I still remember waving goodbye to my mom, as my dad, three of his buddies and I pulled away from the dock in Bar Harbor, Maine. We were bound for the Gulf of Maine and, eventually, our home port on Long Island Sound. The year was 1987; I was 10, and I had begged to go offshore. Consequently, I had made my share of promises so that I might find myself—a mere boy—on a bona fide delivery. Among them were a promise not to venture forward of the cockpit and to wear an (awful) orange Type II life jacket with a homemade chest harness and safety tether.

While my dad’s old C&C 37 got us through in fine form, I quickly learned that I hate being seasick even more than I despise Type II life jackets. 

Flash-forward 35 years to my most recent offshore adventure: a delivery from Ketchikan, Alaska, to Seattle via the outside of Vancouver Island, aboard a lickety-split Riptide 44. Many things had changed. For starters, there was no seasickness, nor was there any time spent languishing at 5 knots. There also was no awful orange life jacket. Instead, I wore my brand-new PFD, which contained an AIS MOB beacon set up to trigger automatically if the PFD inflated. I also carried a PLB.

While there’s no comparing the boatspeeds or water temperatures involved in these two adventures, there’s also no comparing the safety gear. Sure, hypothermia would arrive much faster in British Columbian waters than in the Gulf of Maine in August, however, my AIS MOB beacon would guide my own vessel back to my real-time position, while my GPS-enabled 406 MHz PLB would alert the correct rescuing authority.

When it comes to safety at sea, modern mariners have two important pieces of satellite-based defense available: EPIRBs and PLBs. Both are underpinned by Cospas-Sarsat, which was founded decades ago by Canada, France, the United States and the former Soviet Union to provide a free emergency-signal relay service for mariners of all flags. Today, Cospas-Sarsat involves these founders plus 43 other nations (and two agencies) that share the goal of providing, maintaining and innovating a global distress-signal monitoring system that directs the correct rescuing authority to an unfurling ­emergency as quickly as possible. To date, Cospas-Sarsat has saved more than 50,000 lives. 

On the infrastructure side, Cospas-Sarsat uses transponders fixed onto search-and-­rescue satellites (SARSAT) that operate on three constellation bands: geostationary (GEOSAR), low-earth orbit (LEOSAR) and medium-earth orbit (MEOSAR). As of this writing, there are nine active GEOSAR satellites and five LEOSAR satellites; once the network is complete, there will be at least 75 MEOSAR satellites aloft. 

These satellites are supported by a global network of ground-based assets, including Local Users Terminals (LUTs), Mission Control Centers (MCCs) and local rescue coordination centers. 

Satellite transponders spend the majority of their time monitoring for 406 MHz emergency signals, which originate from a vessel-registered EPIRB or an individually registered PLB. Once a satellite receives a distress signal, it either forwards the signal’s exact frequency and time it was received to a nearby LUT, or it stores and forwards the message to the next available LUT. Then, the LUT passes the message to an MCC in the country where the beacon is registered. The MCC, in turn, hands it off to the correct rescue-coordination center, which executes the rescue. In US waters, this last responsibility falls to the men and women in the US Coast Guard. 

Modern EPIRBs and most PLBs are GPS/GNSS-enabled, meaning they encode and transmit their GPS or GNSS location information along with their unique 406 MHz distress signal. This is critical because accurate position information almost always reduces the amount of time it takes for Cospas-Sarsat to determine an active beacon’s position. 

LEOSAR ground segments can determine a beacon’s location using Doppler processing, however, this requires at least three beacon bursts to determine the beacon’s correct latitude and longitude. MEOSAR satellites can perform almost-instant “trilateration” of an active beacon using what NOAA describes as 3D triangulation. 

GEOSAR satellites, on the other hand, because of their geostationary nature, pass collected 406 MHz signals to LEOSARs and LEOLUTs for geolocation work. 

In addition to their ability to execute trilateration—sometimes with only one beacon burst—the still-evolving MEOSAR satellite network offers other important advantages compared with the older GEOSAR and LEOSAR satellites. These advantages include sheer numbers (read: far shorter wait times than LEOSARs, which complete each orbit every 100 or so minutes) and the fact that multiple MEOSAR satellites are always looking at the same swatch of earth and ocean. This includes the high latitudes. 

According to an example cited on NOAA’s webpage, on May 4, 2016, an EPIRB activated some 700 nautical miles west of the Galapagos Islands. The LEOSAR and GEOSAR constellations required 59 minutes to locate the beacon, and an additional hour and 18 minutes to confirm the signal; MEOSAR located the signal immediately, and confirmed it in 20 minutes. MEOSAR was about seven times faster, shortening the time by almost two hours. And in any emergency situation, time matters.

EPIRBs

As mentioned, EPIRBs are registered to a vessel, not to individual sailors. They come with manually or hydrostatically released mounting brackets, and the EPIRBs themselves can be manually or hydrostatically activated. EPIRBs are physically larger than PLBs. Their batteries are required to enable signal transmission for at least 48 hours (some offer longer burn times), and they’re equipped with 360-degree strobe lights. 

All EPIRBs sold in the United States on or after January 1, 2019, are required to be GPS/GNSS-enabled. One important and recent regulatory change came on July 1, 2022, when the International Maritime Organization began mandating that large commercial ships (read: SOLAS-level vessels) fit EPIRBs that are both GPS- and AIS-enabled.

