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10 Emergency Boat Safety Drills & Procedures You Should Know

Emergency preparedness is an essential part of being a boat owner. Because even with careful planning and proper boat maintenance, problems and emergencies can happen. In this high-level guide, we're sharing some of the most important procedures and emergency boat safety drills every owner should know.

1. Overboard & Recovery Drills

Did you know that nearly 40 percent of all boating fatalities are the direct result of people falling overboard? Because of this, it's crucial that you understand how to safely recover someone who has fallen over the side of your boat. As a boat owner, the following procedures should be memorized and practiced on a regular basis to ensure the safety of everyone on board.

• In the event that someone falls overboard, whoever sees the accident occur needs to shout "Overboard!"
• Next, throw a life ring buoy or lifejacket into the water to help mark the spot and assist the overboard passenger.
• If you have other passengers on board, assign one of them to keep sight of the person in the water. If it's nighttime, ensure they have a flashlight.
• You'll want to then turn the boat and approach the overboard passenger with the watercraft facing upwind, so you can better maneuver the boat and not run over the person. Plus, the wind can actually help blow the overboard passenger toward you. Once you've shifted the boat's position, make sure you totally turn off the engine.
• Then, calmly instruct your overboard passenger to re-board the boat using the attached ladder or swim platform. All boats must have a reboarding device if the freeboard is more than 0.5 meters (1 foot 8 inches).

2. Sinking & Capsizing Drills

As safe as you are and as prepared as you can be, accidents do happen. It is often difficult to get people to practice abandoning a boat in the event it capsizes or sinks because most believe they'll never have to actually do it. But it's of the utmost importance that, as a boat owner, you know what to do in an emergency. Boat owners should be able to calmly and confidently take charge in a situation and help guide passengers to safety.

So, what should you do first when a vessel capsizes? If your boat is beginning to sink, the situation can be chaotic. Remain calm. As they're sinking, most boats will remain at least partially afloat. You need to stay focused on getting everyone to safety.

Overall, what should you do if your boat capsizes? You'll want to practice and memorize the following steps:

• First, ensure everyone is wearing their life jackets or personal flotation devices (PFDs) and make sure to account for everyone on board.
• As you begin to abandon ship, take your boat emergency equipment, including any emergency signaling devices and other items that may float.
• Try to stay with the watercraft as long as safely possible. There's a much better chance that rescuers will spot you if you're near the wreckage. Plus, it'll be easier to find floating debris to get yourself up out of the water if needed.
• Then, use your emergency signals to try to attract attention.

3. Collision Drills

As a boat owner, it's your responsibility to maintain a proper lookout at all times to avoid collisions and running aground. But in the event of a collision, it's important to know the proper procedures to ensure all passengers are safe.

• All passengers, including yourself, should have their lifejackets on and properly secured.
• Check the boat's bilge for water and inspect the hull for any damage.
• Prepare to use your emergency signals if needed to attract the attention of local harbor patrols, the Coast Guard or nearby boaters.

4. Hull Leak Drills

A small hole in a boat can quickly turn into a major problem if it isn't addressed quickly. You would be surprised how much water a small hole can let into the hull of a boat. Your boat emergency equipment should include a supply of items that can be used to plug leaks in the case of a crisis. The following are the proper procedures for dealing with a leak in your boat's hull:

• First, you always want to be sure you and your passenger are wearing proper life jackets or PFDs. There's a reason it's part of most safety drills.
• Locate the source of the leak, checking the obvious culprits first: drain holes, through-hull fittings, defective bilge pumps, worn outdrive boots, loose engine hoses, etc. Once you've located the source, attempt to stop the leak or minimize the flow of water.
• Then, try to empty the boat of as much water as possible by whatever means necessary. This is when hand bailers and electric bilge pumps come in handy.
• If you're not able to stop the flow of water or reduce it enough to safely transport the boat to a secure location, you'll want to use distress signals to attract attention and prepare to abandon the boat.

5. On-Board Fire Drills

Boats are incredibly safe if you know how to properly operate and maintain them. But there are many flammable materials and fire risks on board that boat owners need to be aware of. In the event of a fire, it's also important that you have a working fire extinguisher and fire alarm on board. Before setting sail, make sure everyone on board knows where the fire extinguishers are located and how to use them. It's also not a bad idea to go through this fire drill so that everyone is prepared. If a fire does break out on your watercraft, the following steps will help ensure the safety of you and your passengers.

• Immediately stop the watercraft and ensure everyone is properly wearing their life jackets or PFDs in the case that you have to abandon the boat.
• Next, try to position the boat so that the fire is downwind. What should you do if a fire breaks out in the back of your boat? Head into the wind. If the fire is coming from the engine, shut off the fuel supply immediately.
• Aim your fire extinguisher at the base of the flames to try to stop the fire, using a sweeping back-and-forth motion. If this is not possible, use it to at least open up a path of safety for you and your passengers.
• Reach out for help using your marine radio.
• If you have to abandon the boat, calmly help your passengers into the water. Or, if you have a lifeboat, quickly prepare it for deployment.

6. Watercraft Breakdown Drills

A regularly well-maintained boat should never experience sudden breakdowns. But it's important to always be prepared and ensure your boat is always equipped with spare parts and instruction manuals for every piece of equipment. Things do happen. Once you notice a breakdown, it's of the utmost importance that you immediately attempt to repair the issue before it becomes an emergency.

• As soon as you notice an issue, slow the speed of your boat or lower the anchor.
• Investigate the issue and consult your manual as needed.
• Repair the problem to the best of your ability.
• If, however, the issue cannot be repaired out at sea, you'll want to utilize emergency signals in order to get help.

7. Poor Visibility Drills

Low or limited visibility can creep up in an instant when you're out on the water. When boating with poor visibility, it's critical to operate your boat with caution and follow the proper procedures.

• Turn on your LED boat lights and navigational lights. You'll also want to raise your radar reflector and use the required sound signals.
• Proceed at a low and safe speed if possible, keeping a lookout for obstructions or other watercraft.
• Be prepared to leave the traffic lane at any point and anchor if visibility gets too low.

8. Hypothermia Drills

Hypothermia is a very real concern if you commonly boat in cold waters, so it's vital to conduct safety drills to prepare for the possibility. Hypothermia is defined as a drop in one's core body temperature that dips below normal. It is typically the result of being exposed to cold air, being immersed in cold water, experiencing wind while in water-soaked clothing or facing prolonged exposure to low water or air temperatures. If you notice someone on board shivering, slurring their speech, withdrawing, being irrational, becoming intermittently sleepy, and/or having a slow, weak or irregular pulse, you'll want to quickly conduct the following life-saving steps:

• Safely remove the person from the source of the cold and provide them with a dry shelter if possible.
• To prevent their body temperature dropping even more, begin to gradually warm the person's body. Remove their wet clothes and provide them with dry clothes. Then, wrap them in a blanket or with any dry coverings you may have on hand, making sure to cover their head and neck.
• If they ask, give them warm liquids, avoiding alcohol or hot stimulants.
• Avoid rubbing or massaging the person's extremities.
• Be aware of any possible signals that may indicate distress or need of assistance.

What Should You Do If You Fall Overboard into Cold Water?

It's critical that you always wear a lifejacket or other type of PFD when out on your boat. PFDs can help slow hypothermia if you happen to fall overboard. If this does happen, there are three ways you can further slow or stop the spread of hypothermia:

• If you are alone and fall overboard, attempt to climb on top of a nearby object in order to get yourself as far out of the water as possible.
• If you're alone and there aren't any objects nearby to get on top of, you'll want to get into the heat escape lessening position (HELP). Simply cross your arms tightly across your chest and draw your knees up into your chest.
• If you fall overboard with a group of people, huddle up together so that the sides of everyone's chests are as close together as possible and your arms and legs are intertwined.

9. Safety Drills for Disabled Passengers

If you have a person with low mobility or a physical disability on board, it is your responsibility as the operator of the watercraft to ensure their safety at all times. If at any point your passenger is causing concern, you'll want to follow these steps:

• Fully stop the boat in a safe location.
• Calmly remind them that, when out on the water, many things may affect their balance, coordination, eyesight, hearing, judgement, reflexes and response time, including motion, noise, sound, sun and wind.
• Next, advise your passenger that the most common on-board injuries are the direct result of falls. Remind them to not stand up while the boat is moving and to not move around without keeping their weight low and centered. They'll always want to hold onto the gunwales for support and security when moving about the boat.
• Make sure your passenger is wearing their life jacket properly and that it's secure.
• If your passenger still refuses to follow your directions or is inconsolable, abort the trip.

10. Safety Drills for Sudden Illnesses

Illnesses can come out of nowhere when out at sea, and when they do, they can hit a person hard. Because of this, it's good to be prepared and know the symptoms to look out for.

The symptoms of seasickness are typically impaired judgement and response time, loss of balance and coordination, nausea and/or hearing and vision problems.

If you're on a yacht or boat with a cabin, it's important to also be aware of carbon monoxide poisoning. Symptoms typically include headache, shortness of breath, a rosy complexion, dizziness, nausea and/or loss of consciousness.

You'll want to have a boat survival kit or first aid kit on board in case of sudden illness. In addition, it's not a bad idea to take a first aid training course when becoming a boat owner in the case of an emergency.

Stay Safe in a Boat Emergency with the Help of Boat & RV

As a boat owner, safety drills and other procedures should always be top priorities. At Boat & RV, we work hard to provide products that are not only reliable and durable, but that provide the safety and peace of mind you deserve when out on the water. We carry a massive selection of high-quality marine products and boat emergency equipment, including buoys, boat ladders and so much more. Have a question or need additional information regarding our selection of emergency boat supplies? Reach out today!

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Best Boat Safety Equipment – Essential marine safety gear

• May 31, 2023

From Coastal cruising to Category 1 offshore yacht racing and for all of our boating ambitions, there's a variety of the best boat safety equipment required onboard.

Getting started in boating you’ll be advised by anyone with an opinion that you should get the best boat safety equipment. The list can be mind boggling.

I do double handed offshore yacht racing and at the start of every season I have an updated check-list to meet regulations. Despite years of doing this, it is still a bit of a faff.

