A number of years ago, as I was doing a (free) U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel exam for the owner of a very substantial yacht, I got to the part where I ask to see the life jackets. He pointed me to a locker, which I opened to find the life jackets, stowed under an anchor, chain and additional rode. This column is about that.

No Good If You Can’t Get To Them

I promptly asked him, “Sir, do you have any grandchildren?” “Why, yes, I do,” he said. “Five of them. Why do you ask?” I replied, “Imagine what forces you will be under when you say these words to your grandchildren, ‘Quick, honey! Put on a life jacket!’ and you point to this locker. Which one of your grandchildren will be able to move this anchor to get to the life jackets – which are still in their wrappers, by the way?” He blanched.

No safety equipment is of any use if you can’t get to it. Or, no one knows where it is except you, the skipper, who is likely to be mighty busy just when safety equipment is needed. Talk about pressure!

Pre-Underway Checklist

By USCG regulations, before USCG Auxiliary crews leave the dock on a mission – of any type or any duration – we must, as a crew, go through a checklist akin to a vessel exam. This includes, among many items, where are:

1. The extra life jackets (we must have ours on at all times, which is an EXCELLENT idea, skipper);

2. The medical kit – and ensure that none of the perishable supplies have in fact perished due to the passage of time;

3. The “visual distress signals”, i.e. flares – and that they have not expired and are serviceable;

4. The boathook – a good tool for extending for retrieving something – or someone – that may be just out of reach;

5. The Man Overboard “apparatus”, i.e., line and ring to throw to someone who has indeed fallen overboard;

6. And fire extinguishers

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it represents some of the major categories of pending disaster that may befall a skipper. While you are dealing with the boat and how it needs to be used to respond to the emergency, your crew can be dealing with the crew’s response. Whether it be a grounding, or far worse, a vessel sinking, you as the skipper have a lot on your mind and a lot to deal with. Can you imagine yourself also having to stop dealing with the emergency at hand so that you can direct crew to emergency equipment that will protect them and you from the effects of that emergency?

But Everyone Has a Pressure Point…

Beyond which, they start to crack. What do you do if the crew can’t handle the pressure as well as you are handling it? Well, how about handing them the laminated layout of your boat with the location of all the equipment labeled? Seriously, of all the risks that you spend time and money in preparing for and against, have you thought about panic as a risk? What then?

“Honey, hey, enough! Here, look at this – right now – and go get everybody in life jackets. Now!”

It is likely to reduce the panic because now the crew has something to focus on other than the water sloshing on the floorboards…

Oh, remember the comment about a (free) vessel exam at the start of this column? If you want one, email me below. We’ll get you squared away.

If you are interested in being part of USCG Forces, email me at JoinUSCGAux@aol.com or go direct to the D1SR Human Resources department, who are in charge of new members matters, at DSO-HR and we will help you “get in this thing…” ■

The Captain of the Port and Sector Commander for U.S. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound is Captain Eva Van Camp Schang. CAPT Van Camp Schang is responsible for all active-duty, reservist and auxiliary Coast Guard personnel within the Sector. As a Commodore in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary First District, Southern Region, Vin Pica works closely with CAPT Van Camp Schang and her staff to promote boating safety in the waters between Connecticut, Long Island and 200 nautical miles offshore. Sector Long Island Sound Command Center can be reached 24 hours a day at 203-468-4401.

Editor’s note: Weekly updates for the waters from Eastport, ME to Shrewsbury, NJ including discrepancies in Aids to Navigation, chart corrections and waterway projects are listed in the USCG Local Notice to Mariners. Log onto navcen.uscg.gov, scroll to “Current Operational/Safety Information,” click on “Local Notice to Mariners” then “LNMs by CG District,” and click on “First District.”