Rules for Safer Sailing

Five Golden Rules for Safer Sailing!

If you are anything like me, one of the toughest decisions to make seems to be the "go; no go" one. That final call every sailing skipper needs to make before casting off.

Use this five step process from the masters. You will gain the confidence to deal with those unexpected situations that come your way when day sailing, cruising, or racing.

It's one thing if it's just you alone. Single-handers have the luxury of just being responsible for themselves.

But if you have sailing crew aboard, you are tasked with their safety and well being. So how can you make that final call in a calm, confident manner?

Here are five reliable methods, used by the world's best blue water sailors, to help you meet the challenges ahead...

Prepare to the Max

Put yourself into a "what-if" mode of thought. Start at the bow and work aft. Could your anchor use another lashing (stopper) to keep it in place? Does the deck stowed dinghy or raft need extra bungee or lashings?

When was the last time you checked the chafe on each block and tackle, such as the traveler control lines, mainsheet, boom vang?

This becomes more critical as the weather deteriorates. Use this process underway and at anchor. Keep on top of little problems so that they don't become big ones.

Learn Three New Things Each Day

Learn at least three new things every day. Read the writings of the masters, like Chichester, Moitessier, and Slocum. Roth, Chapman, Rousmaniere, Calder, Henderson, Hancock, Toss, Vigor, and so many more. These are guys that have "been there - done that".

You can pick up the fundamentals quickly, but half a lifetime is scarcely enough to perfect your techniques. -- Hal Roth

And the masters I look to when I need more information. If you force yourself into this "3-a-day" discipline, you will find that your range of knowledge will exceed your wildest expectations.

These don't need to be complex things that involve hours of study. Learn an easier way to tie a common sailing knot, a better way to balance your small sailboat, or a safer method to reef your mainsail to boost your sailing skills sky high!

Practice, Practice, Practice

How many of us sailors have bent on that storm jib or trysail, hoisted it and sailed with it? Or hove to, just to check out how our boat behaves in different conditions? Or gone through drills like man overboard, reefing, or flooding emergency with the sailing crew the first day of the coastal or offshore cruise?

Practice drills produce an automatic response under trying conditions. That's the main reason that military services have drill after drill. There's nothing familiar about the sea to human beings. We are land creatures. It makes sense that we practice techniques like sail reefing or how to tie a marine knot over and over again.

Once these become second nature, you move on to the next step on the learning ladder. As multi-time circumnavigator Hal Roth said about cruising under sail: "You can pick up the fundamentals quickly, but half a lifetime is scarcely enough to perfect your techniques."

Understand the Weather

Few persons look to the heavens more than once a day--sometimes never. Yet, clouds give the first clues of a frontal approach. Keep an eye on puffy, cotton-ball cumulus that might thicken and lower in the afternoon. Towering cumulonimbus can bring vicious squalls and thunderstorms.

Combine clouds with a barometer, and you can often forecast weather with better accuracy than a NOAA broadcast. Be on the lookout for wind shifts or a change in the sea-wave direction. The more you understand marine weather, the more prepared you will be when the rough stuff arrives.

Set the Example for Others to Follow

Be the first aboard to wear a knife and lanyard on your person (not stowed down below). Or to put on the pfd when the weather turns foul. Or to don the sailing harness and clip on to the jack line. Remember, your sailing crew will often hesitate out of fear of how they will look in the eyes of their peers. Silly as it sounds, we all sometimes want to be the last to get the sailing gear on. Always keep in mind that your crew will look to you to show them the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow these five tips from some of the world's wisest, most experienced sailors. You will build confidence and knowledge and gain the wisdom to make the right call to keep your sailing crew safe and sound.

---