This Gibsea 90 has a danbuoy, horseshoe, rescue sling, safety tethers and lifejackets all lined up around the cockpit after a cross channel passage. No boat is too small to fit the safety gear in or on. 

A good boat skipper or yacht master will always prepare their boat for the unwanted scenario. From a person falling overboard, injury onboard or having to abandon your boat due to a catastrophic event such as fire or sinking.

Whatever your sailing ambitions, boat safety equipment cannot be scrimped on. This should be part of your annual boating budget. But if you buy wisely, then you’ll make your money go further at no expense to safety.

Lifejackets

Spinlock deckvest 6d.

Reasons to Buy: Form fitting sculpted design, Bright colour of casing is stylish. Excellent elevated lighting and reflective visibility. Good snug fit holding user high in the water. Excellent sprayhood. Harness release system.

Reasons to Avoid: The bladder is a darker orange and may not be as visible as some of the brighter bladders available. The extra sculpting can make the lifejacket feel a bit stiff to wear and makes it heavy.

Specifications: 170N autoinflation | harness release system | crotch strap | sprayhood | lumeon bladder illumination | automatic strobe light | adjustable body height

Verdict: This is an outstanding lifejacket with great performance across the score board. The standout features are the lighting, both elevated and lumeon, lighting the entire bladder. The essentials are labeled and easy to find and this feels like a lifejacket that has really been designed with the user in mind. Every query has been answered. If we were challenged to find a way to improve this, we’re really not sure how we would.

Read our buyers guide to lifejackets:  Best lifejackets for boaters & sailors: 15 of the best options tested

Personal Safety Lines and Tethers

Seago Safety Line

Reasons to Buy: Easy to see clips with bright lime/yellow colour, smooth webbing line doesn’t snag easily, safety hook as standard

Reasons to Avoid: make sure you buy the correct number of hooks and length of tether to suit your need.

Specifications: comes in a range of lengths and choice of two hooks or three hook version.

The Seago safety tether, much like the majority of the safety tethers and personal life lines on the market has the anti tripping hook so that it can’t be accidentally unhooked from your strong point. These tethers come with a 1.5m webbing between them. You might need a shorter one to be race category compliant or one with three hooks.

Deck harnesses

Baltic Safety Harness

Reasons to Buy: lighter to wear than a lifejacket, easier to move around in than a lifejacket, less expensive to replace if weather worn

Reasons to Avoid: useless unless actually tethered to the boat and is not a substitute for a lifejacket

Specifications: Wide adjustable webbing straps spread the load comfortably | Secure fastening | Can be worn under a lifejacket | reflective panels for greater visibility

Baltic make a range of good quality marine safety gear, their harnesses are well respected by both leisure sailors as well as commercial users. This harness has wide easy adjustable straps with a back panel to spread the load, a reflective strip on the shoulder and a simple metal flat square ring closure commonly found on lifejackets. it also has a crotch strap to avoid the harness riding up should the wearer fall or be suspended by a tether.

Personal locator Beacon (PLB)

Ocean Signal PLB3

Reasons to Buy: Highly specified top of the range combined beacon, only one device to cover all aspects of personal location, ideal for keeping devices to a minimum especially on fully crewed or commercial vessels

Reasons to Avoid: may be too large to fit comfortably in some lifejackets, premium price

Specifications: Near field communication enabled for battery check and tracking | Personal locator beacon with return link | AIS unit | capable to be armed to auto activate when lifejacket is inflated

The Ocean Signal PLB3 won a DAME award at METS trade in Amsterdam 2022.

What’s so special about this PLB?

Well,  it’s the first combined unit that has BOTH 406MHz and AIS radio transmission signals.

Essentially they’ve combined the PLB 1 and the MOB 1 and have this resultant big stick of both.

As you can see, the unit is considerably larger than any of the current personal locator beacons or ais units,  but it’s also no larger than having one of each of the smallest units available from the same manufacturer.

It can be set to auto activate with lifejacket inflation with an arming plate that pops off, and after hands-on testing we can confirm that this does fit into the majority of lifejackets.

Read our buyers guide to personal beacons: Best personal locator beacons and AIS units: 8 top options for boating

Personal AIS beacon

McMurdo FastFind Crew1 AISMOB beacon

Reasons to Buy: Slim flat design fits virtually all lifejackets, easy to operate, lightweight

Reasons to Avoid: none

Specifications:

The McMurdo personal AIS beacon has been in this current shape and form for over 10 years now. The simple function is what makes it a safe bet as a personal safety addition to your lifejacket.

Designed to be either manually or autiomatically triggered upon lifejacket inflation, the AIS beacon sends out a localised radio signal to all vessels in the vicinity capable of receiving a VHF radio distress signal.

On your AIS receiver screen the signal appears, usually, as a X in a circle and is identified as a MOB sign

MOB retrieval sling

Seago Rescue Sling

Reasons to Buy: A tried and tested method of MOB retrieval. Simple system to use,

Reasons to Avoid: May be hard to use on a fast racing yacht, requires additional lifting gear

Specifications: Yellow line and high visibility yellow or white  container | UV stabilised polypropylene line | Rail mountable | 30m floating line

The Rescue sling system is a familiar product for many, and is made in slightly different colours and formats by a few different manufacturers. The principle is the same though. The Seago rescue sling lives on a rail by the cockpit and can be rapidly deployed by a quick release velcro top. The sling is thrown into the water and the floating line, whose end is pre secured to a strong point on the boat, pays out as you drive the boat in a circular motion around the casualty. (easier said than done in a real life emergency) The conscious casualty can arrange themselves into the sling and then they can be pulled alongside the vessel for either hoisting out of the water by the lifting strop or assisted to a ladder.

Ocean Signal RescueME EPIRB1

Reasons to Buy: Very small size can be mounted in tight spaces, long  user serviceable battery life, available as cat 1 or cat 2

Reasons to Avoid: the aerial needs to be pulled out before use, small size might be fiddly for large hands

Specifications: Connectivity technology: Gps | Battery life 48 Hours | dimensions L8.9 x W8.9 x H17.8cm

The Epirb 1 until recently was the top of the range epirb of choice for leisure boaters. It has been recently been updated in the form of a new higher specced model, but this Epirb 1 still offers perhaps the best value for money in a small unit. The battery has a 10 year life span and is user serviceable. It is lightweight and has a really small footprint when clipped onto a bulkhead or mounting point. The example in the above image is fitted to Tech Editor Fox Morgans sailboat.

Read our buyers guide to EPIRBS: Best EPIRB: 5 emergency beacons for leisure sailors

Hand held VHF

Standard Horizon HX890E VHF handheld marine radio

Reasons to Buy: DSC enabled, GPS, good battery life

Reasons to Avoid: It may be a little large/heavy for some, premium price

Specifications: 6W transmit power output | 700mW Loud Audio and Noise Canceling Function for both TX/RX audio | Available in Navy Blue or Black | Submersible IPX8 Construction and it floats | DSC (Digital Selective Calling) | W2.60’’ x H5.43’’ x D1.50’’  | 66 channel WAAS GPS Receiver | 11-hour Operating Time | MOB (Man over Board) feature | Water Activated Emergency “WHITE” Strobe Light | Dual Watch and Triple Watch | NOAA Weather Channels with Weather Alert | FM Broadcast Radio Receiver | Micro USB Data jack for PC programming | 3 Year Waterproof Warranty

This Standard Horizon top of the range radio won a 5 star review from us in 2022. The battery life was impressive and the performance and functionality of the portable radio unit was excellent. It fits comfortably in the hand and the controls fall naturally at the finger tip. When tested the float and flash was bright and easy to distinguish in the dark. Suitable as a main boat radio for smaller craft it’s possible to plug in an external aerial and an extra mic.

Read our buyers guide to handheld VHFs: Best handheld VHF marine radio: 11 feature-rich options for your boat

Sea Devil Grab Bag 1

Reasons to Buy: Built in Buoyancy, wipe clean outer, mesh pockets for EPIRB and VHF, smart design, Made in UK

Reasons to Avoid: It may be a little small for a fully crewed racing yacht

Specifications: fire resistent  | Grab Handle | Roll Top | inherent buoyancy | 30cm x 35xm x 15xm | external mesh pockets for EPIRB and handheld VHF or sat comms.

Anyone heading offshore needs to consider what if they needed to abandon to a liferaft and take only the bare essential for survival.

The Sea Devil Grab Bag 1, with its easy to open but secure roll-top closure is designed for anyone heading offshore, cruising or racing. It meets racing criteria as this bag has inherent buoyancy with built in closed cell foam. It has a grab handle and a detachable shoulder strap.

On each side is a mesh pocket, one designed for any model of EPIRB currently on the market and the other pocket fits a hand held radio or sat commes device.

On the rear of the bag is an area for you to write your boat name, call sign and MMSI numbers. It is designed and made in Southampton UK.

If you accidentally drop this in the water in the dark you should be able to find it as it also has SOLAS reflectors on the base and top.

First Aid Kit

Reasons to Buy: contains most basic items needed, sturdy box is universally recognised, easy to view contents

Reasons to Avoid: not a waterproof box

Specifications: contains all standard first aid kit, such as bandages, plasters, triangular bandage , safety pins, medical tape, sterile wipes. eye wash, gauze and scissors.

You don’t need me to tell you the virtues of having a first aid kit, but you really should have one onboard. I have three first aid containers on my boat, there’s a sealed pack for offshore use, but there’s als the day to day first aid kit in a familiar green box that I reach for everytime someone cuts a finger or cuts themselves on something. Skinned knuckles are common so the sterile wipes should be plentiful.

Ocean Safety Ocean Standard Liferaft

Reasons to Buy: Reputable manufacturer, lots of service centres available, available in either valise or canister

Reasons to Avoid: Choose the right capacity and level of onboard equipment for your crew size.

Specifications: Insulated floor | Highly visible orange canopy |4 x 30 litre water pockets | Zip closure on entrance | Rain water collection and dispenser system | Automatic light | Canister or valise

If you head offshore or go out of sight of land, a liferaft must be part of your consideration. Whether you opt for liferaft rental or purchase your own depends on where you plan to g sailing and how often.  Buy the best liferaft you can afford. Where possible see the liferaft inflated and familiarise yourself with it in the comfort of a clean dry showroom or service centre. There’s differnet styles of entrance ladders and a few other differences that might make a difference to your personal ability to use the raft in an emergency situation.

