Minimal nav + safety gear list for inshore sailing?

[maxr]

I’m making up a ‘minimal effective’ navigation and safety list for the BR/Bre I intend to buy next season. This is for estuary and short coastal inshore day sailing in very busy UK West Country waters – most 'navigation' will be eyeball pilotage. Any suggestions welcomed.

Navigation:
* Manual – binocs, charts hand compass, Breton plotter etc.
* I have an old Garmin GPSMAP 76 with hard to read out of date B&W charts, an Etrex GPS, and MemoryMap on a smartphone in a see through dry bag. I could also put MM on a larger tablet in a dry bag, or buy a handheld colour plotter – what do you use?
* Depth – look over the side (clearish water), do I need more?

Safety:
* Physical – lifejackets, permanent boarding ladder (assuming one fits a BR/Bre), canister throwing line, fender on a long line, air horn, knife, small first aid and tool boxes.
* Comms: handheld floating AIS/DSC VHF, smartphone in a dry bag. Would an AIS personal beacon be OTT for solo sailing in busy inshore areas? If I fell out of the boat I'd be in more danger of getting run down than not attracting attention.
* Visible emergency attention: I have an ODEO LED flare - fine in restricted waters in the dusk/dark, not great in bright daylight - should I also carry an orange smoke? I dislike pyrotechnics.
* Lights: LED torch, nav lights for when I get caught out in the almost dark. Chandlers sell LED occasional nav lights that clip on when needed - are they any good?

Thanks, Max

[Graham W]

Max,

Sail Caledonia has a list of compulsory safety equipment for raid entrants that includes a few additions to your list. See Appendix B of http://www.sailcaledonia.org/sailcaledoniasailinginstructions2016.pdf

Because of the locks and canal that they use, they prefer buoyancy aids to inflating lifejackets.  They believe that the latter can get in the way, particularly if you fall into a crowded lock.  The drogue or bucket on a string is intended to slow you down entering the locks, especially if you don't have an outboard (Gladys). 

Depending on how agile and/or pumped full of adrenalin you are, the notch in the rudder is normally sufficient to get you back in the boat over the stern, so a ladder may not be strictly necessary.  I can attest to this from personal experience, having boarded my boat over the stern four times in total, both right way up and inverted, in the space of a few minutes.

Some use their kick-up centreboard as a depth sounder.  Not the best idea in rocky areas but probably fine in sand and mud.  I have a Garmin 557xs GPS/fishfinder but the attached depth transponder is temperamental.  I also have an iPhone and iPad with Navionics charts, as GPS backup and to provide a second opinion.  Both are protected by good but expensive waterproof cases made by Lifeproof.

Navlights with LED's are great as long as they are fully waterproof, which some are not, making them as much use as a chocolate teapot (Aqua Signal Series 23).  I bought some clip-on waterproof navlights with incandescent bulbs, which I replaced with LED's.  They are now more than bright enough and draw very little current.

[Rob Johnstone]

Max, I used an App on my ipad 2 for navigation in my ciircumnav of GB: INavX. you can get a year use of digitised charts for around £50. Well worth having a look at it.

[Peter Taylor]

Max,

I do day sailing in the very busy waters of the Solent and Southampton Water. What electronic gear depends on your budgets: both electrical power, and financial, but here's what I use.

Navigation: I rely on a Garmin Echomap mounted on a board which slots into holders allowing me to move it across the cockpit - advantages: bright screen visible in sunlight (used for determining position relative to shipping channel and/or shore), has echo sounder (used for inshore sailing over gravel/mud banks to dodge tide, would not be so useful in rocky areas), provides AIS display (used for checking where 35kt fast ferries are before crossing shipping channel, I don't find the "AIS radar" display offered by my VHF useful for this).  Disadvantages of Garmin: very power hungry, needs cables to power and echo transducer.

Navigation backup:  Digital yacht Navlink on iphone and ipad (both have GPS) - Navlink uses Admiralty charts with OS mapping and satellite images over land - but only chosen over other nav products because it integrates with output from my Digital Yacht AIS transponder. Apart from brightness problems in sunlight, I agree with others that nav charts on an ipad or other tablet is a good navigation solution which uses low power and is portable.

