From the Captain of the Port

Your boat may pass its vessel safety check, which means it at least meets federal minimum requirements… But is eet safe…?

It is a good time for all those who stand a watch and wait for the return of those that went to sea to think about being the “safety officer” before they go – because spring is just ahead!

On the sea, it’s all about rescue, recovery and rewarming.

Keep the red buoys on your right when returning and on your left when leaving. If the numbers are going up, you are returning. If the numbers are going down, you are leaving.

Clearly, the best defense is not falling overboard.

Almost without exception, we in the Northeast get the tail, shoulder or rump of one or two of the dozen or so hurricanes that form each summer in the Atlantic between the Caribbean. Most of us live on an island or along the mainland coast…and Hurricane season has just begun.

OK, it is a beautiful day in early June and you’re just dying to tool out for a while. Great, but don’t make way without a few simple but important precautions.

How many hurricanes can we get before we start paying better attention to the weather? And if you had drilled down a little, maybe there was more information that you could have used to your benefit.

What if a boat capsizes? Can you survive? Or if the boat “swamps,” which makes a sinking even more likely, can you survive?

Anyone who has stood by the seashore and watched the waves roll in must have wondered at least once, “When is the next big one coming?” And, sure enough, just out in the offing, you can see one that just seems head and shoulders above the others.