Emergency Boating Kit Checklist

What emergency and safety equipment do you need on your yacht.

An emergency boating kit should be on board with you at all times. All boaters know that nothing can be more relaxing than a day on the water, whether it’s an early morning fishing trip , an afternoon of sightseeing or a multi-day boat trip . After all, there’s nothing like the feel of the sea air on your face as you enjoy leisure time on your yacht or sailing boat.

However, experienced boaters also know that things can go wrong quickly; so it’s important to be prepared with the boat safety equipment and tools you might need in an unexpected incident.

Having a comprehensive boating emergency kit onboard your vessel will provide reassurance and practical assistance should anything unexpected happen such as:

• A sick or injured passenger
• A collision with another boat or stationery item like a rock
• Your boat suffers a mechanical failure

What Do I Need in My Boat Emergency Kit?

There are some essential items that all marine emergency kits should contain. Transport Canada does require all boats to carry certain safety and emergency equipment which depends on the size of the vessel.

This includes:

• Lifesaving appliances such as PFDs and flotation devices
• Visual signals
• Navigation equipment
• Firefighting equipment

Find out what your specific vessel is required to carry by checking out the safe boating guide on the Transport Canada website.

What Do the Best Boating Emergency Kits Include?

When putting together your boating emergency kit, consider what you will need in each of the following categories:

• Survival gear
• Signaling equipment
• Navigation tools
• Safety gear
• First Aid kit

Survival Gear: This is the equipment that will help you to survive should you or a passenger end up in the water and includes:

Flotation Devices: Life-jackets save lives in Canadian waters every year. Make sure you have enough lifejackets or PFDs for each person on board.  It is important that these fit well and meet Canadian standards.Check out this guide to choosing a lifejacket for more information.

Throwable Flotation Devices : All vessels over 9m long need to carry a lifebuoy attached to a buoyant line and a separate buoyant heaving line. You may also wish to include some throw cushions for extra options.

Signaling Tools

If you have an emergency on your personal watercraft you may need to get the attention of the coast guard or another vessel to help you. The best way to do this is to be highly visible and make a lot of noise:

Visual Distress Signals : Make sure your boat meets the requirements for day and night lights to ensure you are as visible as possible. Also carry at least one waterproof flashlight and flares, including light and smoke flares, as well as bright flags.

Sound Distress Signals: Make sure your horn and bell on your vessel are working and you know the international emergency sound signals . Also consider carrying an air horn and whistles for additional attention especially if you have to abandon ship and enter the water.

VHF Radio: Have a fitted or handheld VHF radio onboard which enables you to contact other nearby vessels and the coast guard. Learn and write down the emergency broadcast frequency in case you need it. Read about some of the best boat electronics on the market.

Navigation Tools

Knowing where you are and what is around you is important if you are in an emergency situation. 

Manual Navigation: Always carry a magnetic compass, charts and ruler so you can manually chart and track your location. Learn about the basics of marine navigation .

Electronic Navigation: Many boats have built-in GPS trackers which are useful for establishing your location. Radar systems will also help you to identify what is around you and whether another vessel is in your area. Both are available in portable versions if you do not have them built into your boat.

Emergency Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) which send out GPS distress signals when activated, can be a good way to keep track of someone who goes overboard.

Safety Gear

For general onboard safety , you should also include some of the following equipment in your boating emergency kit:

• Fire extinguishers
• Additional food and water
• Manual bilge pump or bailing device
• Small tool kit
• Weather gear including raincoats or ponchos, a warm jacket, sunscreen and sun hat
• Dry change of clothes
• Waterproof matches
• Knife sharp enough to cut rope
• Portable fuel tanks

First Aid Kit

Health em ergencies can happen onboard a boat, some – such as nausea – are less serious but can ruin the enjoyment of the trip. Other health emergencies can be more serious.

Carrying a comprehensive first aid kit on board means you have the ability to help whatever the circumstances. Boat owners may wish to consider taking a first aid course through Canadian Red Cross or another recognized organization.

A good first aid kit should include:

• Gauze, b andages and waterproof band-aids
• Adhesive tape
• Pain relievers
• Anti-histamines
• Anti-nausea medication
• Spare prescription medications
• Emergency blankets

Where Should I Store My Marine Emergency Kit?

The majority of your emergency kit can be stored together in a large waterproof container. Make sure the container is in an easily accessible position, not in the back of a storage hold or underneath other boxes, as you might need to get at it in a hurry.

Check your emergency kit and equipment each time you sail. Replace anything that is running low or past its use-by date.

Van Isle Marina – A Safe and Secure Place to Anchor Up 

Van Isle Marina , located in Sidney, BC, is one of the province’s largest full-service marinas. Our location makes us a great starting and finishing point for short or longer boating adventures. We offer short-stay, monthly and annual moorage options and offer first-class amenities including a marine fuel dock, boat haul-out and even a restaurant. 

You can store your emergency kit equipment and other personal items you don’t want to leave on your yacht in our secure, heated storage lockers. Visit us today in Tsehum Harbour or contact us to find out more about our marina and moorage options.

250 656 1138

2320 Harbour Road, Sidney, British Columbia V8L 2P6 [email protected]

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Navigating Yacht Emergencies | Essential Safety Tips for All Sailors

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Hey there! Welcome back.

Customer registration, how to handle yacht emergencies.

• How To Handle Yacht Emergencies:

Handling a Yacht Emergency: What You Need to Know

Preparation is Key

Boat Safety: Clear Plan of Action

First Aid Training

Yacht Emergency Procedures

• Conclusion 

Yachting can be an exciting and luxurious experience but comes with its fair share of risks. As a yacht owner or crew member, it's essential to know how to handle emergencies that may arise while at sea. Yacht emergencies can occur anytime and can be life-threatening if not handled properly. Therefore, having a  plan to hire a private boat rental in Dubai and knowing how to respond to an emergency is vital.

The first and most crucial step in handling a yacht emergency is preparation. Before departure, it's crucial to verify that all safety gear is functional and that all passengers know about their proper use. This includes:

• Life Jackets: Ensure everyone onboard has a properly fitting life jacket and knows how to put it on correctly.
• Fire Extinguishers: Ensure all fire extinguishers are properly charged and easily accessible.
• Flares: Ensure you have enough flares on board and everyone knows how to use them.
• First Aid Kit: Have a well-stocked kit onboard and ensure everyone knows where and how to use it.
• Emergency Radio: Ensure you have a functioning emergency radio and that someone onboard knows how to call for help.

It's crucial to have a clear action plan in an emergency. Developing an emergency plan is an essential step in preparing for your journey and ensuring you're equipped to handle any situation. This plan should cover the following:

• Man Overboard: If someone falls overboard, the first step is to shout "man overboard" and throw a flotation device into the water. Turn the boat around to retrieve the person as soon as possible. Designate a crew member to keep their eyes on the person in the water until they are safely back onboard.
• Fire: In case of a fire, the first step is to shout "fire" and try to put it out with an extinguisher. If the fire cannot be put out, evacuate the vessel immediately and call for help.
• In the event of a collision, assess the damage to the vessel and the crew's safety.
• If there are injuries, administer first aid immediately and call for help.
• If the vessel is taking on water, use the bilge pump to try to remove the water and call for help.
• Medical Emergency: If someone onboard is experiencing a medical emergency, assess the situation and provide first aid. If necessary, call for medical assistance or evacuate the person to shore. Regular safety drills onboard are crucial to ensuring that everyone is prepared for potential emergencies during the trip. Practice man overboard drills, fire drills, and other emergency procedures so everyone is prepared for a real emergency.

In a yacht emergency, knowing basic first aid can be life-saving. As part of your preparation, ensure that at least one crew member has completed a certified marine first aid course. This course covers common medical emergencies that may occur while at sea, such as:

• Know how to treat common marine injuries: Learn how to treat common marine injuries such as cuts, burns, and fractures.
• Drowning: Learn how to perform CPR in case of cardiac arrest and rescue breathing for someone who has drowned.
• Severe Bleeding: Know how to control severe bleeding using direct pressure, elevation, and the application of a tourniquet.
• Shock: Learn how to recognize and treat signs of shock, which can occur after an injury or trauma.
• Hypothermia: Know how to recognize and treat hypothermia, which can occur when someone is exposed to cold water for an extended period.
• Having a crew member with first aid training can significantly affect the outcome of a medical emergency at sea. Ensure the first aid kit onboard is fully stocked and includes all the necessary supplies to treat common injuries and medical emergencies.

The following are the basic emergency procedures that should be followed in case of a yacht emergency:

• Notify the Coast Guard: The first step in any yacht emergency is to notify the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has the resources and expertise to respond to emergencies quickly.
• Broadcast a distress signal: If you are in distress, broadcast a distress signal on channel 16. This will alert nearby vessels and the Coast Guard.
• Prepare the life rafts: If abandoning the vessel is necessary, prepare the life rafts and ensure that they are easily accessible.
• Evacuate the vessel: If abandoning the vessel is necessary, ensure that all crew members are wearing life jackets and proceed to evacuate the vessel calmly and quickly.
• Boat Safety: Prevention is always better than cure. Therefore, ensuring that your yacht is equipped with the necessary safety equipment and that all crew members know how to use it is essential. 
• Conduct regular safety checks: Conduct regular safety checks to ensure that all safety equipment, including life jackets, fire extinguishers, and distress signals, are in good working condition.
• Assign roles and responsibilities: It's important to designate specific roles and responsibilities to each crew member so that everyone knows their assigned duties in case of an emergency.
• Follow proper navigation rules: Ensure you follow proper navigation rules to avoid collisions and accidents.
• Avoid boating under the influence: Boating is a serious offense and can put everyone onboard and other boaters and swimmers at risk.

Yacht emergencies can be scary and life-threatening, but having a clear action plan and knowing how to respond can make a significant difference. Yacht emergency procedures, boat safety, and marine first aid are crucial aspects that every yacht owner and crew member should be knowledgeable about.

