Almost every accident to a crew member is an ordinary one: a slip, a swinging boom, a fall over the side, a day of sun without water. The gear is simple, and it works only if you wear it, clip it on and know where it is kept.
1 · Safety briefing
Know where everything is before you sail
What should the skipper show me in the safety briefing before we sail?
Where the safety gear is and how it works: lifejackets and harnesses, extinguishers and fire blanket, flares, liferaft, gas shut-off, seacocks, first-aid kit and bilge pump. Every boat differs, so a safety briefing on another yacht does not count.
Before the boat leaves, the skipper shows the crew where the safety gear is and how it works. Every boat is laid out differently, so a briefing you heard on another yacht does not count, and neither does another guest's account of this one. If you missed it, ask the skipper to walk you through it before you sail. If something in this list was not shown, ask about it.
Gear
What you need to know
Lifejackets and harnesses
Which one is yours, where it is kept, how it fits
Fire extinguishers, fire blanket
Where each one is
Flares and liferaft
Where they are stowed
Gas shut-off and seacocks
Where the valves are and how to close them
First-aid kit
Where it is kept
Bilge pump
Where the handle is and how to pump
2 · Lifejackets
Worn, fastened and ready to fire
Do I wear my lifejacket over or under my foul-weather jacket?
Over it: underneath, a lifejacket cannot inflate properly and squeezes your chest. Pull the belt snug and fasten the crotch strap, or the inflated jacket rides up over your face.
A lifejacket in a locker saves nobody. Wear it whenever there is a real risk of ending up in the water, and whenever the skipper says so.
Wear it
Why
At night and in rough weather
A person in the water is hard to see and hard to reach
In the tender, above all at night
Small, low and easily upset, often after dinner ashore
Always on deck under way, if you cannot swim
Calm weather does not help a non-swimmer
Put it on over all your clothes, the foul-weather jacket included: underneath, it cannot inflate properly and squeezes your chest. Pull the belt snug and fasten the crotch strap. Without it the inflated jacket rides up over your face or comes off over your head.
Lifejacket check before sailing
Indicators: green, not red
Gas cylinder: screwed in tight
Belt and crotch strap: fitted to you
Red, loose or fired: hand it to the skipper
An automatic lifejacket inflates from a small gas cylinder when it gets wet, and it does so once. After it has fired, letting the air out is not enough: it needs a re-arming kit fitted before it will inflate again.
3 · Moving on deck
One hand for yourself, one for the boat
Which side of a heeling yacht should I walk along to go forward?
The windward side, the high one, keeping low with one hand always holding on: if you slip there you fall onto the deck, not over the guardrail towards the water.
On a moving deck one hand always holds on: carry less and go twice. The boom is no handhold, it swings. Wear deck shoes with soft, non-slip, non-marking soles; flip-flops come off your feet.
When the boat heels, go forward along the windward side, the high one, and keep low. If you slip there, you fall onto the deck. On the low side you fall towards the water, over the guardrail.
Seasickness is the exception: be sick over the leeward rail, so that it blows away from the boat. But that is the rail people fall over, so the sick person is clipped on and somebody stays with them.
4 · Harness and tether
Clip on before you need it
Where do I clip my safety tether on a sailing yacht?
To a strong point made for it or to a jackstay, the line laid along each side deck. Never to a guardrail, a stanchion or anything that moves: they are not built to stop a falling person.
A lifejacket keeps you afloat; a tether keeps you on board, which is better. One end clips to the harness, the other to a strong point made for it or to a jackstay, the line laid along each side deck. Never clip to a guardrail, a stanchion or anything that moves: they are not built to stop a falling person.
A strong point and a jackstay are made to take the load of a falling person.
Clip on in the companionway, before you step out into the cockpit.
With two hooks, clip the second one on before you unclip the first: you are never loose.
Before you go forward: lifejacket fastened, clipped on, the helmsman told.
At night never leave the cockpit alone. Wake someone first: if you went over the side, nobody would know.
"Clip on at night" has no fine-weather exception. On a calm, starry night a person in the water is just as hard to find.
Rule
Clip on first, then move.
5 · The boom
Keep your head below it
How do I avoid getting hit by the boom on a sailboat?
Stay low crossing the cockpit, and in a tack or gybe keep your head down until the boom has gone across. On a run it can fly over without warning, an accidental gybe, unless a preventer holds it.
The boom is the heaviest moving thing on deck, and in the cockpit it passes at head height. On a run in a rolling sea the wind can get behind the mainsail and throw the boom across without warning: an accidental gybe. A line called a preventer can hold the boom out; if none is rigged, treat the boom as ready to move.
On a runthe boom can fly across
In the cockpitthe boom is at head height
Crossing the cockpit, stay low and do not stand up under the boom. In a tack or a gybe keep your head down until the boom has gone across.
6 · Sun and heat
Drink before you are thirsty
How do I avoid sunburn and dehydration on a sailing holiday?
Wear a hat, long sleeves and sunglasses, put sunscreen on again through the day, and drink water often, before you feel thirsty. A breeze does not stop the sun, and dehydration creeps up because thirst arrives late.
A breeze cools your skin but does not stop the sun: on the water it burns all day, and its glare comes back off the sea. Dehydration creeps up the same way, because thirst arrives late. A tired crew member with a headache makes mistakes on deck.
Risk
What you do
Sunburn
Hat, long sleeves, sunscreen put on again through the day
Glare
Sunglasses
Dehydration
Water often, before you feel thirsty; alcohol dries you out further
Overheating
Shade when you are off watch; tell the skipper if you feel dizzy or sick
Practice questions
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
Briefing — what you were shown
Lifejackets and harnesses: saloon locker
Extinguishers, fire blanket: galley
Flares and liferaft: cockpit and stern
Gas shut-off and seacocks: shown
You check this list after the skipper's briefing. What is still missing from it?
Where the spare bedding and towels are kept
Which marina the boat will use tonight
Where the first-aid kit and the bilge pump are
How the plotter's tide page works
Show the answer
C. Where the first-aid kit and the bilge pump are
A safety briefing covers the first-aid kit and the bilge pump too — ask if they were missed.
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.
