Safety & Seamanship

anchor

Always Anchor First & Anchoring Tips

When a vessel becomes disabled, a prudent skipper’s thoughts will turn to getting the vessel anchored quickly. Getting the anchor down and set is the first step towards stabilizing the situation and is your first line of defense from ending up on a lee shore. Anchoring provides a stable vessel and a fixed position, both of which are a tremendous asset when trouble hits while underway.
sospenders

Lee Shores Present a Danger to Boaters

The development of the suspender style inflatable PFD is responsible for an increase in boater safety. As a Safe/Sea captain, I was delighted to see so many sailors arriving at the Great Salt Pond last season wearing these life saving devices. Statistics show that, when worn, a life jacket is responsible for saving more lives than any other Coast Guard required equipment.
vhf_radio

How to Call Safe/Sea for Assistance & Why You Need a VHF Radio

After last season, our busiest ever at Safe/Sea, with just under 1,100 calls for assistance, I thought that our caseload was about as high as it could get. But with over 4,300 members this year, and the forecast of a very warm summer, we may well top that.  As calls for assistance increase, so do the use of cellular telephones but you still need a working VHF radio on board.

lee_shores

Lee Shores Present a Danger to Boaters

A disturbing trend observed frequently by Safe/Sea Captains over the past several boating seasons is the failure of many boaters to recognize the dangers of lee shores and their lack of ability to quickly anchor their vessel when something goes wrong.
night_nav

Navigating at Night Presents Unique Challenges

Night navigation requires skill and concentration and should not be taken lightly. Many things change on the water after daylight. While on your boat at night, your depth perception decreases and distances and sizes of shores and navigational aids can look different. Waves become harder to see and judge, and reflections in your boat's windshield can be confusing.

hurricane

Preparing Your Vessel for an Approaching Hurricane

Planning for a hurricane may be one of the most stressful tasks a boater can face. We here at Safe/Sea thought it would be helpful if we came up with a hurricane preparation checklist to help equip boaters. As hurricanes are extremely unprediactable, there is not really a perfect plan, but taking some simple steps give you and your vessel better chances in overcoming the storm.

eng_winter

Winterizing Your Engine

Engines don’t like to be idle, even for three or four months during the winter. Aside from changing the oil regularly, winterizing your engine properly is one of the best ways to assure its mechanical well being.

throttle

Navigating at Night Presents Unique Challenges

When docking and maneuvering powerboats, momentum is often times your worst enemy.