Always prioritize safety and stay calm and focused in an emergency. By taking the proper precautions and knowing what to do in an emergency, you can enjoy your time on the water with peace of mind. It's crucial to prioritize safety and take preventative measures to avoid accidents, such as investing in high-quality safety equipment and undergoing thorough training.

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The SAFE Boats Story

Inspired by the rough waters and rocky shores of the Puget Sound, we wanted to completely rethink boat design from the human experience because the most stressful part about a boat, is actually being on the boat.

What if it gets really rough out? Will my crew and passengers be comfortable? What about captain and crew fatigue from wave impact? What if it breaks down? What if we hit debris in the water? What’s that noise? How easy will it be to fix?

Ultimately, we wanted to ensure that any boat we built would take the beating of the water, protecting our operators.

So, we started inventing custom designs and supporting technology like our industry-leading and patented foam collar for impact and floatation. We created sound-dampening hull designs for reduced acoustics and noise pollution in the cabin. We developed performance fin technology to allow our boats to corner tighter at high speeds for maximum maneuverability. We optimized our V-shaped hull and deadrise combination that allows our patrol boat models to slice through rough water with minimal impact. And, we were early adopters of proven new technology like shock-mitigating seating to reduce operator fatigue and impact.

This simple philosophy from our little boutique shop earned us a reputation for building the safest, toughest, and most confident-handling boats around the Sound.

Boat Models

Every SAFE Boat starts with a hull designed to displace kinetic energy while under way. Aluminum has several distinct advantages over fiberglass, from less day-to-day maintenance to ease of repair. Our hulls are constructed from marine-grade 5086 aluminum and are designed with performance and integrity top of mind.

Center Console

Standard lengths (LOA): 23ft (7m); 25ft (7.6m); 29′-4″ (8.9m); 31′-4″ (9.6m); 37′-3″ (11.4m)

The SAFE Center Console design allows for enhanced visibility and maximized deck space for crew movement, storage, equipment, and customizable locker configurations. Center Console vessels are strong, fast, durable and highly maneuverable. Lengths range from 23 to over 35 feet, enabling a wide variety of mission applications including response, law enforcement, research, search & rescue, and dive ops.

Standard lengths (LOA): 25ft (7.6m); 29′-4″ (8.9m); 31′-4″ (9.6m); 35′-3″ (10.7m); 39′-2″ (11.9m)

The SAFE Full Cabin is an outboard-driven vessel used by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and a multitude of other agencies in the U.S. and worldwide. It is a proven platform for patrols, response, port security, law enforcement as well as search and rescue (SAR) in nearly any mission environment. The fully enclosed cabin can be climate controlled with optional generator, A/C and diesel heater.

Full Cabin - Inboard

Standard lengths (LOA): 39′-3″ (12m); 43′-10″ (13.4m); 66′-6″ (20.3m)

The SAFE Full Cabin – Inboard is our diesel jet boat. It features a wide beam design for solid performance in heavy seas, and a spacious, climate-controlled (optional) cabin for crew comfort and safety. The Full Cabin – Inboard’s design makes it capable of conducting patrols and search and rescue (SAR) operations not only in calmer, shallower seas, but also in offshore and big surf conditions. The hull design enables it to perform like a much smaller, traditionally more maneuverable platform.

Special Purpose - EMT

Standard length (LOA): 33′-4″ (10.2m)

The Special Purpose – Emergency Medical Transport features an elongated full cabin (optional climate controlled), actuated drop bow, opening face door and secure benches for two patients in full stokes litters. This configuration allows for stokes litters to be removed safely from the water and out of the elements, as well as off the bow of the boat and into a waiting ambulance. The bow design, wide swinging cabin door, ample front deck space and abundant storage also make it an excellent choice for dive ops.

Walk Around Cabin

Standard lengths (LOA): 29′-4″ (8.9m); 31′-4″ (9.5m)

The outboard-driven Walk Around Cabin (WAC) combines the crew comfort benefits of the SAFE Full Cabin with the increased deck space of a Center Console. The fully enclosed, climate-controlled (optional) cabin allows crews protection from the elements while ergonomically allowing for “walking around” the cabin while still on deck. This is the most budget-friendly option for a climate-controlled cabin. Fast, strong and highly maneuverable, the Walk Around Cabin is a proven platform for response, law enforcement and search and rescue (SAR), with minimal crew required for operation.

Standard lengths (LOA): 39ft (12m) to 85ft (26m)

The military requires a distinctive set of vessels that do not fall within the confines of a SAFE standard boat line. SAFE offers these configurations and others to meet unique mission requirements of our customers. Riverine boats are vessels specifically designed to operate in littoral and shallow water environments. SAFE’s riverine platforms are well known for their survivability and shallow draft capabilities, all while maintaining excellent maneuverability.

Interceptor

Standard lengths (LOA): 35′-3″ (10.7m); 41′-1″ (12.5m)

The SAFE Interceptor line offers a high-speed interdiction vessel with a mission-proven hull design and can offer an exclusive track mounting system which allows the operator to rapidly configure the aft deck to accommodate a variety of seating and mission-specific payloads. The Interceptor can operate at top speeds in the harshest seas and features an open T-Top design to maximize visibility at all angles.

Stormer Workboats

Model lines available: Porter, Rescue & Harbour

SAFE Boats is proud to partner with Stormer Marine BV in bringing their line of proven workboats to the US market from the Netherlands. The range includes center console and full cabin workboats in a variety of propulsion options. Vessel configurations can be modified with features such as push knees, bollards, winches, pumps, and other specialized equipment. SAFE Boats and Stormer Marine share a mission and culture dedicated to delivering tailor-made vessels that meet their customers’ specific applications.

World-class Manufacturing

Service & Support

SAFE Boats and Vita Power Enter into an MOU to Build Zero-Emission Patrol Boat Options

Vice Admiral William “Dean” Lee and Mr. Tom Norton Join SAFE Boats Board of Directors

SAFE Boats Becomes 100% Employee-Owned Company

23-Meter Autonomous Hydrographic Survey Vessel Unveiled in US Market

SAFE Boats International announces the introduction of a revolutionary, autonomous hydrographic survey vessel: Merlin. This innovative, 23-meter semi-displacement monohull design was developed in collaboration with Mythos AI, Echo81, and World Marine Design.

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Your Essential On-Board First-Aid Kit For Any Boat

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Whether setting out for a day, week, or longer, you need a well-stocked first-aid kit on board. Here are the essentials.

No matter the type of boating you do, there are certain medical supplies every boater should have on board. (Photo: Mark Corke)

Checking life jackets, VHF radio, and flares before setting out for a day on the water should be a standard part of your predeparture checklist. But your first-aid kit is likely stowed and forgotten — as it seems you rarely need it. If setting out for just a few hours, most boaters assume they're unlikely to suffer a medical emergency. Or they reason that they're not going far and can quickly get back to the dock, so why worry? But having basic supplies at the ready could save you a trip to the emergency room — or even a life.

We talked to Anne Marie Lennon, M.D., PhD., of The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, who sails an Ericson 33, about which first aid essentials every boater should have on board.

"Of course, don't be slow to call for help if the situation demands it or the nature of the emergency is outside of your capabilities," she cautions. "But an onboard first-aid kit should be your first line of defense. A good starting point is to purchase one of the larger kits available from a retailer like West Marine, to which I add a few extra items such as hand disinfectant, antacids, motion-sickness medication, and jellyfish anti-sting." You may want to add additional items based on your personal preferences, where you boat, and the needs of the crew.

Essential Items For Your First-Aid Kit

• Scissors — to cut bandages, surgical tape, and clothing away from a wound if removing the garment is impossible
• Safety Pins — to hold bandages or slings in place
• Tweezers — to remove ticks, splinters, and other small foreign bodies embedded in the skin
• Syringe ( without needle ) — to fill with saline and flush dirt from a wound, or as an emergency eye-wash pump
• Saline Solution — to flush wounds prior to applying bandages
• Fabric Tape — to hold dressings and bandages in place
• Elastic Bandages — provide both covering and support to injuries
• Triangular Bandage — to support and immobilize a damaged arm or shoulder
• Large Adhesive Pads — to cover larger cuts and wounds
• Instant Cold Pack — temporary relief from minor burns and swelling from sprains and strains
• Foil Space Blanket — reduces shock by retaining body heat
• Disposable Gloves — to wear during contact with bodily fluids — yours or anyone else's. some people are allergic to latex, so stock nitrile gloves
• Sterile Absorbent Pads — to cover wounds and abrasions
• Rolled Gauze — to cover wounds where an adhesive bandage is too small or extra absorbency is required
• Adhesive Bandages — keep a selection from small to large. include round ones, and butterfly bandages to effectively close a deeper cut
• Burn Cream — treats sunburn or galley burns. Note : treat a significant burn as a medical emergency
• Individually Wrapped Common Medications — for treating stings, heartburn, seasickness, diarrhea, and so on
• Alcohol Wipes — to sterilize hands, clean scissors and tweezers before/after use, or to gently clean a wound
• Storage Container — keeps everything organized and easily accessible
• First-Aid Guide — essential reference. read it before you need to use your first-aid kit
• Aspirin — if you suspect a heart attack
• Ibuprofen — general pain reliever
• Acetaminophen — general pain reliever for those who can't take aspirin or ibuprofen
• Cotton Swabs — to clean delicate areas before applying a dressing
• Sam Splint — to immobilize a suspected fractured limb
• Antiseptic Ointment Or Spray — apply to minor scrapes and abrasions to prevent infection
• Eye Wash — for flushing chemicals, fuel, dirt, and grit out of the eye. can offer relief in cases of severe pollen allergies

Cleaning Cuts With Hydrogen Peroxide

For most minor cuts and scrapes, rinsing thoroughly with plenty of clean water, removing foreign bodies, and cleaning the surrounding area with soap is effective in preventing infection. It's also less irritating to wounded tissue. Once a first-line treatment, hydrogen peroxide is useful when you don't have access to clean water, but it is not recommended for deep cuts, bites, or burns. See a doctor immediately for those.

4 Tips For A Safe & Healthy Time On The Water

1. When you think of first aid, cuts and bruises probably come to mind. But sunburn, heatstroke, and overexposure to the elements can pose serious health risks. Dr. Anne Marie Lennon of The John's Hopkins Hospital says, "Overexposure to the sun puts you at real risk of skin cancer. Avoid sun damage by using the ' slip, slap, slop ' approach. Slip on a long-sleeved top, slap a hat on your head, and slop on some sunscreen, which you reapply every couple of hours."

