Developing a Sense of Safety

By Ian Savidge 

Some of the best sailing is in the early part of the season, when the winds 

are brisk, and you have the sense of snatching some extra days from the 

beginning of spring. 

It is a time of regaining and sharpening the sailing skills that have 

remained bottled up since the end of the previous summer – it is also the 

time when your sense for safety has to be the strongest, because things that 

go wrong may lead to potentially life-threatening situations. 

So this is not the time to drowsily listen to the safety messages outlined in the skipper 

seminars, like dozing through the safety instructions on a plane, but rather it is the time to 

go one step further and develop your own personal sense for safety issues. 

And by that I mean not just to go through the check list on a boat, but to look ahead and 

anticipate anything that you think might happen to you or your crew when you are out on 

the lake. You should check off in your mind all the things that could possibly go wrong, 

and work out how you would deal with them. For instance, how many people will there be 

in your boat? How big are they? Do you have enough people on board to be able to haul a 

person overboard back into the boat without mechanical help? If not, how do you plan to 

bring a crew overboard back into the boat? Remember, at this time of year a person 

overboard is unlikely to be able to help him/herself after about three minutes in the water, 

and may be dead in about ten minutes. So have you got a plan in your mind as to how you 

will make the rescue? Have you familiarized yourself with the crew overboard return and 

retrieval techniques? 

What if it is just you and a friend aboard a Shark? Would it be a good idea to tie a floating 

line to a fender, and attach it in the lazarette, so that it is ready to throw to a person in the 

water, or allow you to sail in a circle so that they can grab the line? Do you anticipate 

having to do a headsail change? If your crew is not too experienced, would it be a good 

idea to attach a line from the bow to the mast, for them to use as a grab-line when they are 

up on the foredeck? Have you made sure they will wrap their legs around the bow on a 

Shark, even if their feet get wet, rather than try to kneel and balance on the foredeck? Will 

you warn them not to sit on the sail as they take it down, since in rough conditions sitting 

on a loose sail on the foredeck can be a quick way to experience a water-slide. 

Has everybody got enough warm clothing to keep warm and dry in practically any 

conditions – cold bodies make stiff limbs, which in turn become clumsy and prone to 

accidents. Well, obviously one could go on for a long time, listing all the possible 

scenarios, but the point is that if you ask yourself all these questions, and others too, ahead 

of time, then you will most likely never have to answer them, because in recognizing the

mishaps that could take place, you more than likely have already taken the actions that will 

prevent them from happening in the first place. And all because you have taken the time to develop a sense for safety. 

Last reviewed on February 19, 2008.dc