While SARSATs listen for 406 MHz signals, AIS signals are transmitted via VHF radio and are received by every AIS-equipped vessel that is within VHF range. This makes AIS the preferred signal for so-called final-mile search-and-rescue work, and means that modern EPIRBs transmit four signals: 406 MHz, 121.5 MHz (an older-generation homing signal for final-mile operations), AIS and GPS/GNSS. As of this writing, the only EPIRBs that satisfy this requirement are ACR Electronics’s GlobalFix V5 EPIRB, Ocean Signal’s EPIRB3, McMurdo’s Smartfind G8 AIS and Kannad’s SafePro AIS (ACR and Ocean Signal are owned by the same parent company, while McMurdo and Kannad share similar lineage). Other manufacturers are expected to bring next-generation EPIRBs to market soon. 

If you cruise with an older, non-AIS- and GPS/GNSS-enabled EPIRB, or with one that’s incompatible with the new MEOSAR satellites, this winter could be a great time to ask Santa for an upgrade. 

PLBs

Personal locator beacons are designed to contact Cospas-Sarsat and are among the most important beacons that every sailor should carry. PLBs are typically pocket-size, are inherently buoyant or employ a buoyant case, and are manually activated. As mentioned, PLBs are registered to an individual, not to a vessel. Users must register their beacon after purchase; in the United States, this is done through NOAA’s website. Users can update their beacon’s profile as necessary. 

This latter point is key. Before leaving for my recent delivery from Ketchikan to Seattle, I updated my NOAA beacon profile to describe our proposed sailing dates, expected routing, the vessel’s name, the (correctly spelled) names of each crewmember, the name of the vessel’s owner (he wasn’t aboard), some emergency contacts, and a description of the yacht (44 feet, white topsides, royal-blue undercarriage). All of this information would save critical time in an emergency. Once sailing, I carried my PLB in a dedicated pouch attached to my PFD’s harness, and I secured a lanyard from the PLB to the PFD’s harness so that the beacon couldn’t float away if I found myself swimming (my AIS MOB was also backed up with a lanyard).

As mentioned, most modern PLBs—including mine—incorporate GPS/GNSS information with their distress signals, which can save a lot of time. Another important advancement involves relaying confirmation to the PLB that Cospas-Sarsat has received its distress signal. Tragically, there have been documented examples of mariners making fatal decisions because they believed their signals went unheard. As a result, some newer PLBs have Return Link Service (RLS), which means that once Cospas-Sarsat has received a distress signal, it initiates a reciprocal signal for confirmation. 

Anyone in the market for a PLB should spend a little bit more (ballpark $100 extra) and invest in a MEOSAR-compatible PLB that includes RLS capabilities. 

While cruisers can expect to pay a few hundred dollars for a PLB, there are no subscription costs or revolving fees. PLB batteries are good for roughly five years of standby service and at least 24 hours of operation (manufacturers advise mariners to replace their batteries after use). Five years is also a good time frame for evaluating newer technologies and possibly upgrading beacons as new capabilities come online. 

AIS MOBs

Having sailed and raced extensively in the Pacific Northwest’s cold waters, I’m well aware that one’s own vessel—or a nearby vessel—is the fastest way out of a MOB situation. As their moniker implies, AIS MOBs are individually carried but unregistered beacons that, when activated, transmit emergency signals over AIS. These signals trigger AIS alarms on all nearby vessels; these alarms include AIS MOB icons that appear on networked chart plotters and give real-time information about a MOB’s location.

AIS MOBs include an AIS transmitter, integrated GPS (or GNSS), usually a Digital Selective Calling (DSC) transmitter, sometimes an integrated strobe light, a battery and an antenna. Once activated, AIS MOBs transmit position information that’s accurate to within a few meters for at least 24 hours. 

While most AIS MOBs are manually activated, some—including Ocean Signal’s MOB1 and ACR’s AISLink MOB (owned by the same ­parent ­company)—can be rigged inside a personal ­flotation device so that when the PFD inflates, it pulls the pin on the AIS MOB. This way, the AIS MOB starts broadcasting within seconds. This ­feature is especially important if the MOB is injured or goes into shock.

Bluetooth Devices

In addition to PLBs and AIS MOBs, companies including ACR also make Bluetooth-based MOB alarms. These consist of an onboard base station that typically pairs with a wireless device running a dedicated app, plus a series of crew-carried pendants or tags. Should a tag break its geofence, an alarm is tripped on the app, which captures the tag’s current GPS location. Users can navigate back to this last-known MOB position; however, it’s important to understand that set-and-drift means an MOB can travel some distance from where they fell overboard. Also, unlike AIS MOBs, whose emergency signals and real-time positions are displayed by all nearby AIS-equipped traffic, Bluetooth screams can be heard only by the tag’s paired base station. So, while Bluetooth-based MOB devices are affordable, and sometimes even include an engine kill switch, they don’t afford the same protection as an AIS MOB or PLB. 