2. Before heading out, ask if any crew members have allergies to medications, including simple pain relievers. Some people may be allergic to the adhesive on bandages or the latex in gloves, or may have been told to avoid certain pain relievers for medical reasons. If someone on board has a life-threatening allergy, know where to locate and how to administer an epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPen), if required.

3. Make sure that more than one person knows how to operate the VHF radio to call for help in an emergency.

4. Keep the booze locked up until you're safely anchored for the night or tied up at the dock. Alcohol tends to dehydrate and make you more prone to seasickness. Plus, it could slow reactions that could lead to an accident.

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Contributing Editor, BoatUS Magazine

A marine surveyor and holder of RYA Yachtmaster Ocean certification, BoatUS Magazine contributing editor Mark Corke is one of our DIY gurus, creating easy-to-follow how-to articles and videos. Mark has built five boats himself (both power and sail), has been an experienced editor at several top boating magazines (including former associate editor of BoatUS Magazine), worked for the BBC, written four DIY books, skippered two round-the-world yachts, and holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest there-and-back crossing of the English Channel — in a kayak! He and his wife have a Grand Banks 32.

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Making emergency hull repair

It’s a calm, moonlit night, with a steady wind of 10 or 15 knots off the beamthe kind of night you dream about. The miles and hours just click away untilyour midwatch reverie is suddenly interrupted by a hard jolt, the sounds of metal squealing across fiberglass, the uneasy motion of a boat moving contrary to the natural motion of waves and wind. Then quiet again. Well, almost quiet. You can hear water running below, and your first mate screaming. What now?

My short stint in the U.S. Navy taught me that damage control has three objectives:

1. Do whatever you can to prevent damage.

2. Minimize and localize damage that does occur.

3. Accomplish as quickly as possible emergency damage repairs.

We’ll leave step 1 for another story. When you’re already up to your ankles in cold seawater it’s too late for that anyway.

If your boat is sinking, sort out what to do immediately and what can wait. The first priority is to determine how much water is coming in the hole. Flooding means water is coming in faster than the bilge pump(s) can pump it out. Any lesser amount is leakage, not flooding. Though the difference may seem obvious, it is an important distinction. Leaks can be controlled by pumping aloneno other immediate action is required. Flooding, on the other hand, must be stopped or slowedpumping alone will not be enough.

How much water is coming in the hole, and how fast can you pump it out? Table 1 gives the approximate flooding rates through different-size holes at different depths. In estimating the capacity of your bilge pumps, you must realize that it will be considerably less than the figure marked on the side of the pump. The rated capacity is for free flow from the outlet (i.e., no hose connected, no three-foot lift to the discharge point). The rated capacity is determined with a battery at full charge. Supply less voltage, add a hose with a lift of several feet, and the real flow rate drops quicklyusually about half the rated capacity. Compare that to the 47 gallons per minute (GPM) flooding rate from a two-inch hole located just one foot below the waterline. Even with a small hole, pumping is not enough.

Stop the flooding The first action for flooding, then, must be to stop the inflow. If you can pump at the same time (either turn on an electric pump or have another crewmember man a manual pump), fine; otherwise, stop the flooding, then pump. Stopping the flooding may be as simple as shutting a seacock or stuffing your shirt in a small hole. Try the quick, simple approach first; put something in the hole, or put something over it. Even if the flooding slows but doesn’t stop, you have gained ground. The Navy uses wooden plugs (called damage control or DC plugs) to stop leaks. The approach is simple and effective. Even putting a single square plug in a round hole could reduce the flooding to a leak. For example, a two-inch hole, one foot below the waterline, passes about 47 GPM. Drive a tapered square plug into the hole, though, and the rate drops to about 17 GPMnow your 30 GPM electric bilge pump can gain ground on the flooding while you further reduce the inflow rate by stuffing rags around the plug. Plugs work best if you wrap a rag around each plug before inserting it. The cloth tends to keep the plug in place and fills some of the gaps between the plug and the edges of the hole.

Wooden plugs usually don’t make a watertight fit. You can reduce the leakage around the plugs by driving in smaller plugs or wedges, then driving in rags. Cedar shingles work well as a finishing touch. They are easy to split to the right size and swell when wet.

Larger holes require slightly more elaborate techniques. If the hole is so large you can’t put something in it, put something over it. Even the flooding from a large hole could be almost stopped by a crewmember pressing a throw-able cushion over the hole. For long hull cracks (e.g., from a collision with another boat), use a settee cushion stuffed into the crack, with another cushion over it backed by the top of the dining table. You could probably limp back to port with the first mate holding such a patch in place, but to go any distance, the patch should be self-supporting.

A makeshift support can be made using materials at hand, but truly sturdy patches can be constructed by adding just a few items to your toolbox. Judge what repair material you want to carry by how far you venture from help. The important thing is to think through the process now.

You might also use some sort of box over the hole. Depending on the size and shape of the hole, a skillet or baking pan wedged in place and caulked would be effective.

Actual flooding rates can be sobering47 GPM is a lot of water. How much water would it take to sink your boat? Multiplying waterline area times freeboard gives you a rough approximation of the interior volume of your boat, which is a measure of the reserve buoyancy. A relatively narrow 45-foot voyaging sailboat might have a waterline area of about 250 square feet and freeboard of about 2 feet. This yields a reserve buoyancy of about 625 cubic feet, or a little more than 4,500 gallons (there are about 7.3 gallons per cubic foot). With a flooding rate of 47 GPM, the boat would sink in 4,500 divided by 47 = 96 minutes. If the hole is big, say five inches in diameter one foot below the waterline, the time is cut to 4,500 divided by 294 = 15 minutes. Actually, the boat would sink faster because as the boat settles in the water the hole gets deeper and the flooding rate increases. The time is further shortened since sinking boats never go down on an even keel (an optimistic assumption we made in approximating the reserve buoyancy). Also, the flooding will affect your boat’s stability. As the water comes over the sole, any motions of the boat will cause the water to slosh around, and that will exaggerate the movement of the boat. With a hole of any size, therefore, it is imperative to stop the flooding. Five minutes go by awfully quickly in the panic that follows a collision or holing. Think about your actions now so you won’t spend the first two minutes deciding what to do.

All holes should be partially plugged if they cannot be completely plugged. Remember, reducing the flooding rate is not as good as stopping the flooding, but it’s a start.

Don’t forget holes above the waterline. They may not appear immediately dangerous, but as the boat rolls or settles, they could become submerged and provide a new source of water.

In coastal waters, consider the option of intentionally grounding your boat if you can’t control a flooding casualty. Your boat would be easier to salvage in three or four feet of water than it would in 40 feet.

Your repairs don’t have to be pretty, they just have to stop the water, or at least reduce the flow rate. Don’t worry (yet) about whether the patch will last.

Once you have the flooding under control, then think about the big picture. Can you make way? Will your temporary patch hold until you reach port? How can you rig a more permanent repair? Most of the “temporary” fixes shown in the accompanying figures will hold at sailboat speeds. With the extra drag from your patch, you won’t be going very fast anyway.

Using an emergency repair kit More elegant short-term repairs can be made if necessary. A company called Progressive Products is one of several that market emergency hull repair kits. Their Kollision Mat Kit has a two-part underwater epoxy adhesive and a poly-fabric mat. The two parts of the epoxy are mixed and spread over the patch, then the whole works is applied from outside the boat hull to effect a semi-permanent repair.

The concept is simple and the execution easy. I tried their sample kit in a tub full of water, applying a patch to a piece of submerged fiberglass. It worked as advertised. In the cold water, the epoxy took a long time to set up (about 12 hours). Also, the bond I got would be watertight, but certainly not structural. Even 24 hours after the initial mix, I could pull a corner of the patch up with my hands. Of course, the conditions were far from ideal. The test piece was dirty, the water was cold. In short, just like it would be in real life. And I’m sure it was much easier in the deep sink than it would be over the side, especially in cold water. Would it keep the water out for a three-day trip back to civilization? I think so.

Don’t depend on a kit like this to be your first line of defense, though. Stop the flooding, dewater the boat, then think about whether you need a patch for the trip home.

Once you get the boat moving again, check your temporary repair regularly. Have everything ready in case the patch fails and you have to do it all again.

Obviously the right tools and supplies make it easier to accomplish temporary repairs. However, even a complete set of tools is useless without the knowledge required to use them. You and your crew should discuss the particular actions required on your boat for all plausible casualties. Think through the potential problems beforehand, and you’ll be calm and cool should an emergency arise.

Like all skills of sailing, damage-control techniques are learned, not inherited. Read, study, think, discuss. Your mastery of the techniques discussed here will certainly give a sense of accomplishment and self-reliance, and may someday save your boat.

By Ocean Navigator

Coastal Safety – Boat Captain Sea School

30 Years of Maritime & Safety Training Centre of Excellence

Captains Safety Briefing for boat voyages and short trips

Safety briefing.

Before the commencement of any voyage the skipper should ensure that all persons on board are given a safety briefing by making a Captains Safety Briefing for boat voyages and short trips

This should include as a minimum

the stowage and use of personal safety equipment such as lifejackets, thermal protective aids and lifebuoys the procedures to be followed in cases of emergency

When you take a new crew or guest on your boat the first time, be sure to teach them the basics about how to stay safe on the water. All too often, when the weather is good and conditions are stable, a skipper is tempted to get underway immediately—and tell guests or crew about safety equipment and actions later on if a need arises. The problem is that if a need does arise, it’s usually too late then to talk about safety actions, because immediate action is needed.

Boat safety for guests is an important matter to address from the start.

Remember too that you the captain may be involved in an emergency and unavailable to give instructions at the time. Imagine if you were knocked overboard — would your guests know how to rescue you or call for help?

Here are five safety guidelines to show and tell guests and crew before heading out.

1. Make sure everyone has a lifejacket.

Don’t just tell them where PFDs are stored, but get them out and make sure everyone has one. Have them try them on and make any adjustments needed for a good fit. Then each guest can put the PFD where they can find it later (better yet: wear it). Remember that children under age 12 must wear one at all times.

