Near the start of the 2018 Chicago Yacht Club’s Race to Mackinac race a sailor was washed overboard and drown. This account from his team makes my stomach churn: The boat made three unsuccessful approaches to retrieve him, during which crew noted that his life jacket had not inflated. During the third approach, crewmembers saw […]
Longing for a Lee Shore
Why I almost quit sailing before I really got started Watching a peacock get blown over attempting to display his plumage tells me today will be a good day for sailing. I donned one of the terrible yellow foam life vests and signed out a hobie cat. The wind built as I sailed away from […]
Marion to Bermuda EPII: Safety At Sea Seminar
Video sharing some of the lessons I learned at US Sailing Safety at Sea Seminar prepping for Bermuda. Learn about swimming in foul weather gear with shoes on, hydrostatic PFD automatic inflation and the challenges of climbing into a life raft wearing that inflated PFD. Even in the 70 degree pool some sailors were showing […]
Automatic PFD: Manual Inflation
What do you do if your inflatable PFD doesn’t inflate when you hit the water? During last week’s safety at sea seminar I discharged my HIT inflator. While putting the PFD back together I kept thinking it would be very challenging to try to figure out how to inflate it while wearing it treading water. […]