Two-Way Communicators

Recent years have seen the advent of satellite trackers that offer two-way satellite communications and the ability to contact a privately operated emergency-­response center such as the (Garmin-owned) International Emergency Response Coordination Center (IERCC). That center, in turn, contacts the correct rescuing authority. These two-way communicators are GPS-enabled, which means they can share your exact location information. They also have two-way communications (typically using a third-party wireless device, but sometimes on the communicator itself) that can be crucial in an emergency. Product names include Garmin’s inReach, Spot X and ACR’s Bivy Stick. These devices can sometimes be used for navigation and to get basic weather information, but they do require a subscription plan (although typically not for issuing an emergency signal). 

Gold Standards

Given the available technologies, the best electronic tools for ensuring safety at sea are a contemporary and properly registered EPIRB, a properly registered and updated PLB, and an AIS MOB. This setup is the safest way to sail. As for cost, remember: No one ever wished they owned a cheaper parachute before pulling the rip cord.

David Schmidt is CW’s electronics editor.

Stop The Press!

Minutes before press time, ACR Electronics and Ocean Signal (same parent company) announced the first combination 406 MHz and AIS-enabled beacons: the ResQLink AIS PLB and the PLB3 (respectively). These devices are registered to an individual, and can be considered the gold standard for all-in-one beacons. If you’re looking to upgrade, these game-changers could be just the ticket.

Vendor Information

ACR Electronics; from $310
Garmin; from $350
Kannad; call for pricing
Netwave; call for pricing
McMurdo; from $290
Ocean Signal; from $310

The post Electronic Life Insurance appeared first on Cruising World.

It’s a reminder of all the many possibilities boating has to offer, but also that on today’s increasingly crowded waterways there has never been a better, more cru-cial time to be a qualified, educated skipper.

For over 100 years, boaters of all experience have learned these skills thanks to America’s Boating Club. A nationwide network of squadrons dedicated to boating safety and education, the non-profit Club boasts over 20,000 members organized into more than 300 clubs across the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Is-lands. Many credit the Club for their initial boating education. America’s Boating Club, however, is also a great place for any boater looking to advance their skills, prepare for an exciting challenge like a long-distance cruise, even socialize with fellow boaters and make lasting friends.

America’s Boating Club believes that an educated boater is a better boater. Edu-cated boaters know the rules of the road on the water, understand navigational markers and warning signs, and realize the importance of various safety equip-ment and how to respond in an emergency. Educated boaters are also responsible boaters, aware of both their fellow boaters and the environment, and welcomed into the boating community.

America’s Boating Course is the classic first step in any novice boater’s education and is designed to not only educate but prepare participants to pass their individual state tests and receive a boating safety certificate. That certificate is now a requirement in many states and may even lower insurance costs.

America’s Boating Club is also the premier source for education in a wide variety of other areas, including boat handling, understanding and using nautical charts and/or GPS, proper use of VHF radio and other electronics, even how to navigate rivers, locks and lakes or plan an extended cruise.

Perhaps the best part about America’s Boating Club’s educational programs? Not only are they educational and affordable, they’re also fun! Nearly all courses and seminars are available in multiple formats, from convenient at-home sessions via the internet* to instructor-led sessions in the classroom. Members can also receive practical hands-on training with certified instructors at a vast network of Learning Centers (350 and counting!) Worried about maneuvering in the tight confines of a marina or feel confident anchoring? Or maybe you want to learn the skills to safely take that first cruise. Whatever the need, America’s Boating Club can provide the education in a supportive, non-intimidating environment.

Being a member of America’s Boating Club also means access to benefits that ex-tend beyond education. Members frequently give back to the community through activities like free Vessel Safety Checks, waterway cleanups, and crowd-sourced navigation updates. There are also on-water social opportunities like cruises and raft-ups, as well as community activities and events where you can share your passion for boating with fellow, like-minded members. Other benefits include sig-nificant savings on towing, boating products, boating and non-boating insurance, travel and lodging and more, from leading companies including Sea-Tow, BoatUS, Boat Fix, Wyndham Hotel Group, Avis and Budget, Vistaprint, Office Depot and Of-ficeMax, Hamilton Marine and more.

In fact, the best savings are found in an America’s Boating Club Value Bundle. In addition to a one-year membership and all the above member benefits, it includes America’s Boating Course Online, a choice of two interest-specific seminars, a one-year subscription to a choice of boating publications and more.

So come on, join the club…and make the most of your boating investment.

*Note: Not all states accept the online version of America’s Boating Course due to the inability to provide a proctored test.

The post Join The Club appeared first on Cruising World.

Right away, Dr. David Johnson launched into a scenario: “A 42-year-old man is struck in the head by the boom during a jibe. The boat and crew are 100 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 12 knots of breeze; it is 1400, and the sky is clear. The helm reports that the patient was knocked out for a few seconds. Patient now complains of a mild headache. Serious or not serious?”

The class glanced around at one another before someone piped up, “Serious?”

“How do you know?” asked Johnson—or DJ, as he likes to be called.

“Well, because of the headache?”

You’re on the right track, DJ said, but you need more information. DJ, an emergency physician, along with co-instructor Jeff Isaac, a physician associate and wilderness EMT, were leading the Offshore Emergency Medicine course at the 2021 Bay Bridge Boat Show in Stevensville, Maryland. They went on to give more details of the scenario and spoke on how different elements can tip the situation one way or the other. A patient’s symptoms and medical history, the location of the boat, and the crew’s preparedness can mean the difference between a challenging situation and a full-blown medical emergency.

