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Here's another interesting one from CF

 

Are Sailors Too Paranoid

While a little fear is a healthy thing, do you think maybe we are a little too paraniod? Not to say some of the things we do in the boating world to make the boat "safe" are not worth it, but some are a little overboard. Things like hoses that experience 2 PSI working pressure being rated for 150 psi and double clamped. Hatch frames that could with stand a 50' tall wall of water coming down on it. Enough electronics to have won WWII with their accurancy to target things. A harness that would hold up a pro football teams linemen. Check engine oil everytime you start the engine (when was last time you checked your car oil).

 

I'll all for doing simple things "to be sure" within reason. But some things I read of people doing in the name of safety make me wonder how they could ever go out to sea if they are that worried. Compared to the most dangerous thing most of us do of getting in our cars without any safety checks; the things we do to our boats is pretty impressive sometimes.

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From a private blog http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2010/ ... afety.html

 

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Are You "Captain Safety?"

rev 3-19-2010

 

Every blog deserves one good, energetic, opinionated, unjustified rant. Here goes.

 

Caveat. I do my best to keep my posts factual and informative. I often go back and edit edit post corrections months later, as better information becomes available. Although I often state that the information is specific to the PDQ 32 and to the area and style of sailing that I enjoy, I make an effort to keep the information as broad practical. I really try. In this rant, it is probable you will feel insulted at least once. Sorry - my blog. In fact, I'll keep adding content to this post in the future, as long as more paranoia keeps coming across my radar. More to the point, anyone who puts the information in this post into practice better be well acquainted with the concept of personal responsibility. It will do you good.

 

 

Before I became a sailor I enjoyed other adventures. When skateboards were the rage in the 70s, I was one of those teenagers doing crazy things in swimming pools and half pipes. I wore a helmet and pads according to what I thought made sense. In college I took a bicycle racing and had some terrible crashes. I almost never wore a helmet, though in retrospect it might have been a good idea. In one crash shattered my kneecap in the 16 pieces, but helmet wouldn't have helped that, only better judgment. I still don't wear a bicycle helmet; I like the wind in my hair too much. I rollerblade and wear a helmet and pads every single time; the odds of going over backwards striking the back of my skull are material, since I skate with a great deal of vigor. Finally, I discovered mountaineering and rock climbing after I left college. I wear a helmet if there are falling rocks, or a good chance, and ice climbing where there is always a good chance of monster icicles coming down. When climbing good solid rock - never. I've helped clean up after a number of serious accidents in the mountains and found that a disproportionate number of the victims were wearing helmets; they thought it made them invulnerable... and they were wrong. Usually I use a rope and all of the appropriate gear. Not always. I know my limitations and stay within them.

 

My choices. I'm happy with them. I wouldn't change any of them, even in retrospect.

 

Every sailing forum has a least a few posts wherein someone asks an innocent question about a PFD or lifelines or harnesses or life rafts... and gets hammered by the safety police. Invariably, the original poster explained that he was a trailer sailor or lake sailor or coastal sailor, and further explained that he wasn't sailing around the world or even to Bermuda. Nonetheless, forum sailors are quite proud to display their knowledge of government code, to show just how many ways there are to spend somebody else's money, and how willing they are to crowd another's boat with superfluous stuff. Oh, they'll scare the stuffing out of you, if you listen.

 

My unsolicited thoughts.

 

PFDs. Hardly ever wear them. Other than in the tender in very bad weather or with cold water, I can't think of a circumstance that wouldn't be better managed by wearing a harness. We keep two PFDs in the tender and enough on the main boat to satisfy Coast Guard regulations - I don't tilt at windmills. I don't really care for inflatables; I'd have to watch the maintenance, I don't find them as comfortable as a harness, and wouldn't wear them anyway. I will admit that they make sense for round buoys racing, were multiple harnessed tethers will create an incredible knot. Offshore jackets are absurd for inshore use.

 

What about PFDs for small children? We had one for my daughter when she was small and used it occasionally, but honestly it was too bulky and too hot. We used it in the water, but on the boat we always used a harness. I sewed up an extra small one - smaller than anything on the market - to fit her as she began to crawl. Of course, it goes without saying that she was NEVER out of quick reach and the attentive gaze of an adult. Personal responsibility.

 

Yup, that was a violation of the law. Whoopee.

 

I've seen boats with complicated written policies regarding PFD usage. Just obserd. The skipper should be able to make informed decisions and the guests should follow them. The skipper should know who can swim and who might panic (I can't imagine sailing and being skipper if I were not a strong swimmer, comfortable in very rough waters, and yet I know my limitations). If any of these conditions is not met, then there are deeper issues than PFDs.

 

Life Rafts. I've got a catamaran that can't sink, so perhaps I shouldn't weigh in on this... but I will anyway. For coastal sailors with inflatable tender I think the whole subject is kind of absurd. You'd be an idiot to get caught out in a storm of any real duration; nothing more than an intense thunderstorm which will soon dissipate. Otherwise, your boat sank because you caught on fire or ran into a log in fair weather; take extra gas, load everyone in the life raft, and go to shore. You've got a cell phone and you've got VHF. Clearly, this is a bit more of a concern if you have more crew than tender - I never have more than 3 crew off-shore.

