more sea safety
May 29th 2007 20:09
More on safety:
Some years ago a member of my club fell into the river next to his boat which was tied up to the club wharf. The wharf is not designed for yachts but it handles them without much trouble. It is really a dinghy launching area. This gentleman was a very experienced sailor and had sailed has yacht twice around the world. He was wearing foul weather gear as it was cold and raining. He fell into the river and could not climb back onto his boat and the wharf had no ladder to climb up on. He swam around to the shore and it was all rock walls. The tide was out and it took three and a half hours for him to drift high enough with the incoming tide before he could climb out. He was well into the early stages of hypothermia. Not a new chum to sailing, an old hand but caught short just this once and almost lost to his family.
Another older gentleman, at a different club I belong to fell in between his boat and the wharf. It was bright sunny summer day. It was however a week day and not too many people about even though the wharf is packed with boats. He could not reach his safety ladder as it was tied up out of the road. There was no ladder again on the wharf as nobody is supposed to swim there and it is only twenty five metres or so from shore. This poor guy however was not that much of a swimmer or had tired himself out trying to get on board his boat. His very faint cries for help were heard eventually by a liveaboard yachty, (yes I know its illegal). This yachty barely heard the faint cries for help but luckily was able to effect a rescue.
We hear so much about deaths by drowning, accidental deaths on board or at boat ramps that we forget often the accidents that have happened but did not end up with a death and the only lasting injury was pride. Still we need to learn from these accidents. It is imperative that we look at safety and what can go wrong when working around boats. So many people think it is uncool to wear life jackets or safety harnesses. It marks them out as not being proper seamen. Wrong! The proper seaman’s life jacket and harness is faded with sun and salt water but in very good condition. His footwear is the best gripping that he can get, (not always the most expensive) his pocket knife is razor sharp and he knows the safety rules for every state in Australia. He uses the tools of his trade safely and carefully, making being a seaman seem easy.
Some years ago a member of my club fell into the river next to his boat which was tied up to the club wharf. The wharf is not designed for yachts but it handles them without much trouble. It is really a dinghy launching area. This gentleman was a very experienced sailor and had sailed has yacht twice around the world. He was wearing foul weather gear as it was cold and raining. He fell into the river and could not climb back onto his boat and the wharf had no ladder to climb up on. He swam around to the shore and it was all rock walls. The tide was out and it took three and a half hours for him to drift high enough with the incoming tide before he could climb out. He was well into the early stages of hypothermia. Not a new chum to sailing, an old hand but caught short just this once and almost lost to his family.
Another older gentleman, at a different club I belong to fell in between his boat and the wharf. It was bright sunny summer day. It was however a week day and not too many people about even though the wharf is packed with boats. He could not reach his safety ladder as it was tied up out of the road. There was no ladder again on the wharf as nobody is supposed to swim there and it is only twenty five metres or so from shore. This poor guy however was not that much of a swimmer or had tired himself out trying to get on board his boat. His very faint cries for help were heard eventually by a liveaboard yachty, (yes I know its illegal). This yachty barely heard the faint cries for help but luckily was able to effect a rescue.
We hear so much about deaths by drowning, accidental deaths on board or at boat ramps that we forget often the accidents that have happened but did not end up with a death and the only lasting injury was pride. Still we need to learn from these accidents. It is imperative that we look at safety and what can go wrong when working around boats. So many people think it is uncool to wear life jackets or safety harnesses. It marks them out as not being proper seamen. Wrong! The proper seaman’s life jacket and harness is faded with sun and salt water but in very good condition. His footwear is the best gripping that he can get, (not always the most expensive) his pocket knife is razor sharp and he knows the safety rules for every state in Australia. He uses the tools of his trade safely and carefully, making being a seaman seem easy.
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