Flares
USCG requires most boats to carry a minimum number of day and night distress signaling devices. Usually these are flares or similar pyrotechnics. Besides being expensive, flares have even more serious drawbacks: They are dangerous, awkward to stow and deploy, suitable for only a single use, they expire, and they are difficult to dispose of properly. Flare guns are treated like firearms in some states. Many pyrotechnics are suitable for day use or night use but not both. If you keep expired flares onboard, as most sailors tend to do, USCG requires them to be stored separately from your unexpired flares.An alternative to flares is a battery-powered SOS distress light, for night use, together with a distress flag (3-ft square, orange color, with black square, black circle, and corner grommets) for day use. Carrying one SOS distress light and one distress flag meets all USCG requirements for recreational boaters (33 CFR 175.130). Some tactical LED flashlights have an SOS setting. Although ideal in other respects, such as being much brighter than a normal flashlight and lasting far longer on a set of batteries, they are not strictly legal as a replacement for flares because their SOS function is not dedicated and not always enabled.
Standing
watch
Except when docked or at anchor, there should always be someone on watch. The person on watch should be in the cockpit, dressed for the weather, constantly looking about, and ready always to handle the boat. Singlehanders cannot constantly stand a watch, of course, but 2-person crews can and should.Watches are typically four hours long with the midday watch broken into two 2-hour watches, from 10:00 to noon and from noon to 2:00, so that time on watch varies from day to day. Be always alert for other boats and for changes in the weather. Adjust for weather changes early while it is still easy to do so. When at anchor or in port, the watch rotation continues unabated, and is never suspended, even though no watch is standing then.
Navigation
lights
Imagine the circle around a boat divided into three 120° sectors: At night, the boat will show a red light in the forward port sector, a green light in the forward starboard sector, and a white light in the stern sector. If the engine is on, it will also show a white steaming light, or bow light, aloft. The colors of the navigation lights that you see tell you what sector of the boat you are looking at and whether it is motoring. From this and the wind direction you can tell which tack it is on, its point of sail, and whether it will cross your course.When two boats are motoring and their courses intersect, the boat on the right is privileged and must hold its speed and course. The privileged boat sees a green light when it looks at the burdened boat. The boat on the left is burdened and must slow down or change course. It sees a red light when it looks at the privileged boat. This is how traffic lights at road crossings came to be red and green.
Dinghy
inflation
An inflatable dinghy must not have too much air, particularly in one with a rigid bottom. Over-inflating will make the dinghy skittish under power and susceptible to waves. When you strike the dinghy firmly with a clenched fist, if your fist bounces back, there is too much air. The inflation will vary with temperature, of course, getting stiffer during a hot day.How to
send a
Mayday
In a serious emergency when you need immediate help, switch the radio to channel 16 and say “Mayday,” slowly and distinctly, three times. Then say “this is” only once, followed by the name of your boat three times. Then once more say “Mayday, this is” and the name of your boat.Next give your position, first in GPS coordinates if you know them, and then in general terms such as range and bearing from a landmark. Next state the nature of the problem and say how many are aboard. Do all this in one transmission and then say “over.” Listen, next, for any response and repeat all this only if there is none.
When you
hear a
Mayday
If you hear a distress call on the radio, make a log entry (time, channel, your position, the other vessel’s position if they said it, etc) and wait for a second Mayday. Only if no one answered the first call should you respond, otherwise just listen and stand by.There is a strict USCG protocol for responding. Do not say the word, “Mayday.” Only the vessel in distress may say that word. After the USCG or another competent rescuer responds, listen, but do not transmit unless asked to, until they free up the channel by sending a silence fini (French words pronounced “seelonce fine knee”).
Red light and
night vision
Night vision degrades instantly upon exposure to bright light. It takes 10 or 15 minutes of darkness to recover 10% of your night vision and three-quarters of an hour to recover 80%. Many boats have cabin lights that can switch between a high intensity white bulb and a lower intensity red bulb. The claim is that red light will not ruin your night vision. This is false; it is a myth that probably devolved from the safe light used in photo darkrooms.Any light will ruin your night vision and it is the intensity that matters, not the color. A red light is helpful only to the extent that it is dimmer than the white light alternative. A low intensity white light is often best, when you need light at night, because it lets you discern colors when viewing, for example, a chart.
Good crew
Good crew will follow three basic tenets.- If you open it, close it.
- If you take it out, put it back.
- If you turn it on, turn it off.
A worthwhile fourth rule, for men only, is always sit to use the head. When offshore, moreover, use only the head and never the rail. On the sad occasions when bodies of drowned yachtsmen were recovered, a surprising number had their flies unzipped.
PFDs
If you are going to carry a PFD for each person on board, as surely you will, there is no reason not to have the best Type 1 offshore-rated kind. They cost little more and take up no more space. Any PFD is useless, of course, unless you are wearing it, so put it on whenever leaving the cockpit and keep it on always when above in foul weather.Jacklines
Consider, also, a pair of jacklines that can run from the stern to the bow on either side, along with one or two harnesses to wear when going forward, and tethers for attaching a harness to the jacklines. These allow you to have two hands free instead of reserving one hand, as they say, for the boat. You will not want to leave the cockpit at night, when at sea, nor during a blow, without them. Adequate jacklines and tethers can be made from webbing or line you might have on hand and stout clips. Harnesses come in sizes and must be purchased, although they need not be specifically marine items as long as the tether attaches in front.Mold and
mildew
Boats tend to be damp. Mold and mildew thrive in damp places. Wiping down almost every surface is a spring commissioning ritual in many climates. After cleaning off a surface, let it dry and then wipe it down with vinegar. This kills the spores that were left behind and prevents mold from growing back.Mold and mildew are closely related—they’re both fungi—but in everyday use people are usually describing different behaviors and problems. Mildew is usually flat, thin, and powdery. It can be white, gray, or sometimes light yellow. Mildew grows on surfaces (eg, vinyl, fabric, painted wood, shower walls). Common on boats in cushions, headliners, and lockers, it is easy to remove.
Mold is typically fuzzy, raised, or slimy. It can be black, green, blue, or even orange. Mold can penetrate materials (eg, wood or fabrics) and is harder to remove and more damaging than mildew. It can produce stronger odors and more severe health concerns. In short: mildew is usually a surface nuisance while mold is more invasive and destructive.
A boat is the perfect environment for fungi, having warm air, high humidity, and limited airflow. Also salt, unless in fresh water, and organic dust, which is food for fungi.
To kill and remove what’s there on hard surfaces (eg, fiberglass, plastic, sealed wood) use white vinegar—straight or diluted—or a mild bleach solution of about one part bleach to 10 parts water. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then scrub and wipe clean.
For fabrics and cushions, use vinegar or specialized marine mildew cleaners, but avoid soaking foam cores. Sun-dry them thoroughly, if possible, because ultraviolet sunlight helps kill the spores. For surface mold on wood, scrub with vinegar. Deep mold on wood might require sanding and resealing.
Never mix bleach and ammonia-based cleaners. Dry everything completely. If you skip this step, it all comes back. Open lockers and compartments, run fans if available, and use a small dehumidifier when on shore power. Sun and airflow are your best allies.
Preventing mold and mildew from coming back matters more than cleaning. Use ventilation (eg, solar vents, cracked hatches, dorades) to keep air moving. Avoid having sealed, stagnant spaces. Use desiccants to control moisture in lockers. Run a dehumidifier when on shore power. Reduce food sources by keeping surfaces clean and washing fabrics often. Keep locker doors slightly open when you leave the boat.