Whether you’re a new boat owner preparing for the first voyage or have been on the water for years and wish to upgrade your equipment. Whatever boat you have or are thinking of buying, safety is paramount when on the water! Before you set sail be prepared!
With that in mind, we’ve created the following guide to the essential safety equipment and some of the most useful items to keep on board your boat, focusing on reliable, modern marine safety products.
Lifejackets
The key to choosing a life jacket is matching safety performance with all day comfort. A lifejacket gives you peace of mind and may be invaluable if you fall overboard, particularly as it can turn you over so your face isn’t underwater. If you have a sailing boat, look for lifejackets with harnesses enabling the wearer to clip on a safety line.
For coastal and inshore boating the Seago Active 190 is a lightweight comfortable lifejacket that isn’t square and bulky. Available in both manual inflation and automatic inflation models.
For those of you who venture offshore and in challenging conditions our favourite lifejacket is the Seago 3Dynamic. Seago’s flagship lifejacket made for the professional. This jacket is ideal for those that want a jacket that can be worn all day without knowing it’s on. For additional safety wear the lifejacket with a harness or safety clip that attaches to the vessel whilst on deck.
Top Tip: Make sure you have enough lifejackets for everyone onboard, gas inflated lifejackets need servicing at regular intervals!
Life Raft & Hammar H20
A life raft is the key piece of equipment that you wish you’d invested in when you really need it. The cost of life rafts has fallen in recent years making the investment even easier on the wallet. With some life-rafts coming with 18 year warranties and discounted servicing costs.
Most boats have various spaces ready to fit a life raft, whether it is in a solid container or in a special bag called a valise. The preferred option being life raft fitted on the exterior in a secure cradle held in place with a strap with a Hammar H20 Hydrostatic release unit. If you are wondering what the H20 does, it’s quite simple. If the boat sinks rapidly or capsizes before you have a chance to deploy the raft the H20 allows the raft to deploy without manual deployment.
There are so many different options on the market when it comes to life rafts.
We always suggest purchasing new from a reputable main dealer. Buy it new, keep it serviced and hopefully you’ll never need it. But if you do, at least you know it’s going to work.
The problem with used life rafts is you just don’t know what you are going to get in the sealed box, some horror stories include sailors who purchased used and when they went to get a service the container was filled with a concrete block in the place of the raft!
Our recommendation for a leisure boat is always the Seago Sea-cruiser. Made to a legislated standard this life raft gives you superior quality and safety at a great price point. Available in container or Valise bag, in 4 person, 6 person, 8 person or 10 person models.
For the offshore or commercial skipper we recommend the Seago Seamaster, The Sea Master ISO 9650-1 life raft is designed for ocean sailing, commercial boats and long distance cruising.
MOB Recovery Ring & Floating Throw Line
Man over board recovery rings are an essential addition to any boat. This floating ring can be thrown into the water to assist your crew or someone else’s crew in the water. This ring is best paired with a bright coloured floating line that can assist with pulling the casualty toward.
The Martek Horseshoe life ring is perfectly paired with a 20m Floating throw line ready for use in an emergency MOB situation.
Top tip: Keep the ring on deck or mounted in an easy location so the ring and line can be deployed quickly in an emergency.
Distress Flares
Keeping in date flares onboard your boat ensures you have an effective way to signal to others that you are in distress. Ultimately meaning you may be rescued faster as a result.
Make sure you have the suitable flare pack for your needs, Coastal / Offshore and always keep them in a special dry flares storage container.
In addition to standard pyrotechnic flares you can also take advantage of a modern LED flare.
The modern LED flare battery can last for up-to 6+ hours lit compared to the 60 seconds light of a handheld smoke flare. We use the Ocean signal EDF1 model in our crew grab bags.
Mayday Call Card & Reed's Skippers Handbook
In the event of distress you may need rescuing directly from your vessel and it’s easy to forget the MAYDAY call procedure or maritime regulations. It is always a good idea to keep this handy Laminated MAYDAY card by the helm along with a copy of the Reed's Skippers Handbook. Bearing in mind, even if you know all the signals with the MAYDAY procedure, you might be hurt and you will be relying on your crew to communicate to the emergency services on your behalf.
Top Tip: If you can’t remember your MMSI number, Callsign or the phonetic alphabet, you probably should invest in one of these handy cards!
VHF DSC Handheld Radio
A VHF handheld radio is a invaluable addition to any boat! Serving you with a backup method of communication should your permanent fixed VHF fail to operate. It can also provide reliable comms with your tender or crew, and most importantly the only VHF you can quickly take to your liferaft in an emergency.
When choosing a VHF ensure you select one with ease of use, and incorporates DSC (digital selective calling), has a clear illuminated screen, and the ability to float with a generous battery life.
For a good all rounder radio with the benefit of DSC & AIS, we recommend the ICOM IC-M94.
To register your Ship VHF radio and Portable VHF radio with Ofcom click here.
Top tip: Make sure you actually understand how VHF works and how to use the device safely. Make sure you attend the RYA online VHF SRC course to get your VHF SRC licence prior to use!
EPIRB’s
EPIRB stands for Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. An EPIRB is an emergency locator beacon with a portable battery powered radio transmitter. The EPIRB is automatically activated in the event of being submerged in water or if the user pushes the dedicated button on the unit. EPRIBs use satellites to transmit a continuous radio signal for 48hrs to help emergency services locate you when in distress.