As someone who cruises with just my husband and ­daughters, my ­biggest fears could be summed up as medical “what-ifs.”

As someone who typically cruises with just my husband and daughters, my biggest fears could usually be summed up as medical “what-ifs.” What if my husband broke a bone? What if my daughter had an allergic reaction or got an infection? Would I know how to handle it? What should be in our first-aid kit? I knew that I wanted some medical training before going cruising again, and the OEM course seemed ideal. The three-day program is designed for sailors who travel far from medical assistance, and the intensity and scope of content covered made it more relevant than typical wilderness first-aid courses. DJ’s jibe scenario tested our attempts to diagnose a traumatic brain injury—­serious business from the get-go. By 8:30 on Day One, I was glad that I had (mostly) done my assigned reading. I would have been lost otherwise.

I was not alone in my fears and my desire to learn. Norhi Folsom, one of my classmates, lives with her husband and kids in Las Vegas. The family is planning to circumnavigate aboard a Balance 526 catamaran. While waiting for the cat’s expected fall 2022 delivery, they were testing their cruising legs aboard a Lagoon 420 and exploring the US East Coast and the Bahamas. Norhi took the OEM course, she said, because of her uneasiness about her ability to handle an emergency.

 “I’m not a doctor; I’m not a nurse. But I figured I could get some basic knowledge to mitigate a medical situation with some planning and preparation,” Norhi said.

Now in its 25th year, the popular OEM course, run by Wilderness Medical Associates, is offered several times annually. My 20 classmates included a young Coastie and his girlfriend who are planning an open-ended cruise; a family of four who are preparing for extended cruising aboard a catamaran; an EMT earning continuing-­education credits; and a racing crew preparing for the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race. Our experience was an intense three days of classroom and hands-on learning.

When students register for the course, they’re given access to an online classroom portal where they can find the course materials, including the textbook (Wilderness and Rescue Medicine), case studies and a pre-test. Full disclosure: I found the test hard, even with all the materials at hand. It was immediately evident that this was not going to be a typical first-aid class. DJ and Jeff recommend taking first aid and CPR before the OEM course because knowledge of basic skills are assumed and aren’t covered.

While the OEM course is different than a backcountry-­medicine course, both are rooted in the same principles: managing an emergency when one has delayed access to ­medical care, in a hostile environment, with limited equipment. Both DJ and Jeff have extensive experience offshore, along with experience in the deep wilderness and on ski slopes. Every concept they presented was rooted in risk-versus-benefit decision-­making, which leads to a plan of care for the patient. As Jeff put it, “Sailors inherently know that risk is a function of probability and consequence.”

Keeping someone stable, hydrated and comfortable are some of the most integral parts of the game plan.

Day One—which covered what DJ called “the big, bad stuff”—was the most intense. We touched on all the things you hope never happen on your boat, and practiced the process needed to logically deal with these situations. Shock (a failure of the circulatory system), respiratory failure and brain failure are the three biggies. We learned how seemingly small things—a jellyfish sting, seasickness, a headache—can lead to one of the biggies if not taken care of early. It was sobering, to say the least.

The importance of communication was another aspect we practiced. “Have a plan in place when calling the Coast Guard,” Jeff said. “Do you want a check-in schedule? A medical evacuation?” During breakout sessions, we teamed up with classmates—one person played the victim and the other, the responder. Victims were given a scenario to act out, and responders were challenged to form a diagnosis and to communicate the situation. We delivered our assessments succinctly to the class, as if relaying the information to rescuers or to a doctor over a radio or satphone. It wasn’t all doom and gloom. DJ told us that most patients live if they survive the initial trauma. With his experience as an emergency physician, I figured he’d know. 

For patient treatment, we focused on low-risk procedures that solve high-risk problems. Keeping someone stable, hydrated and comfortable is the most integral part of the game plan. Deciding whether to call for rescue or alter course to a closer destination with a medical facility weighs into the risk-versus-benefit analysis. Weather and the capabilities of the crew should always be considered. “Most people will do better with basic care aboard than with a complicated evacuation,” DJ added.

I was looking forward to the second day with equal amounts of dread and excitement. The syllabus called for a deep dive into serious injuries and, being a bit squeamish, I was nervous. Our morning classroom discussion brought home the importance of gathering health information from each crewmember and requesting that all crew have a physical and a dental checkup before heading offshore. Next up, the ­squeamish-inducing stuff: wound care, pain management and musculoskeletal injuries. We quickly learned why having a history for each crewmember is important. Knowing that someone has an allergy to an antibiotic or is on medication can keep a bad situation from getting much worse. 

After lunch, we reconvened around tables loaded with all sorts of medical equipment: blood-pressure cuffs and stethoscopes, pressure dressings and syringes. We practiced wound cleaning on pigs’ feet fresh from a butcher shop, and rehearsed giving injections. DJ and Jeff showed us a slew of techniques and answered a load of questions. It was empowering and overwhelming at the same time. 

By Day Three, I felt like things were finally clicking. Our last day we covered illnesses and what DJ called “weird tropical stuff” (dengue fever, skin infections from coral cuts, and insect bites), and walked through what an ideal medical kit might look like, including which medications. With this course tailored for offshore sailing, DJ and Jeff were able to focus on the types of illnesses and conditions that sailors are most likely to come across: hypothermia, heat exhaustion, dehydration, heat stroke, injuries from lightning, and toxins from marine life. We also went through common maladies such as earaches, diarrhea, respiratory infections and skin rashes, noting that dealing with the small things early and efficiently keeps them from becoming serious. 