Also show them your throwable PFD (life ring or seat cushion) and instruct them that if anyone goes overboard, even when wearing a PFD, throw the life ring or additional PFDs toward the person in the water. They will provide additional buoyancy for the person, and having several items in the water makes it easier to find the area if you’re under sail and it takes a minute or two to return.

2. Show everyone how to stop the boat.

Assume, in the worst case scenario, that you are in the water or having a medical or other emergency. Sailing crew can likely stop the boat or return to you, but guests may not know what to do. Under sail, show them at least how to release the mainsheet and jib sheet immediately to spill the wind and stop the boat. Under power, show them how to shut down the engine—it’s not good enough to think you have the boat in neutral if a person may come anywhere near the prop. Once you’re underway, you can talk more about how to run the boat back to a person overboard under either sail or power—but before starting out, guests should at least know how to stop the boat.

3. Show everyone where fire extinguishers are located.

If a fire were to break out, you might be too busy doing other things to fetch a fire extinguisher. Show people where they are and how to release them from a mounting bracket.

4. Show the boat’s radio and how to use it.

Several kinds of emergencies might result in you being incapacitated and needing help. In this day of universal cell phones, guests may assume they can simply call 911. Off the coast they may lack a signal, and even if they have a signal, using a VHF radio is better. The Coast Guard will hear a radio distress call virtually anywhere in US waters, and other boaters nearby monitoring channel 16 may also hear and arrive to give help long before the Coast Guard does. With a phone call, these boaters obviously will not know you are in distress.

Unless you are very near land where crew and guests can easily identify shore features to describe the boat’s position in a distress call, you should have your GPS unit on. Make sure at least one guest knows how to read longitude and latitude to be able to give your location in an emergency call.

5. Explain the plan if someone falls overboard.

Falling overboard is the most common boating emergency, a situation that requires immediate action from others in addition to the captain. Tell them what to do if you yourself end up in the water. (If your guests are not sailors or boaters, the best they may be able to do is stop the boat so that you can swim to it.) But explain that you need their help if one of them falls overboard. As noted earlier, throw the life ring and other floating objects immediately. Assign one person to watch the person in the water at all times, pointing with an outstretched arm. Others should stand by for your orders, such as controlling the sails or preparing a retrieval system.

It takes a coordinated team effort to return the boat to someone in the water and assist the person back on board.

In addition to these five guidelines, if you are the only one aboard who knows how to sail, it can be critical for someone else to know how to handle the boat if you become incapacitated or are knocked overboard.

Then head out and have fun!

Your safety “show and tell” doesn’t have to be scary—that’s not the point. It takes only a few minutes to cover these basics, but should an emergency occur, this will have been time very well spent.

In addition to the requirements of 1, the skipper should brief at least one other person who will be sailing on the voyage regarding the following

• Location of liferafts and the method of launching
• Procedures for the recovery of a person from the sea
• Location and use of pyrotechnics
• Procedures and operation of radios carried on board
• Location of navigation and other light switches
• Location and use of firefighting equipment
• Method of starting, stopping, and controlling the main engine
• Method of navigating to a suitable port of refuge
• Location of Stability Guidance Booklet, and Stability Information Booklet if applicable
• Safety cards may be considered to be an acceptable way of providing the above information for easy of remembering.

More information is available in the “MGN 280”

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Sailboat Emergency Steering

• By Don Street
• Updated: June 12, 2019

There are countless stories about yachts ­abandoned at sea because they lost their steering or rudder. It’s a ­possible contingency that should be anticipated before ­heading offshore. Boats that have wheel steering should be equipped with an emergency tiller that has been tested and works. Too many ­emergency tillers are useless. Test your emergency tiller in heavy air, not only sailing to windward, but also on a broad reach and dead downwind, two points of sail that require a lot of steering.

Tiller Tales

The inadequacy of emergency tillers was brought home to me early in my career as a delivery skipper. I was delivering a 40-foot sloop, with a short keel but an attached rudder, from Grenada to Fort Lauderdale via St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. About 50 miles west of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the hydraulic-steering system packed up so we were forced to use emergency steering to San Salvador, in the Bahamas the first island we figured we could find a harbor.

We installed the ­emergency tiller, but it was not well ­designed. It was simply not strong enough and collapsed after about five hours. I found that the biggest socket in the socket set would fit on the rudder head, and a block and tackle on the wrench handle led to a winch gave us enough control to sail her 400 miles to San Salvador Island where we stopped and rebuilt the emergency ­tiller. Sometimes you need to go with what you got.

Contrast that to the tale of Pixie , a 54-foot Gardner-designed, ketch-rigged ­motorsailer. We were on another delivery, from St. Croix to Fort Lauderdale, when on the second day out once again the hydraulic steering failed. But it was no problem as Gardner had designed a proper emergency tiller. Pixie had a center cockpit and a large ­after deck. We simply undid a deck plate, moved a cushion in the aft-cabin bunk, dropped the emergency tiller through the deck plate onto the rudder head, and we were all set. As the tiller was a full 6 feet long, we had plenty of leverage. As seen in the accompanying photos from the 2019 Boat of the Year tests, many contemporary production cruisers have emergency tillers as well thought out as Pixie ‘s.

One common ­problem, ­particularly with many ­older vessels, is that many ­extended emergency tillers are ­designed to pass over the top of the wheel. This arrangement may look good on paper, but when you try to use it in heavy weather, especially going downwind, it doesn’t work. The problem is that the ­tiller must have some height to clear the wheel, but because of its accompanying short ­lever arm, there’s not enough torque or leverage for it to be effective.

Contemporary yachts, of course, are very beamy and they carry that beam well aft, which means extremely wide sterns. I think many ­designers are missing an opportunity on these boats to create a ­better emergency tiller. Because they’re so wide, why not employ a T-shaped ­tiller? (There were ­examples of T-shaped emergency ­tillers in the Boat of the Year ­testing, but I’m thinking about one that would extend ­farther abeam.) It would be ­easier to ­fabricate with a longer lever arm extended port and ­starboard. If control was an issue, two people could steer, one to either side. You’d ­probably want the “arms” of the T to be ­easily removable for ­storage. One thing you already see on some modern boats is an emergency tiller pointed abaft the rudder head. This solves the problem of conflicting with the wheel and pedestal.

On cable-steering systems, the most common ­failure, naturally, is broken cables. Replacing steering cables at sea is difficult, but not impossible. Superyacht ­skipper Billy Porter told me a ­story with advice useful to any cruiser. Porter was a veteran of the Royal Navy who crewed aboard a yacht in a round-the-world race that entered as part of the service’s sail-training program. The crew figured sometime in the Southern Ocean, after thousands of miles of downwind sailing, a steering cable would break and they’d lose steering. When that happened, they planned to round up, drop the spinnaker, hoist the staysail and trim the boat so it hove to. Then they could make repairs.

Halfway to Cape Horn, that exact scenario unfolded. The crewman designated to steering controls — everyone had a specific duty — dove down below to address the ­problem. The rest of the crew ­reckoned it would take hours to do the job. But 20 minutes ­later, the crewman popped out of the hatch and said, “New ­cable installed and tensioned, get underway.” Everyone was amazed and asked how he did it so quickly. It turned out that during his time in port, he stayed aboard and set his alarm for midnight each night to practice changing a cable. The first time took three hours, but he soon learned to assemble all the required tools and different lengths of spare cables near the ­lazarette. Each night he got quicker and more efficient, so when there ­actually was an ­emergency, he was ready. The point is, for those heading offshore, it’s ­worthwhile to try ­replacing a steering cable in port — ­before setting out.

Lost Rudders

Another common characteristic of modern designs is spade rudders. Again, in recent times we’ve heard too many stories of crews abandoning boats in midocean because they completely lost a rudder that either dropped because of a ­structural issue or because it hit something. Scanmar International is one of the few companies that builds dedicated emergency rudders. The firm’s M-Rud unit works in conjunction with its Monitor windvane, and its SOS Emergency rudder is a stand-alone system worth investigating.

If you do lose a rudder, and you are not carrying a ­specific emergency rudder, my advice is not to waste any time trying to rig a spinnaker pole with a door secured to it as a rudder. I have heard and read about dozens of sailors who have tried this rig, and it simply does not work.

A more successful tactic was employed by the crew of the Dutch 55-footer Olivier van Noort in the 1953 Fastnet Race. After rounding Fastnet Rock, the boat lost its ­rudder. The crew responded by­ rigging a spinnaker pole across the deck and running lines through blocks secured to the ends of the pole’s port- and starboard-side that were attached to a drogue streamed astern. With the lines led to winches, the crew was able to manipulate the drogue to steer the boat.

I’ve heard a similar story from yacht designer Bill Tripp, who was aboard one of his own 60-footers when it lost a rudder on a race 60 miles north of Nassau, Bahamas. That crew didn’t use a spinnaker pole, but they did deploy a drogue that was “­triangulated” by lines led directly to ­winches. In a ­northerly breeze, they had some success, but ­ultimately were more ­successful a­fter ­setting a staysail (with no main). The drogue kept the stern ­directly behind the bow, and the crew was able to fine-tune their course by ­trimming the staysail to control the ­direction of the bow. And they made it safely to Nassau.

Likewise, the Rhode Island-based Keyworth brothers, Mike and Ken, have been able to tightly control the Swan 44, Chasseur — ­also without a wheel or rudder — by ­employing a 30-inch Galerider storm drogue with a double-reefed main and just enough of the genoa unfurled to fill the foretriangle. To rig their drogue, the Keyworths led spinnaker lines from the drogue forward to a pair of snatch blocks set amidships, then aft to ­cockpit winches. In all these cases, there was a lot of experimentation with sails and line placement for the drogues before finding a workable solution. But solutions were found.

Never underestimate the option of just using your sails if the breeze is favorable. With the wind abeam or forward of abeam, depending on the vessel, many good sailors can steer a boat using sails alone. Yes, it’s easier on a ketch or yawl, which have more options, than it is on a sloop or cutter, but it’s possible with any rig. That said, a cutter with a staysail as well as a jib is easier to steer under sail alone than a single-­headsail sloop. Once the wind goes abaft the beam, it’s time to switch to the drogue.