Backup of backup: I do carry paper charts (in waterproof holder) plus OS "tough" maps and nav instruments but can't think when I might use them (although have used OS maps and compass to identify coastal landmarks). Using a chart in the confines of a BC20 cockpit is not easy!

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You say you are in "very busy waters" - the Solent certainly qualifies for that!  Therefore:

AIS: having a transponder means the fast ferries should see me if I am a potential collision object and therefore trigger an alarm. Similarly for fast motor cruisers of the type that carry a paid crew. Not so effective with regard to other vessels. I've only got a transponder because of where I sail. Major disadvantage: cost.

Radar: I have a radar transponder (Echomax) - again because of where I sail. Probably not necessary in most areas.  However don't be tempted to rely on compact radar "reflectors" - just assume that you won't be seen on radar!
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Personal safety: I sail single handed so - manual life jacket with harness, lifeline with 2 short tails and (on a BC20) central jackstays on the cabin roof. I have a PLB in pouch on lifejacket and (recent addition) personal flare pack carried inside lifejacket cover. On board I carry a spare CO2 cylinder in case I have to inflate my lifejacket. A good buoyancy aid with integral harness is an alternative, possibly better, solution.

If you don't like pyrothechics (which I don't) a compact personal flare pack gives you up to 5 daylight flares to attract attention and/or (if in the water) stop being run down.  I have seen one used by a windsurfer and it was very effective in attracting the attention of a ferry, various pleasure craft, and ourselves at NCI Calshot - all despite the brief 5 second burn time of the single flare. (the flares are shot into the air by a spring mechanism). Only useful if other craft are close by.

If your handheld radio is compact and light enough to be always on your person then in crowded waters a DSC alarm/voice mayday is likely to be heard even if you are in the water.  It would then be likely to produce a faster response than a PLB alarm via satellite. However I find my handheld VHF too bulky and don't carry it.

There are more details of the equipment fit I have on Seatern, and how useful (or not) I have found it to be, in my blog at seatern.org.uk . However most will not be relevant to a "minimal list" for a BR/BRe - I doubt you are fitting a fridge!

Peter

[maxr]

Great info - thanks guys, keep it coming! A couple of questions arise from your comments:

Lifejacket or buoyancy aid for falling out when solo sailing? Assuming a BRe boom is most unlikely to render you unconscious, the immediate concern is getting back into the boat. Swimming in an inflated lifejacket is horrible, and must make climbing in much harder. That's fine, but what if you're in long enough to get hypothermic? Yes, but maybe you wouldn't still be in the water if you're wearing a buoyancy aid. The answer's not clear - so, has anyone tried belt and braces - a buoyancy gilet or buoyancy aid with a manual lifejacket on top? Or, does anyone make a combination of both?

Related to that, you've followed RYA advice of shouting 'Man Overboard' as you fly through the air, and pointing at yourself. Next it behoves you to make a distress call on your floating DSC VHF. But assuming you're confident you can  get back in your upright boat, and there are other boats nearby (e.g. Solent, Poole, Falmouth), are you going to waste a minute making that call? I suggest you're halfway between a MOB yottie where the default is a Mayday, and a capsized dinghy sailor where the default is 'right it and carry on'. What would you do - and is there any scope for a pan pan call, i.e. 'I'm in the water but I'm fine and think I can get back in the boat, appreciate it if nearby vessels can keep an eye on me?'

[Matthew P]

Hello Max

As a confirmed, but not proud, member of the turtle club (full accidental capsize inversion experience) I empathise with your dilemma about inflatable life jackets versus fixed buoyancy aids.  The ideas shared here are offered only in the hope that more qualified people can say whether they are sound, or not, so please don't think I write with any great authority.

Unless very bulky, a fixed buoyancy aid  is not adequate for prolonged support to a disabled person in the water, especially if fully kitted with heavy sailing gear.  An inflatable life jacket on the other hand is so bulky once deployed that it is very difficult to swim or climb back onto the boat to right it.  Consequently, as you suggest, I have been using a "belt and braces" combination of both - but although I have been wearing the combination for a few years I have happily not had occasion to test the system for real.