RELATED: Safety at Sea: Mental Preparations Contribute to Positive Outcomes

Our discussion of medical kits made me realize how inadequate most kits are for long-distance cruising. “For bluewater passages and remote cruising grounds, you will need a medical toolbox equipped for self-sufficiency and the long haul,” Jeff noted. He recommended we add more Ace bandages to a basic kit, along with waterproof and blister Band-Aids; burn gel and large gel pads for burns; a CPR pocket mask and a nasopharyngeal airway kit; pressure dressings, tourniquet and sterile wound packing for bleeding. Keep in mind before you add something to your medical kit that you need to know how to use it.

“For ­bluewater passages and ­remote cruising grounds, you will need a medical ­toolbox equipped for self-sufficiency.”

As Norhi prepares for her family’s circumnavigation, she said that the medical kit is something that will get plenty of attention. “The course definitely had an impact on my provisioning. There are quite a few items sold in medical kits that are not as helpful or not multifunctional. This course not only pointed those out, but it also gave suggestions on better options and, should space allow, extras. I’m putting together my own medical kit.”

Eric Irwin, who is preparing for the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race, attended the class with fellow crewmember Marcus Wunderlich. Eric is a 30-year Navy veteran with long-distance ocean-racing experience. For Eric, the biggest takeaways from the course were learning what is life-threatening and critical, and what is not, in order to make risky decisions when responding to a medical event, as well as communicating medical status to personnel who are available to support and respond. Attending with Marcus—who, while not a doctor by profession, will serve as their boat’s doctor during the race—was ­beneficial, Eric said, because in the event of a medical emergency, they will have a shared vocabulary from the course, and a set of valuable skills.

For Marcus, his major takeaway was more physical. “I now have more of an understanding of how human life works—perfusion of human tissue by oxygenated blood—and the organs fundamentally involved, and how to preserve the ­functionality of these organs.”

Norhi’s thoughts echoed my own. “My biggest takeaway from the course is understanding that pain and a little blood are not necessarily emergencies, while shock or nervous system failure are emergencies,” she said. Learning a systematic way of surveying a patient, diagnosing and treating the patient, and conveying data to medical professionals are all extremely important, she said, as is staying focused during what can be a chaotic time.

After this course, I’ve come to understand that medical training is not a one-and-done thing, and I plan to take more first-aid courses in the future, particularly before heading off on our next adventure. My personal goal for the course was to have a better understanding of emergency medical care and to build confidence about what I should do if faced with an onboard medical emergency, which I feel I’ve accomplished. Similar to our life raft and EPIRB, though, it’s something I hope I’ll never have to use.

Jennifer Brett is a CW editor-at-large.

For information and to check out the schedule of upcoming classes, visit wildmed.com.

The post In Case of Emergency appeared first on Cruising World.

With the start of a new year, owners of documented boats can expect to receive renewal notices from the US Coast Guard, but many will also get misleading mail containing official looking documentation that carry hefty fees that are well above what is actually charged by the federal government, BoatUS warns.

While the Coast Guard sends out notices by mail, third-party companies in recent years have also sent mailers with return addresses that are similar to the Coast Guard National Vessel Documentation Center in Falling Waters, West Virginia, and which direct owners to websites that are similarly confusing.

Renewing documentation for most vessels is simple and straightforward, and costs $26 annually (renewal options for up to five years are also available). Forms and online payment services are available at https://www.uscg.mil/nvdc. Click on click on “instructions and forms,” then “Certificate of Documentation Application for Renewal,” BoatUS advises.

“To be documented, a vessel must measure at least five net tons and, with the exception of certain oil-spill response vessels, owned by a U.S. citizen. Boats about 27 feet in length or longer generally meet the weight requirement,”.

BoatUS also advises boaters who may have received mail that they believe is misleading or deceptive to contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455 or through its website https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov.

The post Beware: Misleading Documentation Offers appeared first on Cruising World.

This summer, the Sea Tow Foundation is turning to mariners to help promote its mission, “to promote safe boating practices that directly reduce accidents, deaths, and property damage,” by asking them to record a selfie while answering a boating-related question-of-the-month and posting it to Facebook or Instagram with a tag to @SeaTowFoundation and the hashtag #summerofboatingsafely.” Answers can be recorded either on the boat or at home in the yard.

Each contest segment revolves around one of the big summer holidays:

• The question for Memorial Day (now through June 30; winner chosen July 15): What is something you do to boat safely that you wish everyone would do on the water?
• The question for Independence Day (July 1 through July 31; winner chosen Aug. 15): What do you tell guests on your boat so that everyone on board is boating safely?
• The question for Labor Day (Aug. 1 through Sept. 7; winner chosen Sept. 15): What three items are on your checklist for boating safely?

For more about the contest and the foundation, visit BoatingSafety.com.

The post Sail Safe, Win Stuff appeared first on Cruising World.

