What safety
equipment should solo dinghy cruisers carry on their person when sailing?
Recently ran into an old canoeing buddy from a very long time ago and we had a quick chat about the new PFD he had just bought. Apparently,
the foam within his old one had lost some of its buoyancy each year –
go figure! As he readied his new one, we chatted about the personal safety
equipment he carried in it and why it was there and he briefly showed me a couple of articles
on the web that had influenced his thinking about what equipment Sea
Kayakers and small boat owners should carry on their person. Just wish I could remember which ones he showed me but anyway back in the car on the way home, our
conversation set me thinking – always a dangerous situation given my propensity
to over think and complicate the simple!
- Has my PFD lost buoyancy so that
it will no longer support my ample weight in the water?
- Do I carry so much personal safety equipment
in the pockets of my PFD that I’d sink more in a MOB emergency? (had one or two
comic nightmares about that scenario)
- Given the sailing I do, do I actually need
to carry that gear at all?
- Carrying so much safety equipment in the
pockets, have I made the PFD too bulky and a liability in event of a capsize?
Will it make climbing back into Arwen difficult or snag on something
during a capsize?
Let’s set some brief context.
My PFD is a ‘Palm
Kaikoura Expedition’ which I have now had for around 6 years or so. It has,
fortunately, rarely been in the water and only tested with me inside it once! The
PFD can be can be seen in most of my YouTube videos. Hard wearing, a snug comfortable fit, easily
adjusted with plenty of pockets for bits and pieces and tough zips, it has an
anti-ride waist belt and I’ve attached a crotch strap as an additional safety
feature. Fleece lined hand warmer pockets (luxury indeed), strong D ring clips
for attaching various items, lots of tapes for clip on attachments and plenty
of reflective patches all round. It comes highly recommended by a number of sea kayakers' and river canoeists I know. I love mine and my only gripe is the
smaller zips keep salting up from spray and then bind. One has finally broken
and at some stage I need to take it out and replace it.
My other PFD was a thoughtful Christmas present this year –
one new Crewsaver comfy fit life jacket, auto inflate, with safety harness D
ring attachment loops. Her indoors
says that whilst I am very well insured and she stands to gain a large sum of
money in the event of my demise, I am for the moment, worth keeping around and
therefore an auto-inflate life jacket is a good investment. Knowing I’m absent
minded and clumsy, she worries that Arwen’s boom might hit me on the head
during an accidental gybe or I drop the top yard uncontrollably, whilst sailing
the coast and I go overboard unconscious. She dreams – sorry thinks – of
everything – bless her!
Most of my sailing is around Plymouth Sound, along the
inshore coast between Dartmouth and Falmouth and up the tidal rivers in-between
and I tend to solo sail with no other boats in attendance, up to three miles or
so offshore. On most trips to Salcombe
or Fowey (about 23 miles or so in length) I normally see a boat or two along
most parts of my passage. Along this
coast there are lifeboat stations – Salcombe, Plymouth, Looe and Fowey and
whilst I passage plan to never get into trouble so I have to call them out, I
guess in a worst-case scenario, when I do, they are about 20 – 30 minutes away
from that first call to coastguard. Worst case scenario, in my mind, for me, is
to go overboard and become separated from Arwen or to be unable to right her
after a capsize.
On calm-ish days when winds are below 10 knots, I wear the
PFD. Within the Sound and up tidal rivers, I always wear the PFD. Sailing an
extended inshore coastal passage to Salcombe or Fowey for example, I wear the
PFD in light winds but 10 knots + or if there are any potential large gusts,
then the life jacket. Random thinking, I know, but those tend to be the habits I
have developed. More often than not, I clip myself onto a harness attached to
jack lines when doing an extended coastal passage, irrespective of weather
conditions. And yes, I know, there is huge debate about whether I should or not
– pros and con’s abound on the use or otherwise of harnesses when dinghy
cruising.
So now with suitable context set, back to the questions:
Has my
PFD lost buoyancy? Only one way to
find out and that is to pop down to a local marina and test it.
Do I carry so much personal safety
equipment in the pockets of my PFD that I’d sink in a MOB emergency? (had one
or two comic nightmares about that scenario)
Given the sailing I do, do I actually need
to carry that gear at all?
From a few years ago - since then I carry different stuff and it is arranged as outlined below
Listed
below, the equipment I normally carry routinely in my PFD -
·
Floating waterproof ICOM handheld VHF – either clipped
to one of the tether straps on PFD front or in RHS large pocket with aerial
poking out between double zip – either way attached with security lanyard as
well. (Note - not the one shown in the picture above which now resides in a grab bag).
·
Mobile phone in water proof pouch which tucks
down inside the front of the PFD when worn – another lanyard attaches it to
shoulder strap.
