Former Navy Captain Mark Lenci suggests how the principles of handling emergencies on large ship can be applied to smaller private yachts – yachts capable of being cruised comfortably by two people. The principles can be easily extended to crews of…
We offer several types of article covering a wide range of topics. Choose your topic or article type below:
- Feature Articles. Discussions of one or more topics regarding Seamanship, Safety, and best practices afloat.
- School of Hard Rocks. First-person narratives of ... challenging ... experiences and lessons learned.
- Safety Moments. Short items suitable for a quick read or presentation to a group.
- White Papers. In-depth dives into topics of interest.
- Travelogs. Stories of near and far journeys afloat, including selected articles from our Voyages magazine
- Videos. A growing library of streaming content, from weather seminars to member highlights.
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Safety Gear, Boat, Fire/Flooding
Remarkably, the list of required safety gear for a 35’ sail or power boat is remarkably short. Life jackets and throwable flotation, navigation lights, visual distress signals, a sound making device, and a couple of fire extinguishers is pretty much…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Safety Gear, Boat, Safety Gear, Personal
Fast forward 20 or so years, and Stan is again sailing on state-of-the-art multihulls, but now on Gitana 17, a foiling trimaran, whose crew intends to set the around the world record: the Jules Verne Trophy. While the personal gear that the crew…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Safety Gear, Personal, Overboard
How would you go about figuring out if a life jacket design is capable of saving a life when used in rough water? What would you look for? How would you measure the life jacket’s effectiveness? Which models would you accept, and which ones would you…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Navigation and Piloting
Three Star Fix
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Overboard, Electronics
One of the most exciting developments has been the progression of Man Overboard Beacons (or Crew Overboard Alarms or whatever you want to call them). Over the last 20 years or so, through about four generations of products and technology, these life…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Overboard
By Chuck Hawley, San Francisco Station, October 2019
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Culture of Safety, Preparation of Boat and Crew
Suppose you’re heading off on a two-day race and some of your crew haven’t sailed with you before. They come highly recommended, but they don’t know your boat or your standard operating procedures. What should you discuss with them as you head for…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Overboard
Chuck Hawley, San Francisco Station, with immense help from
Stan Honey and Sally Lindsay Honey, San Francisco Station
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School of Hard Rocks
Subject:
Culture of Safety, Emergency Signalling
As I was leaving the boat around 1630, having completed my chores for the day, I gathered my gear and prepared to get off onto the dock. I stepped out the shrink wrap door, I put my right foot on a boarding step, and my knee promptly gave way. My…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Good Practices Underway
Lessons from a British Virgin Islands Charter
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Navigation and Piloting, Electronics
It would be prudent for all navigators on unfamiliar boats, or perhaps when returning after a period of time to a familiar boat, to ensure that the hidden, potentially helpful fudge factors buried in silicon memories are actually helping, not…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Fire/Flooding
My technician, Chris, found that the entire manual pull system on the FireBoy system in the engine room was inoperable with zip ties and a locking pin preventing the system from working. No matter how hard I might have tried to trigger the system, I…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Good Practices Underway
A problem can easily arise when several knowledgeable sailors are on deck during a passage or even a daysail and it is not clear who is charge. Each is partially attentive, but no one is paying attention to the details on the chart or what…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Overboard
A problem can easily arise when several knowledgeable sailors are on deck during a passage or even a daysail and it is not clear who is charge. Each is partially attentive, but no one is paying attention to the details on the chart or what…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Preparation of Boat and Crew
A problem can easily arise when several knowledgeable sailors are on deck during a passage or even a daysail and it is not clear who is charge. Each is partially attentive, but no one is paying attention to the details on the chart or what…
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Safety Moment
Subject:
Safety Gear, Personal
In 2017, US Sailing Yachtswoman of the Year Timmy Larr asked me to participate in a series of life jacket tests in Tampa Bay, about ¼ mile from the University of Southern Florida. These tests were reasonably similar to other life jacket testing that…