Emergencies are rare, and on a flotilla help is close. What decides the outcome is the first minute, before help arrives. For each case, learn the first action and the reason for it.
What do I do first when someone falls overboard from a yacht?
All at once: shout man overboard, throw the lifebuoy and name one person to do nothing but point at the casualty. The surest way back is under engine with the sails down, stopping the engine as you reach them.
Three things happen at once. Shout "man overboard" so the whole crew knows. Throw the lifebuoy to give the casualty buoyancy. Name one person who does nothing but point at the casualty: a head among the waves is lost in seconds.
The surest way back is under engine, with the sails down. Make the final approach slowly, bow into the wind, where the boat is easiest to control at low speed, and stop the engine as you reach them: a turning propeller must never be near a person in the water.
Under sail, approach on a close reach. It is the point of sail on which you control your speed completely: ease the sheets and the sails spill their wind and the boat slows; sheet in and she moves again.
When should I call MAYDAY rather than PAN-PAN on the VHF?
When there is grave and imminent danger to life or the vessel, such as a fire you cannot put out or a sinking yacht. Urgent without that danger, like an injury that needs a doctor, is PAN-PAN; both go on channel 16.
| Call | When |
|---|---|
| MAYDAY | Grave and imminent danger to life or to the vessel: a fire you cannot put out, a sinking yacht |
| PAN-PAN | Urgent, but no grave and imminent danger: an injury that needs a doctor while the boat is fine |
A fire beyond your extinguishers is a MAYDAY: make the call first, then get everyone on deck in lifejackets and the liferaft ready.
| Signal | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Red parachute rocket | Raising the alarm from far off: it climbs to about 300 m. Never fire one near a helicopter |
| Red hand flare | Pinpointing your position once help is near |
| Orange smoke | By day: it shows an aircraft where you are and how the wind blows. Hold it on the downwind side |
How do I put out a burning pan of oil in a boat's galley?
Turn off the gas and smother it with the fire blanket. Never throw water on burning fat: it explodes into a ball of flame.
A fire needs fuel, air and heat; take one away. A burning pan of oil in the galley is smothered: turn off the gas and lay the fire blanket over it. Never throw water on burning fat: it explodes into a ball of flame.
Opening the engine box feeds the fire a rush of air. That is what the small extinguisher port in the lid is for: the nozzle goes in, the lid stays shut.
If the fire wins, you abandon ship, and only then. A yacht that still floats is a better liferaft than the liferaft: you get into the raft when the yacht is going down under you, stepping up into it.
Step up into the liferaft. Never leave a boat that still floats.
Water is over the floorboards and we hit nothing: where do I look first?
At the fittings below the waterline: the seacocks, their hoses and clips, and the stern gland. If a hose has come off, close its seacock; if the valve will not close, hammer in a tapered softwood bung.
Water over the floorboards with no collision nearly always comes through a fitting below the waterline. Look first at the seacocks, the hoses and clips on them, and the stern gland, where the propeller shaft leaves the hull. If a hose has come off, close its seacock; if the valve will not close, hammer in the tapered softwood bung.
After a grounding, look in the bilge before anything else. A rock may be plugging the hole it made: pull off into deep water with a holed hull and you sink there.
Heel the boat and she draws less.
On sand, with a dry bilge, go out the way you came in: reverse gently along your own track with the crew on one side, since heeling reduces the draft. The Mediterranean has almost no tide to lift you off, so if that fails, call the lead boat.
Can I restart the engine after a rope has wrapped round the propeller?
No: forcing an engine with a rope round the propeller can wreck the shaft or the gearbox. Sail on and call the lead boat to help clear it; after a dismasting, likewise, every rope and wire comes out of the water first.
A rope round the propeller stops the engine with a thump. Do not restart it: forcing it can wreck the shaft or the gearbox. You still have sails. Sail on, and call the lead boat to help you clear the rope.
The same thinking applies after a dismasting. A broken shroud brings the mast over the side, with wires and ropes all round the hull. Before the engine goes on, every rope and wire comes out of the water, or the propeller winds them in and you have lost the engine as well.
Look over the side before you turn the key.
A crew member was knocked out but now feels fine: do they need a doctor?
Yes: after a head injury with any loss of consciousness, get medical advice and watch them for hours. Bleeding inside the skull can show itself hours later, with drowsiness, vomiting or confusion as the danger signs.
| Case | Signs | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Hypothermia | Shivering hard after time in the water | Shelter, dry clothes, wrap them up; warm sweet drinks if they are alert. No alcohol |
| Burn or scald | Red, blistering skin | Cool running water for 20 minutes, then cover loosely with cling film or a clean dressing |
| Head injury | Knocked out, even for seconds | Get medical advice and watch them for hours: drowsiness, vomiting or confusion are danger signs |
| Heat stroke | Hot, dry skin, confusion, no sweating | Shade, cool them with water and fanning, call for medical help: PAN-PAN |
Warm a cold casualty gradually and cool a hot one fast. Heat stroke is a medical emergency, not a bad day in the sun. And a crew member who was knocked out and now "feels fine" still needs a doctor's advice: bleeding inside the skull can show itself hours later.
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
You have dropped the sails and motored back to the casualty. How do you make the final approach?
A. Slowly into the wind, engine off as you reach them
Heading into the wind gives control at low speed; the propeller must be stopped near a person in the water.
Which signal do you use to show them where you are?
B. Orange smoke, on the downwind side
In daylight orange smoke shows an aircraft your position and the wind; never fire a rocket near a helicopter.
You smell burning and see this as you motor along. How do you tackle the fire?
C. Stop the engine, shut the fuel, discharge through the port
Stopping the engine and the fuel starves the fire; opening the box feeds it air.
Where do you look first for the leak?
D. Seacocks, hoses and the stern gland
Water gets in fast through fittings below the waterline: seacocks, hose clips, the stern gland.
The propeller is fouled and the engine has stopped. How do you carry on?
C. Leave the engine off, sail on and call the lead boat
Restarting can wreck the shaft or gearbox: keep it off, sail, and get help to clear the rope.
Your crew member has just been pulled back aboard. How do you warm them up?
C. Shelter, dry clothes, wrap them up, warm sweet drinks
Warm gradually: out of the wind, dry layers and a sleeping bag; drinks only if alert, never alcohol.
All 20 questions of this topic are in the app: practice by topic with the reason after every answer, your mistakes brought back, and a timed mock exam. Free, no sign-up, in the browser or in Telegram.