Safety drills

[McZube]

Do you and your family (or usual crew) do any kind of safety drills to be better prepared in the event of an emergency?

This is our first season as boat owners and my first season as skipper. One particular drill I was considering is reefing.

Thanks.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Definately

There are many safety drills that you should be doing on a regular basis. Here are a couple that we do:

1. Reefing
2. Dousing all sails
3. Placing and sailing with your emergency tiller (search for a recent post by Mainesail for the importance of this one)
4. Anchoring under sail
5. Heaving to (very big for Man over board in a sailboat)
6. Man Over Board (or dog over board)
7. Using your manual bildge pump

Are I am sure there are others too that some will offer.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Re: Definately

Oh, some other things that came to mind after hitting post. Who ever you sail with should be trained in basic first aid and if you plan to cruise any distance, CPR.

And all who regularly sail with you should know how to at least drop the sails and take it in under engine in case something happens to you.

 

[CaptChuck]

In addition to the great list from JK consider the following:
1. Proper use of the VHF radio
2. Procedure for starting the engine.
3. Proper use of the head - OK it may not be an emergency but improper use can create one.

 

[PaulK]

We periodically do MOB drills using a watermelon as the victim. It's about the same size and shape as a human head, so it makes for a somewhat realistic drill. It isn't affected by the wind as much as a cushion might be, and like a hypothermic victim, is unable to help itself and is difficult to get a hold on. You can't simply swing by near it and snag it with the boathook - you have to STOP the boat with it to leeward, grab it firmly without losing any other crew over the side, and lift if back aboard. Sometiimes the Race Committee calls for everyone to do this during a race. Quite interesting results.

 

[rgranger]

I think drills are very important. Especially scenario drills. In the panic of an emergency situation, the memory of the drill gives your minds something to grab onto and allows you to act in a productive way. Once or twice a season, I throw an empty soda bottle overboard and then announce that I have just fallen overboard, then I sit back and watch what happens. The kids enjoy it.

Starting the motor drill is something I'm going to ad. Sumner tells a story of how he broke his shoulder and his wife could not get the outboard started... now they have an electric start motor. I'm not sure if my family could start the motor or not... so I need to do a drill and see.

 

[kjretlaw]

Emegency deployment of the sails, alway have one ready to go if the engine quits.

Really like the watermelon for the MOB we'll have to give that one a try.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Another one. We have a high wind Warning for today (45-55+ kts). So we went down and took down the head sail, dodger and other stuff and tied off the boat better. Good thing to practice incase things go bad quick.

 

[rgranger]

Emegency deployment of the sails, alway have one ready to go if the engine quits.

Really like the watermelon for the MOB we'll have to give that one a try.

And a good excuse to have a watermelon on your "to-go" list. Maybe spike it with a bottle of vodka first. Then when you do fall overboard, you've already practiced....

 

[McZube]

Thanks all. Lots to think about.