The attached illustration shows my inflatable life jacket, with built in harness, fitted on top of my sailing jacket, under which I wear a gilet buoyancy aid.  The gilet I use is a 50N Tribord float jacket from Decathalon that I find comfortable, warm, good pockets and discrete enough worn black-side-out to wear to the pub without attracting attention from the fashion police.  See https://www.tribord.co.uk/izeber-50-floating-system-jacket-bp_24182

The inflatable life jacket is a CO2 inflated type but is manually activated NOT the automatic type that inflates automatically in contact with water.  Apart from anything else automatically activated ones seem prone to unhelpfully inflating themselves in damp lockers, don't they T..?

The inflatable life jacket has a built-in harness on the principle that I can tether myself to the boat.  In practice I don't do this because I'm worried about being trapped by it in a capsize or dragged along under water if I'm solo.  If I am at sea with full water ballast I think a capsize is very unlikely and the consequences of falling out very serious in which case I have the option to use a tether.  Probably I should also carry a knife in a more accessible place than my pocket so I can cut myself free.

The other point of the harness is that it has nice big D Ring which my trusty crew, passing boat, or whoever, can securely attach a line to before fishing me out.

To top it all I attach a FastFind GPS personal locator beacon to the harness webbing where it is out of the way but accessible and also visible to other crew if I'm not capable of  deploying it.  Hopefully it will never be used but from what I read, and from talking to people I respect, a man-over-board at sea is an SOS situation and effective signalling for proper assistance without delay significantly raises the chances of survival.  Of course if I'm pootling about inland on Lake Bala I am unlikely to need it.  I only have one, so I selfishly keep the PLB on my jacket but I'm ready to use it if any crew go MOB. If I'm the MOB I still want to be the one that takes the decision!

Does anyone want to quote about "duffers and drowning" from Swallows and Amazons? Of course - even though I kit myself up with more gear than Tom Cruise in "Mission Impossible" - I acknowledge the most important piece of safety kit should reside inside the skull of the skipper and safe behaviour and skill are the best guarantee of safety, not reliance on kit. 

Matthew
BR20 Gladys

[maxr]

Thanks Matthew - that looks good. I have one of those Decathlon gilets, they're great value.

I believe walkers and climbers are now using GPS emergency beacons, so firing one off in an inland lake might come as less of a surprise to emergency services than it used to.

Does the BR/BRe have a line to lock the centreboard down? IMO those should be fitted on centreboarders and lift keel boats as standard. I remember watching a steel centreplate knife back into its case as the Kestrel we had been sailing on Loch Lomond inverted. It was a little demoralising because a straightforward dinghy righting became a RIB rescue job, and it was lucky nobody had their fingers near the centreboard slot when it happened.

[Matthew P]

Hi Max

My BR20 has a Camcleat auto-release cleat on top of the centre board to hold the centre board down.  It was a standard fitting to my BR20 (built 2007).  It works very well but, as you experienced on another boat, in a total inversion capsize the centre board can easily knife down into the case. It is essential not to yield to the powerful temptation to stick fingers into the slot in order to pull oneself onto the upturned hull, otherwise fingers will certainly be lost.

The centre board on my BR20 was made with a notch in the leading corner so that the board can be pulled out of the slot after it has retracted during an inversion.  Without the centreboard out of its slot to pull on, righting the inverted boat would be very difficult so this notch is important. The nib forming the notch can get "ground off" if the centre board repeatedly grounds, so I have fitted a hardwood insert with a copper strip to re-enforce it and absorb some of the impact if the centreboard does strike the ground.

Matthew
BR20 Gladys
 

[Tony]

Hi, Matthew. (The belt-and-braces guy)
Re:-
“Better drowned than duffers, if not duffers won’t drown.”
Anyone that relies on their skill and experience alone to keep them safe at sea IS a duffer and will need to be lucky not to drown! Anyone relying on someone else’s skill and experience ...well, need I go on?
Keep using the technology! The more the merrier.

Think I'll get one of those Tribord jobs to replace my threadbare Crewsaver BA.