 

Lifeline Replacement. I've seen racing boats with the middle cable and toe-rail removed to save weight... and I've seen sailors slide under the top railing. I've read sailors obsess about replacing the railings every few years, that none can be made of coated stainless ( it's true - the coating does high corrosion - I had a jib bridle snap with no warning once due to hidden corrosion), and that high tech line as a replacement is irresponsible. They think they've seen steel cable stretch, when it was clearly the stanchions that bent inwards. Man, just watch the maintenance.

 

Dockside Engineering. Which brings me to all of the discussions of the strength of lines for anchoring and rigging... by folks that will admit that they never had an engineering class! What did they base the guess upon? Most often, a rule-of-thumb from someone who:

* Didn't know.

* Wanted to sell them the next bigger size.

* Was conservative and recommended what would last through a circumnavigation.

Perhaps it is just as well. If they don't know, they are likely to abuse the system without realizing they are. That makes sense, actually. Nowhere is this a better fit than anchors, where if the sailor doesn't know (can't figure out) what size anchor and rode he needs, he will anchor badly and bigger will be better. Never mind the designer and builder spent real money on epoxy, high tech lines, cored decks, special fibers, and vacuum bagging. Let's throw over-size chain and extra iron in the bow, so we'll sleep better. As little as many know about anchors and the relevant engineering, they shouldn't sleep at all.

 

One of my favorites "calculations" involves a 27-foot monohull rounding up to use the 30-foot AYBC storm anchor recommendation (conservative with an ample safety cushion), selecting a chain based upon safe working load (which has a 3:1 safety factor built-in) and rode based upon SWL (5:1 safety factor), and then going up a size, just to be safe. They end up with 5/16-inch G4 chain (11,700-pound braking strength) attached to a 20 pound anchor that is poorly set in shells and mud, facing a 350-pound wind force from 40 knots winds (1,700 pounds in 70 knot gusts, including the surge factor), if they are in a completely exposed anchorage in a strong gale. In reality, their system will never see more than 400 pounds in the gusts in any desecent habor, or 3.8 % of the breaking strength of the chain. Guys, the standards and SWL are very conservative in the first place. If they understood the loads on the shrouds when bashing to the weather, they would all need therapy, of this I'm certain. Let's not tell them.

 

OK, we'll tell them; on a catamaran the maximum shroud tension will be somewhere near the displacement of the boat (it will pick a hull out of the water and absorb wave impacts), which is generally very close to or slightly exceeds the standard SWL of the cable... which is why standing rigging doesn't last forever.

 

I love to rant on anchoring and rigging. I spent 25 years climbing, where someone gets crushed or dead if an anchor is poorly conceived. I've also done construction rigging, often loads over 100 tons. You don't say "that looks good enough." You calculate it and get sure. Every time. Then you relax.

 

EPIRB. Great idea offshore. Absurd inshore (within VHF range of the Coast Guard is a good demarcation line for this purpose), with VHF and cell phones. I wonder if anyone's ever triggered one on the Chesapeake Bay?

 

Radar. Up in Maine with all the fog, great idea. On the Chesapeake... I guess if you've got enough money and don't like to pay attention at night... but I got a sneaking suspicion that it can't see a lot more than I can with a pair of binoculars, even at night.

 

Chart Plotters. Lots of fun, but I hate the posts that call it a safety requirement. If you can't navigate inshore with chart and compass, learn right now. Turn the GPS off until you don't need it. I have experienced both failures and great inaccuracies. Don't trust them completely.

 

Radar Reflectors. I read a Coast Guard study were a tinfoil hat gave a better return than most of the commercial reflectors. I wonder if people remember to rig the thing at night - most don't because it gets in the way of genoa when they tack. I wonder if they check to see what the reflection looked like without it? I considered adding a reflector and then at a fellow sailor tell me that I showed up clear as day without it. I don't really care if I'm visible from 20 miles; a big ship is considering avoiding me until I'm within 5 miles anyway. If they're really paying attention all.

 

Harnesses. I have read...

* Toddlers will hang themselves. And the parents are ignoring a toddler on a boat? Wow.

* The tether could snap. I've been a climber for 25 years and taken thousands of falls on rope. No, it won't fail if properly designed and installed. I don't see how a wave break is more severe than a 50-foot fall. However, no West Marine $150 tether + $325 harness combo + $70 jacklines will keep you on the boat if you don't know how to install them or use them. I would suggest a climbing class.

* You'll drown while being pulled along by the boat. Well, if you haven't practiced a means of getting back on while underway, you're an idiot.

* It won't fit with my foul weather gear. Figure it out.