Mark Wheeler went overboard a few minutes before midnight. He was in the middle of Lake Michigan, 30 miles offshore in 40 knots of wind. As he fumbled for the lanyard to inflate his lifejacket he watched his racing sailboat, Meridian X, disappear into the night at more than 18 knots.

It was as if he’d fallen off the back of a powerboat running at three-quarters throttle, with one big difference. Meridian X was flying a massive spinnaker sail in a violent squall, and it was all helmsman Dave Flynn could do to keep the boat under control. Before the eight crewmen remaining on Meridian X could come back for Wheeler, they had to get that sail down.

“I knew it was going to be a long time before they were able to come back,” says Wheeler, 65. As a former F-14 Tomcat pilot with 30 years in commercial aviation, he was trained to remain calm in a crisis and focus on factors he could control. That meant one thing: staying alive.

“My job was to survive. If I didn’t do that, there’s nothing the guys on the boat could do to help me,” says Wheeler, who was competing in the 2017 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, a 333-mile south-to-north traverse of Lake Michigan.

Wheeler’s first order of business was to keep his head above the waves and activate his inflatable lifejacket, which he’d set to manual so it wouldn’t fire off accidentally. He found the lanyard and inflated the lifejacket, then switched on a small light attached to the vest and held it aloft so the others “could see that I had gone through that first evolution successfully,” Wheeler says.

Next, he assessed his situation. He was 30 miles offshore, immersed in 60-degree water. The night was like pitch, moonless and storming. And his lifejacket wasn’t properly buckled. He’d been resting below decks when the all-hands call came to get the spinnaker down, and in the darkness and rush to get topside he hadn’t managed to secure the metal clasp. Now he crossed his arms over the two lobes of the lifejacket, and confronted a second problem: Minutes after he went overboard, his brand new light flickered and went out.

Wheeler had an Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmitter on his lifejacket, but knew Meridian X wasn’t equipped to track it. Also tethered to his lifejacket was an orange plastic whistle.

On Meridian X, two crewmembers had seen someone go overboard, but they didn’t know whom. “We literally had to do a head count to see who wasn’t there,” Flynn says, “and once I find out who it is, I realize we’re missing the key cog in the wheel. Because to find somebody in the water, Mark would have been the most valuable person on the boat.”

Wheeler is an experienced offshore racer whose job on Meridian X is tactics and navigation. Under normal circumstances, he’d be the first to press the man-overboard button on the navigation system, and the best equipped to guide the vessel back to that location in total darkness and 40-knot winds.

To complicate matters, the crew was now shorthanded. Wheeler was in the water, and two sailors were assigned to do nothing but keep eyes on him. The boat’s normal complement of nine was effectively reduced to six.

The boat was still barreling downwind at a rate of about a mile every three minutes. Graham Garrenton estimates it covered two miles before the crew managed to douse the spinnaker. Now with the mainsail and smaller staysail still up, the 40-foot racing boat had to tack through the wind to start working its way back to Wheeler.

In the midst of this maneuver a 55-knot gust slammed Meridian X onto its side. The boat has more than 4,800 pounds of ballast in its keel to keep it upright under almost any circumstances. That’s why sailboats can heel at such crazy angles—like the children’s toy, they’re designed to wobble but not fall down. So a knockdown is an extraordinary event on a sailboat, and a hold-down—when the boat doesn’t immediately right itself—is even more uncommon. Garrenton estimates Meridian X was held down for about 90 seconds.

“A lot of us were hanging onto the lifelines and the toe rails with the boat almost at a 90-degree angle, trying to hold on until we could get the boat back on its feet and going the other way,” Garrenton says.

Through the chaos, the two spotters had kept eyes on what they thought was Wheeler’s light. In fact, when the strobe flickered out they’d confused it with a different light, probably on another boat in the Chicago-Mac fleet. Meridian X had gotten a superb start, and nearly 300 other vessels were spread out behind it in an arc some 30 miles wide and 40 miles deep. All of them carried lights, which appeared like pinpricks on the otherwise black horizon.

“We probably spent a good 15 minutes chasing lights that were just ghosts,” Flynn says.

Moments after Wheeler went overboard, skipper Sledd Shelhorse made a Mayday call on VHF Channel 16 and punched the emergency button on the DSC-equipped radio, marking Meridian X‘s GPS coordinates. A few boats heard the call and stopped racing to aid in the search. Others had their hands full with the squall and didn’t hear the transmission. Still others confused the call with another emergency unfolding at the same time. A trimaran had capsized in the same squall that knocked Wheeler off Meridian X, and the Coast Guard had its hands full recovering the three sailors onboard.

When they realized they’d lost sight of Wheeler’s light, the crew decided to sail a reciprocal course toward his last position. It was the best strategy left to them, though not a perfect one. They knew Wheeler would drift—how far and in what direction was anyone’s guess—and precious seconds had ticked away before Shelhorse was able to mark his position. At the time, Meridian X was covering a football field every 10 seconds. The coordinates didn’t indicate Wheeler’s precise position; they were simply a place to start looking.

Meridian X motor-sailed on a reciprocal course, zigzagging a little to cover more ground. This was the hardest time, says Garrenton, “when you have time and space in your brain for all the thoughts to creep in.” The odds seemed impossibly long.

Then someone said he thought he heard a whistle.

