Safety and weather
- Know and maintain the life-saving and firefighting gear: lifejackets, harnesses and jackstays, the liferaft, flares or EPIRB, and the fire extinguishers.
- Brief the crew before sailing on lifejackets, clipping on, the man-overboard drill, fire, and how to make a distress call.
- Obtain and interpret the forecast — shipping and inshore-waters forecasts, coastal reports and the barometer — and make the go/no-go and routeing decisions from it.
- Manage fatigue, seasickness and cold with a sensible watch system and the right clothing, because a tired, cold crew makes mistakes.
Weather is the single biggest factor in a coastal skipper's decisions. The candidate should be able to read a forecast against the plan, recognise the signs of a deteriorating situation — a falling barometer, backing wind, high cloud thickening — and know that wind against tide raises a short, steep and dangerous sea even in a moderate breeze. The safe decision is often to delay, shorten the passage, or choose a more sheltered route.
Emergencies
Making a VHF DSC distress call
- Press and hold the red DSC distress button to send the alert with the boat's identity and position.
- On Channel 16 say 'MAYDAY' three times and the boat's name three times.
- Give MAYDAY, name, position, the nature of the distress, the help needed and the number of people aboard.
- Release to listen for an acknowledgement, and keep the radio on to update the rescue services.
WARNING — Wind against tide builds a dangerous sea When the wind blows against the tidal stream the waves become short, steep and much more dangerous than the wind alone suggests. Know when and where it will happen on your route and avoid the worst of it.
TIP — Brief the crew before you need them A crew briefed in calm water on lifejackets, clipping on, MOB and the radio will act fast in an emergency. The briefing is part of the skipper's job, not an optional extra.