To sum up, for resourceful sailors, a loss of steering or a rudder should not ­necessarily be regarded as a ­complete ­disaster. If well prepared, with well-practiced routines and the proper gear onboard, they could just be a major inconvenience!

Don Street is a legendary sailor, author and voyager, and a frequent contributor to Cruising World. His seminal book, The Ocean Sailing Yacht (volumes 1 and 2) , was originally published in 1974 but remains a valuable ­resource to this day, and can be ­ ordered online from Amazon and other outlets.

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Choosing and Using Life Rafts for Emergency Situations

Life rafts are essential survival equipment for maritime emergencies. They are designed to provide temporary shelter and support for people who have to abandon their vessel due to emergencies such as fire, collision, or high sea levels. In order to ensure your safety during a maritime emergency, it is crucial to understand how to choose and use life rafts appropriately. This article will discuss the importance of life rafts, the factors to consider when selecting them, and some tips for using them in emergency situations.

Importance of Life Rafts

Safety in Maritime Emergencies

Life rafts play a critical role in ensuring the safety of people during a maritime emergency. They provide a safe and buoyant platform for individuals to get themselves out of the water and minimize the risk of drowning or exposure to hazardous conditions.

Compliance with Safety Regulations

Life rafts are an essential part of safety equipment required by international maritime regulations. Ensuring that your vessel is equipped with proper life rafts can help prevent penalties and ensure the protection of your crew members.

Factors to Consider when Choosing Life Rafts

Life rafts come in various sizes and capacities, ranging from single-person rafts to those that can accommodate over 20 passengers. It is essential to choose a life raft with a capacity suitable for the number of people on board your vessel.

Launch Method

Life rafts can be launched manually, automatically, or both. Manual launching requires a person to deploy the raft by hand, while automatic launching occurs when the raft inflates automatically in contact with water or at a certain depth. Consider the preferred method based on the crew’s ability and the nature of your voyage.

Quality and Features

Invest in a life raft from a reputable manufacturer with a history of producing reliable and durable products. Additional features such as an inflatable canopy, emergency supplies, and communication equipment can also be valuable additions to your life raft.

Storage and Maintenance

Ensure that you have a suitable storage location on your vessel for the life raft. Regular maintenance checks, including inspections of inflation equipment and protective materials, are important to ensure the raft’s reliability in an emergency.

While the safety of your crew should always be a top priority, you may need to consider your budget when selecting a life raft. Look for products that offer the best price while maintaining a high level of safety and quality to ensure the best value.

Tips for Using Life Rafts in Emergency Situations

Familiarize Yourself with the Life Raft

Before embarking on a voyage, ensure that all crew members are familiar with the life raft’s location, inflation, and launching methods. Regular drills can greatly improve the effectiveness of using a life raft in an emergency.

Board the Life Raft Safely

During an emergency, it is crucial to enter the life raft calmly and carefully. Help weaker crew members to board first to ensure everyone’s safety. Use lifejackets or personal flotation devices to assist those who need additional support entering the raft.

Release the Sea Anchor

A sea anchor helps to stabilize the life raft by reducing drifting and creating drag. Be sure to release the sea anchor shortly after boarding the raft.

Communicate Your Location

Use any available communication equipment, such as flares, emergency position indicating radio beacons (EPIRBs), or VHF radios, to signal for assistance and communicate your location with rescue teams.

Ration Supplies

Life rafts are equipped with emergency supplies such as water, food, and first aid kits. Be mindful of your consumption and ration supplies to make them last until rescue arrives.

Life rafts are an essential part of maritime safety equipment, and choosing the right one for your vessel is imperative for safeguarding yourself and your crew in emergency situations. By considering factors such as capacity, launch method, and quality, you can ensure that your life raft is reliable and effective. Additionally, following tips on using life rafts can improve the odds of successful rescue operations during maritime emergencies.

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The Hunt is on for a Quality, Well-placed Emergency Tiller

Practical sailors search, 10 years in the making, turns up the good, the bad, and the shiny in emergency tillers, but the ideal arrangement still eludes us..

A decade ago, Practical Sailor editors began scouring boat shows for the perfect emergency tiller and an ideal stowage system for it. Little more than a simple lever arm that attaches to the head of the rudder stock, the emergency tiller is the device a sailor relies on in the event a steering cable parts or theres some other steering system failure. Our seemingly simple search turned out to be a nearly fruitless enterprise. Boat after boat fell far short of delivering even an average emergency tiller. Heres a look at our favorites and favorite offenders as well as our criteria for a good emergency tiller and where to keep it.

Ten years ago, Practical Sailor s editors scoured the seasonal boat shows for well-designed emergency tillers. Little more than a simple lever arm that attaches to the head of the rudder stock, these are the devices a sailor relies on when his steering fails-typically when a cable parts. Lloyds of London requires an emergency tiller for certification as do most offshore races. That seemingly simple search turned out to be a nearly fruitless enterprise. Boat after boat fell far short of delivering even an average emergency tiller.

Now, a decade since that study was carried out, it seems as though little has changed. More reliable (but not invulnerable) direct-linkage steering systems are more common, but plenty of new boats still rely on cable-and-sheave steering wheel systems. And there is no shortage of sad, ill-conceived, malformed emergency tillers.

Some of our favorites, and favorite offenders are highlighted on these pages. With luck it, wont take another 10 years for builders to catch on.

Here, for the record, are Practical Sailor s criteria for a good emergency tiller. If you have one on your boat, now is the time to pull it out and see how it compares. If you simply don’t have one, like the Manta 42 catamaran we checked at the Miami Boat Show earlier this year, its a good time to get one.

Easy to Locate . The tiller should be located where it can be grabbed in a few seconds, even in complete darkness. Installation should require no special tools, but if it does, then the tools should also be easy to find, ideally stored with the tiller.

Easy to Install. The top of the rudder stock should be quickly accessible. Access should not require special tools or require deck openings vulnerable to downflooding. Installation should be easily understood and quickly accomplished by anyone.

Simple Design . The tiller should be non-magnetic, ideally of one-part construction. Metal tube sections should offer adequate strength and leverage to withstand worst-case steering loads. The tiller should positively engage with the top of the rudder stock so it wont pull out or fall off. If lines and blocks are required to compensate for lack of leverage, this gear should be stored with the tiller. The tiller should be adaptable to windvane steering or a simple tillerpilot.

Operability. The design should allow good visibility from the helm, and allow full movement of the rudder with little or no modification to the boat and its instruments.

Comfort . The tiller should let the helmsman steer in a comfortable position. Small diameter tubes are undesirable. Over time, tissue compression of more than 30 pounds-force on the tiller hand can lead to undue fatigue. A pair of gloves (stowed with the tiller) will help reduce pressure on the drivers hands.

Durability. A good emergency tiller should require little or no maintenance and last the lifetime of the boat.

• Emergency Tillers in Photos

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Fire crews extinguish boat fire near yacht club in Pompano Beach, no injuries

POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Fire on the water as a boat is engulfed in flames in Pompano Beach.

Firefighters responded to a boat on fire behind the Pompano Beach Yacht Club Condos near Northeast 28th Avenue and 1st Street.

Crews hosed down the flames as the fire and smoke destroyed the boat from the inside out.

Officials are investigating how the fire started.

No injuries were reported.

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Breaking news, autopsies reveal cause of death for nyc lawyer and his wife killed in bayesian $40m yacht wreck.

New York City lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda — two victims of the Bayesian tragedy — drowned when the superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily last month, according to autopsies.

The Morvillos were among seven people killed after the $40 million boat, owned by British tech billionaire Mike Lynch, capsized in a ferocious storm on Aug. 19.

Lynch and his daughter Hannah also died in the wreck.

The first autopsies in the tragedy were conducted on the bodies of the Morvillos.

Autopsies on the bodies of Morgan Stanley Bank International chair Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy, are planned for Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

A judicial investigation is probing three Bayesian crew members for suspected negligent manslaughter and causing the shipwreck.

The ship’s captain, James Cutfield, has not spoken about the wreck and refused to talk when questioned by prosecutors . 

Other members of the crew have maintained that they did what they could to save those on board. 

One crew member, the ship’s cook Recaldo Thomas, was also one of the victims. He was the only crew member who did not survive. 

The exact cause of the wreck has yet to be determined. Some have suspected that a rare weather phenomenon, a “black swan” weather event , may have contributed to the accident. Naval experts, however, have suggested that the 185-foot yacht could have withstood the storm . 

The Bayesian has yet to be salvaged.

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Maritime rescue operation launched after yacht activates distress signal off south coast of nsw.

A major maritime rescue operation is underway after a yacht that once competed in the Sydney to Hobart race found trouble off the south coast of NSW .

A distress beacon was activated from the 19m-long Spirit of Mateship, about 150km offshore from Nowra about 1pm on Monday.

The yacht is carrying two sailors.

“The vessel is believed to have sustained a mechanical issue and is taking on water,” NSW Police said.

Marine Area Command and Australian Defence Force have been notified and are racing to the ship.

Three helicopters deployed from Nowra, Wollongong and Sydney made contact with the crew “but were not able to retrieve them due to fuel considerations”, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

An RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft and two Navy ships, HMAS Arunta and Canberra, are involved in the rescue.

“Officers are expected to rendezvous with the vessel about midnight,” police said.

There are no reports of injuries.

The Spirit of Mateship first raced in the Sydney to Hobart in 2013 and was named in honour of its crew, which was made up of injured Australian Defence Force personnel.

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Two people 'safely rescued' from stricken yacht Spirit of Mateship after major sea operation off NSW coast

By Jesse Hyland

By Xanthe Gregory

Topic: Maritime Accidents and Incidents

A 60-year-old man and 48-year-old woman have been rescued from a stricken yacht at about 7:25am following a major joint sea operation.

The rescue operation was launched when a distress beacon was sent out by the Spirit of Mateship some 185 kilometres east of Nowra about 1pm on Monday.

What's next?

Nemesis is expected to arrive back in Sydney tonight.

Two people have arrived back in Sydney after being rescued from a stricken yacht following a major joint operation on the New South Wales south coast this morning.

The 60-year-old man and 48-year-old woman were greeted by family members at the NSW Police Area Command in Balmain after docking about 6.30pm.