* I could slide out of it. Yup, if you put it on way too loose over your foul weather gear, then reach up to hold on to the line (which you don't need to - that is what the harness is for - only beginners grab the rope), have no shoulders, and are an IDIOT and don't lower your arms if it feels as though it is sliding... yes it could come off, I guess. Run a rope between your legs, if it makes you feel better... but I bet it won't.

* My feet will roll on the jackline. Don't put it in the walkway. Pick your feet up. Sheeze.

* You'll drown if the boat capsizes. Have a release on both ends. Boy, capsize on a cruising boat is a long shot if your not entered in the Volvo or the Sydney-Hobart.

 

All kidding aside, harness fit is important and often overlooked. Put it on with the gear you have in mind wearing and then hang from something, as a test. High and tight under the arms is best. Placement low on the chest is inviting suffocation and cracked ribs.

 

Is the Water Safe? From the Chesapeake Bay Program:

"Is it safe to swim in the Bay? Though people do have some concern about water quality in certain rivers, especially near industrial areas, it is generally safe to swim in the Bay and its tributaries. However, swimmers, boaters and fishermen should obey any signs posted by state officials that restrict certain activities. Because potential human health impacts are an important issue, state agencies regularly test waterways for problems related to human health issues. Where human health concerns are identified, appropriate warnings are issued. For more information about the safety of swimming in your local waterways, contact your local health department.

 

Are toxic chemicals a problem in the Bay? Since the 1980s, Bay scientists have agreed that the nature, extent and severity of toxic effects vary widely throughout the Chesapeake system. Based on research, scientists determined that there was no evidence of severe, system-wide problems with toxic contamination in the Bay or its rivers. However, scientists have identified three localized Regions of Concern that are considered “toxic hot spots”:

 

The Elizabeth River in Virginia

The Patapsco River/Baltimore Harbor in Maryland

The Anacostia River in the District of Columbia.

 

(http://www.chesapeakebay.net/bayfaq.asp ... 14589#swim)

 

You'd have to be mental to swim in those "hot spot areas" anyway. Stay away from marinas in general; the traffic, potential for electric leaks, and potential for head pump-outs are obvious. OK, the electric leak issue may not be obvious, but people have been killed by bad wiring around marinas, so if you have to do maintenance, be wary. I also understand that the much under the slips harbors all sorts of foulness - obviously - and has been the source of skin infections. So, all-in-all, it's better to find a nice beach and anchor out in chest deep water. My choice.

 

I can't imagine taking swimming in the Bay away from my kid and her friends. You're only a kid once and life only comes by once, from my understanding. I'm going to live it.

 

 

 

 

I feel better now.

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Things like hoses that experience 2 PSI working pressure being rated for 150 psi and double clamped.

Double claming has nothing to do with pressure, but the fact that SST clamps are natorious at breaking due to vibration. And yes i have had them fail. Not to mention that I can get a quarter turn out of them once a year when I check things over. One block I know likes using SST clips with Galv screws because they don't work lose. But i had them sieze completely and could tighten or losen them, so i went back to complete SST.

 

Checking Oil? well a Boat diesel can use oil due to the engines never getting hot and/or worked like a Car one. Many of the older ones like Fords and Perkins use and lose oil, that's just the way they are. A diesel will not last 60seconds without oil. If you warning light goes off, you usually will not have time to get to the stop knob. Plus you are in a moisture laden environment. Moisture is a killer and reqular oil changes is as much about getting rid of water biuld up as anything else.

I don't think you or the article ios comparing the apples and oranges with the Lemons squid.

Some people religously check a car before a journey. To the shop no, but on a trip, yeah I do. And I can't remember ever breaking down on the road and I travel on average 30-50K Kms/yr. I do see people broken down on the road and I wonder if they have ever checked or maintained the car before hand. Maybe some have, but i bet many haven't.

Speed, seat belts, road rules etc are all things that create safety on the road. wearing harness, life jackets, having some Collision avoidance knowledge all help to make you safer on the water.

So all in all, I think you unconsously "drive safely" because it is an everyday thing for most of us. Boating is not an everyday thing for most of us. And those that live aboard of crusie long term probably don't look at all those maintennace aspects everyday.

Oh and one other point that I think is a real biggy plus factor. Those that do their own maintenace and do it regular, get to know the boat. And they are much more likely to be able to do something to sort their situation when something fails. I know many boaties that have no clue about their engine and how it works. About all they do know is perhaps how to turn the battery isolator on and off and that is it.

In fact just the other day, I had someone that had an Anchor winch Failure. First thing I asked was, "where is the Isolator/circuit breaker switch?" The reply was, "the what??" They had no clue what that was, oo if they had one. They had never seen one. "Oh is that this thing??" as they pointed to the chain counter. "OK, so where do the cables run?" I asked. "Huh? no idea!" Hmmmm. "So which is your House back and Engine bank?"I asked. "Don't know! But i turn the power on and off here". And that was the sum total of knowledge the owner of the 40ft launch had.

But at least they are learning and willing and wanting to learn and not just say, narr, I get the sparky to make sure it is all going. I just pull in the fish.

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