Flynn was incredulous. “I said, you can’t hear a whistle out here. It’s loud, it’s windy, stuff’s flapping and crashing and banging around.” But then another crewmember heard it. They knocked the motor back to idle. Now there was no mistake. Flynn steered toward the sound.

It was after midnight, nearly an hour since Wheeler had gone overboard. When he first went into the water he noted the position of a lightning storm to the northwest, using it to orient himself in the otherwise vast and featureless lake. Looking to the north he sighted a light, dim and low on the horizon. He blew the whistle with every breath. Slowly, the light grew brighter.

“When I saw that masthead light getting higher on the horizon and getting closer it was very encouraging, but also I knew this was going to be my one chance,” Wheeler says. “I just wailed on that whistle.”

As Meridian X approached from the north, another racing boat was coming from the south. The crew aboard the Farr 395 Aftershock had stopped racing to join the search. They too heard the whistle, and put a spotlight on Wheeler. The men on Meridian X maneuvered to recover their friend.

Flynn approached from downwind, easing the bow of the boat toward Wheeler as if picking up a mooring. “Once I was able to get my hands on Mark physically it was an overwhelming relief,” Garrenton says. “It was like a flood that just washed over the boat.”

The crew used a life sling to haul Wheeler over the stern. He was cold but not shivering, classic symptoms of early stage hypothermia. They got him below decks, wrapped him in blankets and plied him with warm drinks. Flynn steered for the nearest port, Muskegon, Mich., 34 miles to the east.

About two hours later Wheeler came on deck. Despite spending an hour and six minutes in the cold lake water, he required no medical attention. But as Wheeler said when his friends first hauled him aboard, he had survived a very close call.

Many factors contributed to his successful rescue, from his water-rescue training as a naval aviator to his ability to remain calm and focus on his job—staying alive and signaling rescuers by whatever means available to him, initially by activating his signal light, and after it failed, by using his whistle. The skill and persistence of the Meridian X crew was also essential to Wheeler’s rescue. They never lost focus, despite a cascade of what Flynn called “little disasters.”

If you’ve been reading closely you may have a mental checklist: Wheeler’s failure to buckle his lifejacket before coming on deck. The crew’s failure to activate the man-overboard module and immediately mark his position. Meridian X‘s lack of an AIS transceiver to track Wheeler’s beacon (it was not required for the 2017 Chicago-Mac race, but is now).

Other factors were down to equipment failure, or just plain bad luck. A new light with new batteries flickered and failed. The Coast Guard had its hands full with another emergency. The squall that threw Wheeler off Meridian X, and then knocked the boat down, was not forecasted. Their luck wasn’t all bad. After the ignition key fell into the bilge when Meridian X was knocked down, one of the crew found it and the diesel fired on the first turn—no small thing, because as Flynn notes, “engines don’t like to start after a boat’s been heeled over.”

Wheeler and the Meridian team have learned plenty from the incident, and have adjusted their equipment and safety protocols. One of the most-important things is to practice man-overboard drills while shorthanded—just as they were when Wheeler fell off the bus. The team has a new boat (“Bigger and faster,” Wheeler says with a grin) and it’s equipped with AIS and redundant safety equipment, as is each crew member’s lifejacket.

The lesson isn’t to rely entirely on a whistle—in a perfect world Meridian X would have tracked straight back to Wheeler’s AIS position, and homed in on the signal light to pick him up. But one of those systems wasn’t available, and the other failed.

That simple whistle was the last line of defense, and it saved Mark Wheeler’s life.

The post Man Overboard Miracle appeared first on Cruising World.

The NOWS describe what recreational boating skills to instruct and how best to instruct them. They are designed to help boaters have the best experience possible when learning to operate a recreational boat; and also, to help ensure students across the country learn a common fundamental set of skills associated with safely operating a recreational boat regardless of where they take the course.

“Most of us know someone who had a difficult first-time experience on the water and never went back to boating. The standards, now available to boating safety educators, will help give boaters the skills and experience they need to be more comfortable and confident about their readiness to safely operate a recreational boat and enjoy themselves on the water,” said Jim Muldoon, NOWS Program Oversight Committee Member

The public can have confidence in the new national quality standards. They are the result of one of the largest studies ever conducted on safe boating skills. This seven-year project involved over 900 expert recreational boating instructors working with hundreds of beginner-level boaters. The experts developed and nationally field-tested the four quality standards a total of more than 600 times to determine the priority of the skills to teach and the best approach for teaching them.

People interested in learning to safely operate a recreational boat, or just brush up on their skills, are encouraged to choose course providers displaying the NOWS logo, which shows that a provider is following the National On-Water Standards for what skills to teach and the approach used to teach them.

For more information please visit boatingsafetymag.com for a list of education providers following the national standards for boating skills education. Be sure to only choose a boating education course that is following the National On-Water Standards.

National boating education associations have also begun the process of adopting the standards. US Sailing, American Sailing Association, US Powerboating, and the American Canoe Association (ACA) for example, are reviewing their beginner-level programs to ensure they follow the new standards. Subsequently, more and more of their member organizations and schools are building the standards into their local courses and use of the standards is becoming the new norm for course providers everywhere.

