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RYA Flare advice is sensible and timely |
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Friday, 04 June 2010 12:50 |
 In an editorial in January 2009, we here at Sailers asked the question ‘are flares outdated’? We argued that pyrotechnics were (a) dangerous in themselves, and we quoted the tragic accident caused by a misfiring flare in 2006 to an RYA Instructor, (b) of little use unless they were used within the visible horizon of another ship based or shore based observer - and were actually seen!, and (c) had been replaced by much more reliable distress alerting technology, such as the EPIRB and DSC Radio automatic distress alert.
Our comments were endorsed by Teki Dalton, an Australian Sailing School Principal and author of 'Sea Safety for Small Craft', who wrote to Sailers after our editorial appeared, saying that in demonstrations of at least 140 in-date distress flares, 37 failed to activate. “Fifteen of them failed to activate because the string attached to the metal pull tag came out of the firing pin.”
The RYA has acted sensibly and after due consideration of the issues. We strongly endorse their conclusions. Orange smoke canisters are very useful, not only in identifying a casualty from amongst a throng of yachts in the crowded Solent, but also for indicating wind direction at the casualty, and marking its presence in daylight. Anyone who has seen an Orange smoke flare in action knows only too well how useful it is. But the risk to life and limb in carrying other pyrotechnics, which are in effect controlled explosions waiting to happen, has to be balanced by the availability of more reliable distress alerting technology.
The EPIRB, and its smaller brother the PLB, are both superb tools, especially when combined with a GPS that automatically sends the position of the casualty. However, there are some issues that need to be considered even with the EPIRB. As Teki Dalton wrote in his letter to Sailers:
“Only some of the most recent 406/121.5MHz PLB’s are waterproofed and buoyant; some only buoyant in a pouch. They all require the aerial to be extended and be manually activated. The activation process requires two hands and manipulation of tiny buttons and switches. PLB’s are most effective when the aerial remains vertical and the unit is held level at water level. Not any easy thing to do in a MOB survival situation, in a big sea with cold wet fingers.
We are led to believe that those PLB’s with GPS will give a location accuracy to the value of the global locality of the GPS system. What is not generally known is that there are two systems in play; the COSPAS-SARSAT, INSAT-GOES satellite systems and the GPS satellites. When the GPS information is transferred it is by a 32 bit system that can only give an accuracy to approximately 120 metres, not the 4-5 metres expected from the GPS system.”
In other words, know the limitations of the emergency equipment you carry, and practice using it as far as possible under emergency conditions. This is particularly true of the DSC VHF Radio. How many of us could, in an emergency in the dark, use the red button properly?
The RYA has acted wisely and sensibly in providing this revised advice, and all leisure craft skippers should download the table, read it, and carry a copy on board. But the RYA now needs to revise its training advice to sailing schools and instructors, so that the use of the Red Button on the DSC VHF radio is not only explained in a safety brief, but (so far as possible without setting the thing off) its use is practiced and understood by every crew member on board. Unlike the string on the end of a flare, the use of the Red Button is complicated and easily forgotten, so training needs to happen regularly, as part of every safety brief before a yacht departure. The same needs to be done for the EPIRB and the PLB. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 04 June 2010 13:07 |
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RYA adds logic to the confusion |
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Wednesday, 25 November 2009 10:18 |
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 Today's announcement changing the name of the RYA Coastal Skipper ticket to Yachtmaster Coastal should come as no surprise to those who hang around the RYA circuit. It's been on the cards for a while, along with possible changes to the Yachtmaster Ocean certificate.
There is some logic to the change. The take-up for the Coastal Skipper course, let alone the independent exam, was poor, and the RYA is, after all, a business. It needs to generate more revenue from its main income earners and what better way than to add yet another 'Yachtmaster' qualification to the pack? And there is also some logic to the name changes. Yachtmaster Coastal, Yachtmaster Offshore, and Yachtmaster Ocean now form the three levels of competence for yachtsmen internationally. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 04 June 2010 13:11 |
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Tuesday, 30 June 2009 10:52 |
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 Drift nets are illegal in the Mediterranean. They are walls of death, deadly to everything that gets caught in their mesh. Yet fishermen continue to use them illegally to catch migratory species of large fish, such as Tuna and Swordfish. And literally throw away the corpses of turtles, dolphins, sharks, and other innocent species caught in their nets.
Crossing the Strait of Sicily a month ago, I had to avoid one of these deadly nets. The sea was flat calm, it was evening, and the floats, set at intervals of about ten metres, stretched out in a line towards the island of Linosa. In the distance I could see the trawler that was laying the net. The radar showed it was about four miles away. And we had already followed the net for about half a mile, looking for a place to cross. So the net was at least four miles long. |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 June 2009 11:10 |
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Editorial - WiFi and Perham's adventures |
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Friday, 15 May 2009 13:28 |
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 WiFi
At last I know I am not alone in decrying the awful service provided by UK marinas when it comes to the provision of a wireless link for internet connections. Jeremy Greenaway, one of our new correspondents, has just returned from France, where, he says, WiFi is available, works and is free of charge in most marinas. What do we get in the UK? Mostly rip off prices for a connection that hardly reaches half-way up the nearest pontoon. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 15 May 2009 13:41 |
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Editorial: Taking your time. |
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Tuesday, 07 April 2009 11:06 |
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 Sailers has covered a number of safety related topics recently. And this has prompted the question 'What kind of safety do we really want'? Pete Goss described his decision to take his fourteen year old son Eliot on his epic voyage from Cornwall to Australia, suffering a knock down and crew injury on the way. Would safety considerations have stopped you from doing the same? And which decision was correct? You can read his blog here and make up your own mind.
At first glace, staying tied up alongside seems the safest option. After all, it's unlikely that we will be knocked down by a freak wave in the marina. And we won't get seasick. Nor will we have to put into practice any of the advice in 'Heavy Weather Sailing', featured this week in our book reviews. |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 April 2009 14:12 |
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Editorial
Plastimo XM is recalling a batch of XM liferafts that showed the potential for developing micro leaks. 
