A grab bag goes hand in hand with our life raft – in the category of things you need to have that cost lots of money and take up space but you hope you never have to use. This is the bag that you grab when your boat is sinking or on fire, just as…
I went to an interesting talk the other night at the Little Ship Club. David & Jackie Peers were talking about their experience in the Philippines when they were in the direct path of Typhoon Haiyan. Their advice – if you are in a port – get off the boat. There is very little you…
Our life raft is the most expensive thing we have ever bought that we hope we never have to use! However I imagine that if you were sitting in your life raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean it is probably something you had wished you had spent MORE money on?! Let’s hope it…
We had a flare demonstration at the yacht club tonight which was an interesting experience! The cruising commodore – David and myself got permission from Maritime New Zealand to hold the event and we also had to inform Airways/Air Traffic, the Police, the Harbour Master, the Port, Coastguard and the Fire Brigade. Then we contacted…
We watched the movie ‘Captain Phillips’ the other night which is about a freight ship being attacked by pirates. It is an excellent movie and had us all sitting on the edge of our seats! One of my hero’s – Peter Blake, was tragically killed by pirates boarding his yacht up the Amazon River. Pirate…
Ugh this is not something I even want to consider to be a possibility! However from what I have read it is something that we need to be aware of and prevention is definitely better than an explosion! Prevention Gas bottles should be located in a dedicated locker and should be well secured (refer to…
“Safety is thinking about the problems you might encounter and ensuring you have considered your options” – quote from Yachting Monthly magazine. I guess it is what I am hoping to achieve by researching what has worked for other people and tying them all together in to a safety plan. It will help us decide…
From what I have read about dis-masting, it sounds like retrieving the mast from the water to use as a jury rig would be almost impossible for a cruising couple to do. The conditions aren’t likely to be particularly favorable either! Try and keep the mainsail and boom to use as a jury rig. But…
The first rule of seamanship – Keep the water on the outside of the boat… Possibly every sailors worst nightmare…?! Although many of the other scenarios I have researched in the safety section also sound equally non-appealing.
If you own a New Zealand registered yacht and are planning on sailing it offshore, you need to comply with the Yachting NZ Category 1 safety regulations. As NZ is many hundreds of miles from any other countries, these safety regulations mean that boats are seaworthy and equipped with all the gear needed to make an…
Astrolabe Sailing 