About the National On-Water Standards (NOWS) Program
The National On-Water Standards (NOWS) Program is a collaboration initiative led by a diverse group of 27 volunteer Subject Matter Experts from many different recreational boating organizations across the recreational boating community. Funded in part from US Coast Guard Grants awarded to US Sailing, and facilitated by a professional facilitator, the purpose of the NOWS Program is to help raise the overall quality, consistency and availability of recreational boating entry-level skills instruction throughout the United States. It does this by developing national standards, tools and other resources education providers can use to design and deliver on-water instruction that trains people to operate recreational powerboats, sailboats or human-propelled craft. The ultimate goal is to increase the level of safety and enjoyment recreational boaters experience on our nation’s waterways… saving lives in the process.

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Even the most casual boater often believes that he or she knows everything necessary to have a great day out boating. However, if you’ve spent any significant amount of time on the water, it’s obvious that too many boaters are confused or unaware of some basic rules about navigation, alcohol use and safety equipment. To help improve boating knowledge, and thereby boater safety, the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, the U.S. Coast Guard, and a group of public and private boating safety entities are promoting the Spring Aboard – Take a Boating Education Course campaign.

The Spring Aboard campaign is a nationally coordinated effort that aims to get boaters educated in boating safety before the boating season begins. The campaign facilitates a weeklong heightened awareness component of the year-round campaign, and takes place March 18-24 when many course providers are offering discounts or other incentives for students who enroll or complete a boating safety education course.

“If we can increase the knowledge of the average boater, we can make our waterways significantly safer for recreational boaters,” said Tom Guess, President of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). “The majority of recreational boaters are not on the water frequently enough, or for the length of time needed, to become an expert at operating a vessel. They are out with friends and family for the weekend or for a holiday, but they still need to know the important basics of boating safety to have a safe and enjoyable experience. This is where boating education plays an important role.”

Most states have some form of mandatory education program that encourages or requires boaters to take a boating education course in person or online. Even when courses are mandatory, many boaters overlook boating education requirements as the excitement and heat of summer grips them and they head to the water. The goal of the Spring Aboard campaign is to get boaters thinking about education before the spring and summer weather starts pulling people outside.

Boating trends and statistics tell us that educated boaters have fewer accidents, but convincing boaters to take a course on safe boating habits cannot just be about fear of a catastrophic incident. Boating education is about more than avoiding accidents. Educated boaters are more confident boaters and they are able to enjoy the boating experience much more.

Another challenge that has always hindered boating education is that activities like boating, fishing and waterskiing are supposed to be fun and relaxing. Nobody wants to think about accident statistics or drunken boating arrests when they think about getting out on the water. “People boat for an escape, so when we talk about the dangers of boating like accidents and fatalities, some people don’t want to listen,” said Guess.

One of the ways the Spring Aboard campaign is encouraging boaters to take a boating safety course is to help make courses affordable for everyone. During the heightened awareness week of the Spring Aboard campaign, March 18-24, many private course providers are offering discounts. BOATsmart! is offering steep discounts on their boating safety courses and BOATERexam.com is offering 50% off the price of their courses for the entire week.

“Taking an online course is an easy way to quickly get up to speed on the most important boating knowledge,” said Kerry Moher, Co-founder of BOATERexam.com. “But our course isn’t just convenient, it’s also a lot of fun. We have literally thousands of reviews from boaters telling us how much they enjoyed taking our course.”

Boat-Ed.com is also offering a 50% discount on boating safety courses. “Our online courses are better than ever with interactive videos and a true student-centered approach,” said Mitch Strobl of Boat-Ed.com. “Boating education isn’t boring; it’s easy to access and fun.”

For those who want to take a traditional classroom course, you can find classes just about anywhere in America during Spring Aboard week. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is a nationwide organization that offers boating courses in virtually every state in America. The courses are very inexpensive, and are often held on the weekends.

“I think we can provide a great service by having experienced boaters answer questions and engage with boaters on a personal level,” said Bill Stolz, Coast Guard Auxiliary member and boating instructor.

Even in states without mandatory education, boaters still have the opportunity to improve upon their knowledge of boating safety. “We offer free classroom courses every month, materials for home study, and four different online courses,” says Josh Hoffman, Boating Safety Education Coordinator for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Most states offer similar opportunities through their boating agencies.

This year is the third anniversary of the Spring Aboard campaign. For the last few years, course providers, states and organizations have rolled out the program slowly. This year, the boating community is very excited about getting more people engaged.

“We are seeing a growing audience as the technology improves for course delivery and we get more course providers offering serious discounts for their courses,” said Guess. “Nobody goes boating to get into an accident, fall overboard or hurt themselves. As a boating safety community, we can make a real difference in the everyday experience of boaters on the water, and frankly I’m excited by that.”

With the wide variety of organizations and businesses offering courses, such as the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, U.S. Sailing, U.S. Power Squadrons, BoatUS Foundation, and numerous private and online course providers, boaters have a wide variety of options when looking to get educated in boating safety. Boaters looking for more information on boating safety courses can contact their state boating agency or find additional information at www.nasbla.org/boatingcourses.

For additional information contact:

Brian Rehwinkle
Spring Aboard Campaign, Chair
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation
Boating Education
Phone: 850-488-5600 E-mail: brian.rehwinkel@myfwc.com

Pamela Dillon
NASBLA Education and Standards Director
National Association of State Boating Law Administrators
Phone: 859-225-9487 E-mail: pam@nasbla.org

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