Each year, I like to have the Coast Guard Auxiliary come aboard and give Seas The Day a safety once-over. This is a voluntary activity. You spend maybe 30 minutes with a nice lady (Laura, in this case) who makes sure you have all the legally required papers and notices on-board and that you have a generally safe boat. In return, you get a sticker to put on the boat saying that you had this check, and the Coast Guard patrol boats will generally avoid you.
While I missed last year's inspection, I think these are a great thing. From my days of being a safety trainer (back in the 90s), I realize it's easy to get complacent, and just the act of inviting them to do the inspection means I take a few moments to ensure everything is ready (like I did during my "boat chore morning" last week).
In addition to checking the fire extinguishers and doing the propane test last week, I double checked that my pollution and discharge stickers were intact, and that I could quickly access life preservers and signal devices.
It was during one of these inspections previously that they let me know you can avoid all the expiration date issues with pyrotechnic flares by getting a few inexpensive signaling devices, like the flag, light and package below. (I still keep the flares on-board, but I don't have to replace perfectly good flares because of a due-date.)
In the end, I get a few stickers. First is the VSC sticker which goes on the port side of the mast. But this year I also got a new Maripol sticker and a neat emergency radio sticker. I think it's great to have a nice logical reminder for guests on how to hail the Coast Guard in case something happens to me. I always try to explain it and get a few nodding heads, but always wonder if a guest could remember this under duress. The nice sticker will be easy to point to in future safety briefings.
After that, I threw off the mooring lines and headed out for a day of singlehanding. That turned out to be a mistake. It was in the mid-90s and oppressively hot... zero wind and not enjoyable at all. After an hour or so... feeling a heat exhaustion creeping up and seeing the start of storm clouds building on the southern horizon, I decided to call it.
After an hour or so to rehydrate at the KYC bar, I headed down the NJ TPK and watched the storms build and build ahead of me. After crossing into DE, I saw these cloud formations while coming down the bridge and all hell broke loose as soon as I hit 95. It was one of the most intense storms I've been in.
It's funny how angry the radar map makes it look, yet the SailFlow app makes it look like just a brief blip in an otherwise nice day. (Maybe up in Keyport... down in DE, not so much.)
No comments:
Post a Comment