[Tony]

On Safety Knives:
Luckily, my only experience of turning turtle (broaching off a breaking wave) was in Ionian sea-water warm enough to bath a baby. The lack of automatic life jackets allowed rapid righting and re boarding – and nobody died.
The nearest thing to a fatality in my neck of the woods was a young lady who was trapped under the sail of a capsized catamaran. She was resuscitated by a passing Mines Rescue Unit team who picked up the safety boat’s VHF calls. Since then (there being no MRU teams anymore!) I always sail with a fixed bladed knife attached to the front of my life jacket or buoyancy aid.   Legislation passed by those who think the only possible use for a knife outside of Jamie Oliver’s Kitchen involves stabbing innocent passers-by, necessitates a degree of discretion when transporting such a thing around.(A teacher was recently prosecuted – spelled “persecuted” – for carrying a lock knife in the boot of his car.) but don’t let that worry you, much!
Why a fixed blade? Because, if you need it you’ll need it FAST. You cant unfold a clasp knife quickly – even without gloves – and it is quite likely to be deep in a pocket or a fancy belt pouch AND it’ll snap shut on your fingers (lock knives, despite obvious safety advantages, are now illegal).  A “proper” commercial safety knife would have been as useless to the young lady in question as it was to her rescuers. These knives all have blunt tips, on the assumption that we will be in a life raft or a Rib before we’ll need one, I suppose, and might pop the thing.
I use a Green River knife, with a pointed blade 4” long,  honed sharp and then roughened with one pass over coarse sandpaper to give an edge like a very sharp bread knife. It’ll pierce and cut any sail from canvas to carbon (and do the same to its owner, if you are not careful!) and slice through 12mm rope with one pass. I’ve drilled the handle to take a lanyard as, if used in anger with cold, wet hands I’m certain to drop it. Like the PLB, I hope never to use it – or have to explain to the judge what its doing in the sailing bag in the boot of my car!

[mark1]

Interesting about locking knives being illegal, illegal to own or sell?
I see locking blade knives currently for sale at my local outdoor shop.
I carry a folding knife that I can open with one hand, many good ones are available for river use.

[Wave Sweeper]

As I understand it, lock knives can legally be bought and sold in the UK - they are considered in the same way as fixed knives. That is that it is an offence to carry them in a public place unless you have a good reason to do so. "Good reason" is open to interpretation by the courts, but commonly means used for work - eg chef on way to work. It seems to me that the chances are that in the unlikely event of it coming to court they would think that a small lock knife in a bag in a boat for emergency purposes was reasonable use.

The reason for the confusion is that they are not considered in the same way as knives with a folding blade less than 3" long. These can be carried without a specific reason so long as the blade is not locking. Flick knifes on the other hand are illegal in any circumstances as are a whole list of other knives.

There is lots of information on the internet about this - for example http://www.ukpreppersguide.co.uk/uk-knife-law/

At one time I worked for the police, and had a small lock knife in a drawer which I used for opening plastic packages. I was often told by Police Officers that it was illegal. I advised them to check the law before they arrested me. None of them ever mentioned it a second time! Apart from the question of a "good reason", the knife was not in a public place.

[maxr]

Adding to what Aenbharr says above: Knife legality chapter and verse from UKGov...

https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives

Folding 3" knives of types not on the specifically banned knife list are OK, as A. says. Knives carried 'with good reason' are OK, again provided they're not on the banned knife list. I would guess carrying a sailing safety knife may be OK providing you're on your way to or from sailing - not going down the pub from home in shorts and T shirt. Also, the offense is carrying a banned knife 'in a public place'. Your boat is probably not 'a public place', and it seems to me you might legitimately have e.g. a fish filleting knife on board, which would be illegal in a public place unless you just bought it and were taking it home.

Interestingly, lock knives are described as those that lock by pressing a button. The wickedly sharp Opinel clasp knives with wooden handles (much used in old French films for cutting up garlic sausage) lock by rotating a ring - so are they 'lock knives'?

Some apparently blunt ended sailing safety knives have a razor sharp hooked tip to cut on the 'pull'. One of those might make short work of a trampoline.

[mark1]

good to know, the definition of locking blade is interesting, so my knife which I assume is legal (because I bought it fairly recently!) must be so because it has a locking mechanism which doesn't have a button, and I think the blade is just under 3".
Also a bit more discreet as it goes in my pocket...!

[maxr]

My concern about a fixed blade knife as worn by Tony above, is whether one is more likely to fall on it and thereby do yourself a vast misfortunate, than need to use it in an emergency. Unless a sheath is armoured, a strong sharp pointy knife might cut straight through it under the weight of a person of even modest pie consumption? Of course, where Tony sails, such a knife may be considered a toy compared with the cutlasses carried by local fishermen