Hi Sailors!
The Sailing Weekly Roundup brings you the latest in sailing news, resources, gear, events, training, etc. Every Friday we’ll send a curated list and analysis by Capt. Teresa & Ben Carey.
Analysis:
I'll be frank – gear talk frustrates me. That's not what sailing is all about. But today, as I gear up for the Marion to Bermuda Race, I have gear on my mind. The list of required equipment is long!
We often have aspiring sailors come to us and ask what type of chartplotter or what brand of foul weather gear do I need? But the underlying question is not about the gear. It's about staying safe.
For example, we have a highly recommended first aid kit aboard Rocinante. The kit is massive – complete with sutures, blood pressure cuff, and a splint. But a big, beautiful, expensive, re-assuring first aid kit would be absolutely useless if we hadn't taken adequate medical training. Is there a doctor in the house?!
Preparing for the Marion to Bermuda Race has been an enlightening, although time-consuming process. The safety requirements and inspection checklist is eight pages long. At first it seemed overwhelming. Do I really need all this gear?
This reminds me of when I began sailing; I didn't wear a PFD except in extreme conditions. But the more I learned about sailing, the more qualified and skilled I became, the more I realized I should wear my PFD all the time when underway.
As I have been going over and over and over the list, I've come to realize that all the items on the checklist are sensible and worthy of discussion whether you are racing offshore or not. They might not be right for every boat, every person, or every voyage – but the process of considering each item has been a valuable process.
Here are some of the more interesting ones:
Dewatering pumps:
A boat shall have a second manual bilge pump of at least 10 GPM capacity, operable from below deck, meeting the same criteria as above. The pump may be mounted on a board.
Two manual pumps! Yes, one on deck, one below decks. That way you can continue pumping even if being on deck is untenable due to weather. Affixing the below deck pump on a board gives the advantage of portability, but it could also become difficult to control in a seaway. You would have to stand on the board for stability and also control the hose and direction of discharge. Both sound very difficult in heavy weather.
Mast & Rigging:
Mast and Rigging: It is strongly recommended that a boat have the heel of a keel-stepped mast securely fastened to the mast step or adjoining structure.
This one I find very interesting! Our mast just sets on the keel-step. So we will have to fasten it somehow. But why? Imagine your rig has been compromised and your mast is swinging/swaying. It's also swinging down below, and that can be dangerous and destructive.
Emergency Steering:
A boat's crew shall be aware of multiple steering methods with the rudder disabled and shall have chosen and practiced one method of steering the boat with the rudder disabled and be prepared to demonstrate said method of steering both upwind and downwind.
Now we're talking! This one is cool. For us, it's easy. We have a Monitor Windvane with the Emergency Rudder attachment. We'll be practicing before the race, making sure we all know how to rig and use the E-Rudder... in the dark. We also have an emergency tiller should our steering cables become compromised. But this only works if the rudder is still intact. Both of these emergency techniques we practice regularly. It isn't enough to just have the gear aboard or know how to use it at the dock – because when it comes down to using it, you can bet the weather won't be forgiving.
Now that we’re race compliant, I’m look forward to participating in the Annapolis to Bermuda Race next year!
~ Ben
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