·
SPOT PLB Messenger – clipped and lanyard to
front of jacket tether strap – left hand side
·
Laser signal strobe light attached to left hand
shoulder strap
·
In LHS large pocket
o
folding safety knife on one metre long lanyard
tied onto internal pocket D ring
o
Plastic whistle on bungee lanyard
o
Waterproof plastic pouch containing money credit
card, emergency contact numbers and driver’s licence and car key – tied to
other D ring
·
In RHS pocket, apart from VHF
o
Signal mirror and spare whistle
·
Small front RHS pocket - small 30mg sunblock and
lip salve stick, foil wrapped energy bar
·
Small front LHS pocket - waterproof handheld GPS
unit
·
Attached to right hand shoulder strap, a locking
carabineer so I can clip in the grab bag (my grab bag should float free of
Arwen in a capsize if I didn’t have time to grab it when going overboard –
contents of grab bag are outlined at end of this blog post).
Does all this fit onto the new life jacket? Of course not. The moment it inflates – this lot would impede the bladder and I’d sink! After some experimentation, I have found a way of clipping the radio to the waist belt out of the way of the inflated bladder and likewise with the PLB. The rest of the items I put into a specifically designed life jacket waist belt accessories bag – who knew such a thing existed – and it sits around the back of the waist belt out of the way of the inflation bladders. I have tried it and it I can sit comfortably with it just located under my armpit area.
Which now brings me back to the sixty-four
billion-dollar questions. Am I carrying
too much? Do I need to carry any of this at all? I genuinely have no idea and I guess it’s
down to personal choice and what makes you feel safe. Hand held VHF radio
effectiveness is limited by height and so I’d likely have a range of 2 miles
tops when in the water – so I’d be reliant on other boats being in the
vicinity. Mobile phone coverage might be
better if I’m not under steep cliffs – 18 miles perhaps even if in the water.
The PLB will work wherever I am – it has an emergency flip up button. Of course,
I have to be conscious to work all three of these things! Signal mirror for
daylight; strobe light for failing light or night time rescue. GPS for mayday
message location details to coastguard – if of course I hadn’t lost my reading
glasses during the MOB or capsize. Suns screen and lip salve – well I could
just keep those in a ditty bag but they don’t way much or take up huge space
and its just convenient having them in a pocket. Cash and keys obvious really – if Arwen is
lost and I am rescued – I need to retrieve the car etc.
Carrying so much safety equipment in the
pockets, have I made the PFD too bulky and a liability in event of a capsize?
Will it make climbing back into Arwen difficult? Will it snag on something
during a capsize?
Not sure. Some
YouTube viewers have commented on the bulkiness of the PFD. I have righting
lines and re-entry loops attached to Arwen along with a transom footstep. Whilst
swimming last year in the PFD I found re-boarding Arwen at anchor fairly easy.
But and it is a big but, the PFD was practically empty, the conditions calm and
Arwen still and unmoving. Could things
get snagged? When I think of this factor I am reminded of poor Emily Gardner, who at 14
yrs old, tragically drowned because she got her poorly fitted PFD caught on a
cleat of a powerboat during a capsize. I
wear my PFD snug fit – tensioning straps, waist belt and anti-ride up belt all correctly
tightened. Potential snag areas are the radio and the strobe light if I wear
them on the shoulder straps or PFD front panels. Possibly the crotch strap as
well. These could hook up on a cleat I guess but in truth I just don’t know in reality.
So, there we have it. I know that some boaters who I have
met out on the water or at the ramp or pontoon have commented on my PFD. The
Plymouth lifeboat crew in the main seemed OK with what I carried and how it was
arranged when I bumped into them one day the year before last at a launch site.
They thought I and Arwen were well equipped and wished me a good day’s sailing
and were off. Others have commented the
PFD is too bulky for them and they prefer slim fitting ones – fair enough. A few joked about my increased sinking
potential.
At the end of the day I guess it is down to personal choice
and whatever floats your boat. If you have any thoughts on the matter, as
always, let me know in the comment box below. Informed discussion and
observations welcomed, I love learning new things and hearing the wisdom of
sailors. Take care now and enjoy your trips out on the water.
Foot notes:
I have a grab bag on board Arwen - yellow, waterproof roll down with shoulder
strap. Arwen’s name and an emergency contact number in waterproof ink on the
front. It resides on the front thwart top, just under the foredeck, held by
bungee over the top of it. It is easy to pull free. In the event of a capsize
where I can’t right the boat God forbid, I can pull it free. What’s in it?
· - Orange bivvy bag and space blanket
· - Spare VHF, handheld GPS unit and batteries for
both
· - Bottles of water and emergency high energy snack
bars
· - Lip salve and sun cream
· - Spray hood, spare sunglasses, whistle
· - Torch and spare batteries
· - Orange floating smoke can
· - Sealed fire-starting kit (I have no idea why –
but if washed into some inaccessible cove that has driftwood, I can start a
fire!)
· - Small first aid kit for cuts
