuels, have a gas alarm and fire extinguishers throughout the boat (including an automatic one in the Engine Room).

So, with any luck we're very well equipped and ready for any disaster!