From the Captain of the Port

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.

Waves can be the most beautiful and the most fearsome aspect of the sea. Whether you float above them or dive beneath them, you had better understand them and most certainly respect them.

All of us are familiar with registering our vessels with the State Department of Motor Vehicles. Like a car, DMV wants to know her horsepower, fuel type (gas or diesel) and the Hull Identification Number, or HIN#. You are required to display on each side of the bow the state registration numbers, followed by the expiration sticker itself. But is your boat eligible for documenting with the USCG and, if so, should you?