One f the best EPIRB's on the market today is the Ocean Signal Rescue ME EPIRB1.
Top tip: always register your EPIRB properly and make sure you check the battery, as part of your regular safety checklist. To register a UK 406MHZ EPIRB Click Here.
A Smartphone & battery pack
A charged, functioning phone is an invaluable item aboard the boat and can help you find information on weather, tides and currents, act as a GPS, allow you to communicate with friends and make calls in the event of an emergency. While it shouldn’t replace the need for a radio or GPS, in an emergency you can use your mobile phone to call the emergency services.
We always keep a 3 in 1 Multi Charge USB cable with a High performance Toospon 27,000 MAh Battery power bank. We have been using the Toospon 27,000MAh power bank for the past few years and it is capable of charging our iPad Pro fully twice and other smart devices, It also has a super bright LED torch built into its case. It's also a great addition to any grab bag!
Top Tip: Remember using Navionics / Savvy Navvy or other Navigation apps uses a lot of battery quickly! Make sure you keep a power bank fully charged prior to setting sail!
First Aid kit
Without question the most common injuries on boats are cuts, bruises, stubbed toes, concussion and seasickness. So it goes without saying that you should have those bases covered with antiseptic, bandages, warps, pain killers, sewing kits and so on.
For longer trips you need to consider more serious illnesses such as infections, someone getting a fever, an infected cut, losing a finger or breaking an arm or a leg - the list goes on.
For a compact, waterproof and basic first aid kit the Troika Waterproof dry bag First aid kit is suitable for coastal cruising. For offshore cruising consider adding a Category C First aid kit from your local chandlery.
Top Tip: Refresh your marine environment first aid knowledge with a one day RYA First Aid course available at a training centre near you.
Grab Bags
Worried about where you can keep most of this important equipment? A grab bag is the solution!
If strategically positioned onboard for ease of access with all of the vital safety equipment, it is ready to go in one grab! It’s also the perfect place to include long life snacks, cereal bars, drinking water, playing cards, and anything else that you might need when abandoning ship to a life raft.
For good measure make space for a handful of cable ties, Gorilla Tape, bright LED torch, hand bearing compass, thermal protective aids and copy’s of the boat documents.
This bright and purpose made heavy duty Grab Bag is the perfect bag for all of the above!
Top Tip: keep the grab bag by the main exit in its own storage space, don’t let it become lost in a lazarette.
LED Searchlight & SOS
Going boating under the stars, or a long offshore overnight passage?
Ensure you have a portable searchlight onboard. This vital accessory is essential for MOB recovery, identifying floating obstructions, checking rigging and SOS light signalling. The Zohi Waterproof Super Bright LED Boat Spotlight is a great all rounder and it can be recharged with USB!
Emergency Plugs
What happens when a sea cock, through hull fitting or similar breaks off at sea? In short, it lets the sea water in very quickly! Stay afloat and protect your investment with a universal Sta-Plug, the versatile foam cone can be used in irregular or difficult to reach places to eliminate or severely reduce water flow.
Top tip: Make sure you have a plug that can fit all of the through hull fittings onboard your boat, and for extra safety you may wish to keep specific sized plugs by the relevant sea cocks in the event of failure.
Fire Awareness
A fire on a boat is one of the worst possible emergency scenarios. Keep all of your extinguishers regularly serviced, along with keeping all engines and equipment in good condition and free from any loose equipment that may catch fire. Ensure your galley and BBQs are adequately protected with fire blankets. Testing all of the onboard fire alarms and smoke alarms on a regular basis.
All vessels should have an adequate amount of extinguishers professionally installed. The combo extinguisher / Fire blanket kit below is perfect for a galley on most small yachts / speedboats.
Top Tip: Fitting an engine room camera will allow you to monitor the compartment safely from the helm without exposing yourself to potential dangers on route. Knowing the location of the fuel shut off valves is also essential.
Digital Charts
Its important to have a secondary means of navigation charts to ensure you keep off the reefs or out the shallows in the event your fixed chart plotter fails to operate. Traditionally keeping back up paper charts onboard is the norm. However, you may also consider using your tablet or smartphone with a Navionics subscription. The best part of Navionics is the low cost and the unlimited free updates for your subscription.
Top Tip: Any tablet or device must have GPS connectivity to operate Navionics, however no SIM is required. Always remember to update your charts prior to passage planning! Beware using Navionics uses a lot of battery power from your smart device so don't forget to carry a 27,000MAh Powerbank.
Float Plan
One important boating safety tip to remember is to share your day plan with a reliable person that will not be attending. Your float plan should include details of your boat, your planned route and any stops you plan to make while on the water, departure and estimated return times, who will be on the boat, and emergency contacts. When you return from your trip, be sure to contact the person from your float plan and let them know you’ve returned safely.
Top Tip: If you are based in the UK try the RYA SafeTRX app for FREE.
Knowing your limits
Is today a good day to go boating? It’s vital to understand the wind and the tide and the weather forecast to truly appreciate what is going on around you out at sea. Getting out on the water onboard your boat should be safe and fun. To keep it that way consider brushing up your MOB recovery drills, Docking or an all round refresher by joining a boat training course or having private own boat tuition.
Please note that our list is only advisory and not exhaustive, always check up with your local marine authorities. Some of the products listed above are supplied by Timeless Yacht Services, Amazon UK, and other online vendors.
Kommentarer