A rescue operation was launched when a distress beacon was sent out by the Spirit of Mateship about 1pm on Monday.

The 19-metre yacht, which has been in several Sydney to Hobart races, had mechanical failure, the rudder was lost and the vessel was taking on water.

NSW Police Marine Area Command and the Australian Defence Force received notification of the beacon by the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

The Australian Defence Force ship HMAS Canberra reached the vessel at 1am today, with the NSW Water Police vessel Nemesis arriving two hours later.

The yacht was 90 nautical miles south-east of Sydney when police headed out to rescue the pair, but by the time they arrived the vessel was 160 nautical miles away.

A man and woman were rescued from the vessel about 7:30am.

NSW Water Police reached the yacht on Tuesday morning. ( Supplied: NSW Police )

Rescued pair 'in good spirits'

Australian Maritime and Safety Authority (AMSA) duty manager Ben Flight told ABC News Breakfast they still have limited communications with the pair, but they are uninjured.

"They're in good spirits and well," Mr Flight said.

He said the HMAS Canberra was also there providing a "bit of a shielding presence from the wind and the sea to try and calm the local environment down".

"It's still around 50-to-60-kilometre winds and 4-to-5-metre seas this morning so very, very dangerous and trying conditions," Mr Flight said.

"The team did a really good job this morning getting the two people off safely."

The yacht is beyond salvation and had to be abandoned.

The man and woman were taken on board the Nemesis, which is travelling to Sydney.

It's anticipated the ship will arrive at NSW Police Marine Area Command about 6:30pm tonight.

A distress beacon was sent out from the Spirit of Mateship about 1pm on Monday. ( Supplied: Rolex/Daniel Forster )

'They're grateful for the rescue'

NSW Marine Area Command Chief Inspector Anthony Brazzill said the pair were rescued after police launched a smaller vessel to extract them.

"As far as I know just from the crew, they were brought on board, given some food and allowed to go to sleep," he said.

According to the AMSA, the damage to the yacht meant it was beyond salvation and had to be abandoned. ( Supplied )

"They're fatigued, they're uninjured and, from what I understand, grateful for the rescue."

Chief Inspector Brazzill said he believed the man had been living on the yacht and was travelling around the east coast after departing from the Gold Coast last New Year's Eve.

The man and woman, who are understood to be friends, left Jervis Bay "yesterday or the day before" planning to head to Sydney before the man left for the Gold Coast, according to Chief Inspector Brazzill.

The yacht in distress, Spirit of Mateship, previously raced in a number of competitions, including the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. ( ABC: 7.30 )

On Monday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it was battling up to 5 metre seas and 70 to 90kph, with the weather conditions preventing rescue efforts from taking place that night.

The operation resumed this morning.

A RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft stayed on the scene until 9pm after leaving from Richmond, but was forced to return.

The Spirit of Mateship has taken part in numerous Sydney to Hobart yacht races since 2013.

Ahead of its inaugural Sydney to Hobart race, then-prime minister Tony Abbott officially launched its name in honour of its crew, made up of injured ADF personnel.

Local News | LoveBug yacht towed out of West River after…

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Local News | LoveBug yacht towed out of West River after overturning in July, partially sinking

Salvage vessels from Donjon Marine Co., the New Jersey-based firm that worked to raise the yacht over the last two weeks, departed from the West River with the LoveBug in tow shortly before sunrise Saturday morning, according to VesselFinder, a marine traffic site.

The fleet which included two tugs, crane barges and the yacht, passed under the Bay Bridge just after 8:30 a.m.

The LoveBug is being towed alongside the Farrell 256, a 200-foot crane barge, for safety, as the yacht is a “dead ship,” or a vessel without power, said Steven Newes, senior vice president of Donjon.

On Monday, Newes said the salvage team planned to tow the yacht north through the bay and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the mouth of the Maurice River in New Jersey. Departure was expected to happen Tuesday , with delivery to a smaller vessel for transport to a shipyard along the river originally slated for Wednesday evening.

Why the salvage team’s voyage was delayed is unclear.

The vessels’ departure marks the end of several weeks of work to raise and free the submerged LoveBug from the muddy bottom of the West River. The LoveBug had settled into the mud “quite a bit,” Newes said, complicating efforts to place slings underneath the yacht to lift it.

Mud was also found inside the yacht once it was lifted, Newes said, which needed to be removed to patch the yacht and “render it safely afloat” for towing.

Until salvage crews pulled the LoveBug from the water, the yacht had remained aground in the same location between Beverly Beach and Shady Side for almost four weeks. Though the yacht was originally resting on its starboard, or right, side, it rolled some before salvage began.

The Italian-built yacht was sailing south on the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis on July 27 when it began to tip over. The Coast Guard received a Mayday call at 12:36 p.m., but by the time crews arrived, the five people on board had been rescued by a good Samaritan and a nearby towboat. Paramedics tended to two of the passengers, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, but both declined to be treated.

The LoveBug, which cost between $110,000 and $125,000 to charter for a week, was not operating as a charter when it overturned, said Hunter Dortenzo, a Natural Resources Police spokesperson.

Though VesselFinder, a marine traffic site, indicated the LoveBug is owned by Bees Honey LLC, a limited liability company based in the Marshall Islands, Federal Communications Commission records show otherwise.

The yacht’s shipboard radio station license is registered to Jabulani Charter Florida, a Florida-based limited liability company with a Rockville mailing address. The licensee should be the vessel owner, according to an FCC spokesperson. Efforts to reach the person listed as the licensee were unsuccessful.

The Natural Resources Police and the National Transportation Safety Board are conducting separate investigations into what happened to the yacht.

One tugboat tows, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, south of the the Bay Bridge. south of the Bay Bridge. Kent Island is visible in the background. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Natalie Jones/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, not pictured, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, south of the the Bay Bridge. south of the Bay Bridge. Kent Island is visible in the background. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Natalie Jones/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, as goes under the Bay Bridge. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, not pictured, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, as it approaches the Bay Bridge. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, not pictured, and another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, as goes under the Bay Bridge. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

Aug. 31, 2024: One tugboat tows, another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, past Sandy Point State Park. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

One tugboat tows, another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, past Sandy Point State Park. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

One tugbo tows, another pushes the Lovebug up the Chesapeake Bay, past Sandy Point State Park. The 103-foot yacht capsized at the mouth of the West River on July 27. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff photo)

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Sailing yachts like Mike Lynch's are 'unsinkable bodies', CEO of boat manufacturing firm says

Bayesian superyacht which sank off Italy is an "unsinkable" vessel, Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, said.

By Ashna Hurynag, news correspondent and Eleonora Chiarella, producer

Sunday 25 August 2024 08:48, UK

Vessels like Mike Lynch's stricken superyacht are "unsinkable", according to the chief executive of the firm which makes and sells them.

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group, told Sky News there are no flaws with the design and construction of the Bayesian superyacht which capsized in a storm off the coast of Porticello, Sicily, on Monday.

Five bodies were found by divers on Wednesday - taking the number of confirmed dead to six.

The Italian Sea Group also owns the firm that built British tech tycoon Mr Lynch's Bayesian, and Mr Costantino said the vessels "are the safest in the most absolute sense".

"Being the manufacturer of Perini [boats], I know very well how the boats have always been designed and built," he said.

"And as Perini is a sailing ship... sailing ships are renowned to be the safest ever."

He said their structure and keel made them "unsinkable bodies".

Read more on this story: Why search of superyacht wreck has been so difficult Hero mum 'slept with baby on deck when storm sank yacht'

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Mr Costantino said news of the sinking "put me in a state of sadness on one side and of disbelief on the other".

"This incident sounds like an unbelievable story, both technically and as a fact," he said.

It is understood Italian prosecutors investigating the incident are continuing to hold interviews with the survivors.

On Tuesday they questioned the captain for more than two hours to help reconstruct what happened and provide useful technical details.

Four British inspectors are also in Porticello and have begun a preliminary assessment of events.

It is understood they will look at all relevant aspects of the incident, including the design, stability, and operation of the vessel. They will also examine the effects of the weather conditions experienced.

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Twenty-two people were on board the vessel, 15 of whom were rescued - including Briton Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter Sofia.

Divers will resume efforts on Thursday morning to bring ashore a body they found earlier. One more person remains missing.

Related Topics

• Superyacht sinking

Crew member on watch duty on Mike Lynch's yacht says he was 'walking on the walls' of the boat as he tried to save passengers

• A crew member who was on board the "Bayesian" when it sank off Sicily has spoken about what happened.
• British sailor Matthew Griffiths said he alerted the yacht's captain as strong winds hit.
• Griffiths and two others are under investigation following the yacht's sinking.

A crew member who was on board British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's "Bayesian" yacht when it sank off the coast of Porticello, Sicily , this month has opened up about the incident.

Matthew Griffiths, a British sailor who was on watch duty on the vessel when it sank, told prosecutors that he had awoken the yacht's captain as "the wind was blowing at 20 knots," Italian news agency ANSA reported .

He said the captain then "ordered to wake everyone else up" before Griffiths "stored away the pillows and plants, closed the windows of the sitting room on the bow and some hatches."

After being thrown from the tilting ship into the water once, Griffiths said he climbed back on board and was "walking on the walls" as he and other crew members attempted to save those they could.

Griffiths, the boat's captain James Cutfield, and the yacht's engineer Tim Parker Eaton are under investigation following the sinking.

Ansa reported that the attorneys of Griffiths and Parker Eaton may request "technical consultancies to clarify the causes of the shipwreck."

Related stories

The head of the public prosecutor's office of Termini Imerese, Ambrogio Cartosio, previously said he was investigating a "crime hypothesis" of culpable shipwreck and manslaughter .

Experts have said the state-of-the-art yacht should not have sunk so easily .

Seven people died after the Bayesian went down.

Among the victims were Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah.

Speaking of the survivors, Griffiths said that "Cutfield rescued the little girl and her mother," referring to Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter.

Mike Lynch, the founder of Autonomy, was on the yacht with friends and family celebrating his recent acquittal in a fraud trial.

Stephen Chamberlain, a former vice president of finance at Autonomy who was also a defendant in the fraud trial, died in a separate incident days before the Bayesian sank.

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