Brrrr..it's cold

Yes, it's mornings like today that make me start thinking about heading north for the winter. There's a definite chill in the air, and the high cloud is making the sun thin and not very cheery. Captain Bligh, who hails from Queensland, tells me that it's been hot and sticky up in his part of the world. Give me hot and sticky any day!

Anyway, that's enough complaining. It's time to move on to the business of the day, which is, as promised, the topic of Safety Gear.  There are those (who shall remain nameless at least for the moment) who say that all that stuff about safety is just boring and uninteresting. Well, I guess it might be....right up until the moment that you need it. Then you will get very interested, very quickly... just ask anyone who has fallen overboard in bad seas what they think of the importance of their safety gear. A lot people say "it will never happen to me", but the statistics show otherwise. It does happen to a lot of people, and those who are prepared are much more likely to live to tell the tale.

Safety gear is much more than just lifejackets and EPIRBS of course. It encompasses everything from AIS transponders to navigation equipment,  marine radios and liferafts. So this is what we have on Endless Summer, together with some of my thoughts about why this equipment will be handy on our upcoming voyage.

AIS transponder: The Furuno FA50 fitted to Endless Summer is a Class B AIS (Automatic Identification System) capable of exchanging navigation and ship data between Endless Summer and other ships or coastal stations. This means that Endless Summer will see and be seen by most commercial ships and by other similarly equipped vessels. We will however be relying very much on the best device ever invented for collision avoidance, that is, the so-called "Mark One eyeball".


DSC radios: Endless Summer now has two Digital Selective Calling (DSC) radios, the main 25W Icom located on the flybridge, and a neat 5W handheld. DSC is a means of quickly establishing initial contact (eg for distress) between stations, so the DSC is a kind of wake-up alarm to alert nearby vessels that we need to talk to them. Once contact has been made, communications on a nominated VHF voice channel are used to pass messages, 


Liferaft: The liferaft is made for 6 persons and has a hydrostatic release, so that the liferaft will launch itself in the unfortunate event that it becomes submerged. The liferaft is secured to the forward deck and you can see it in one of the photos in yesterday's blog.

Stormy PFD jacket - Photo courtesy of Stormy

Life Jackets: We have 6 inflatable lifejackets on board, 5 yoke type and one Stormy Jacket PFD. I have been a fan of Stormy for some years now. Their motto is "Designed to be worn not stowed" and this has become my motto as well, especially when boating alone or at times of heightened risk. If the weather stays cold or if it starts to rain I'll be cosy and safe in my jacket. Another great thing about the Stormy jacket is that the arms zip out if the weather warms up, turning the full jacket into a handy sleeveless vest.

ResqLink+ PLB - Photo courtesy of ACR

Vessel EPIRB: We have the mandatory 406MHz EPIRB, which transmits both 406Mz signal for satellite tracking, as well as the 121.5 MHz homing signal for tracking by rescue authorities after the initial satellite alert.

Personal EPIRB: Sea-Dog and I have invested in ResQLink+  personal locator beacons.  These amazing little devices transmit a 406MHz signal for location by satellites, a 121.5MHz homing signal, an an automatic strobe light. They have an onboard GPS which means that if help is needed, the authorities will have an accurate fix on position. The device is really small, weighing 153g and small enough to be easily carried in a pocket. Oh, and it also floats!

SOLAS strobe: Just in case we get into trouble at night, we have two Firefly3 SOLAS strobe lights. These have a high intensity Xenon strobe light that creates a flash which is visible for at least 1 nautical mile (1.9km).

Other stuff: Endless Summer is also equipped with other statutory (both NSW and QLD) safety equipment such as fire extinguishers, navigation lights, bilge pumps, charts, compasses etc.  On the subject of differing regulations between NSW and QLD, Captain Bligh informed us today of the new QLD Department of Transport regulations regarding safety equipment stowage. To satisfy the new rules, lifejackets and safety gear are required to be in a 'grab bag' and handy to the exit once we enter Queensland waters. This is a good idea, because if you need it, it's not much good having all of the safety gear stuck in some hold in the bowels of the boat.

Till next time,

Happy (and Safe) boating,

Navman

PS For the record, please note again that the views and opinions expressed above are my personal views about safety equipment and should not be relied upon by others. Every sea-going situation is different, and you should do your own research as to your personal requirements.