To be safe, all harnesses, whether integral with a PFD or not, should fit properly.

This may be an issue if you are smaller than average, as noted below.

Last weekend [October 2015], I was asked to take part in US Sailing’s National Faculty during their annual meeting. My goal was to create a “unit” in US Sailing’s Safety at Sea Course on Crew Overboard, and this required that I come up with a plan on how to explain this challenging seamanship problem to sailors of all backgrounds.

A well-equipped, centrally located damage control kit together with a damage control plan are important to a safe voyage.  

Ah, New Year’s Resolutions. So easily conceived, so quickly neglected! Lose 20 pounds, get regular exercise, reduce intake of saturated fat, and cut out that last glass of wine in the evening: we’re very good at making promises to ourselves, and then allowing them to fall by the wayside as the weeks of the new year speed by.

No one wants to spend money foolishly, and no one wants to be subjected to unnecessary risks. How do you figure out how to spend your safety dollars efficiently to minimize the risks associated with going to sea in sailboats? Risk analysis generally boils down to the likelihood of something bad happening, the cost incurred when it does happen, and the expense of avoiding the problem in the first place.

A fire aboard a vessel is very scary.  With an uncontrolled blaze, there is nowhere to go except into the water or a life raft. A boat fire spreads very rapidly.  You must attack it immediately and effectively; otherwise you will deplete your extinguishing resources before you put it out.

While working with fellow CCA members on a comprehensive marine safety manual, I found that the powers that be have prospectively revised VHF channels. The changes are intended to harmonize global communications but, in the natural order of things, will likely cause some short-term confusion.

One of the requirements for the 1982 Singlehanded Transpac was to have sailed 300 NM, singlehanded, in the boat that you were going to take to Hawaii. For my second Singlehanded Transpac, I had selected an Olson 30, Collage, which I saw has having dramatically better creature comforts than my 1980 boat, a Moore 24.

 The 2015 meeting of the International Sailing Federation, now known as World Sailing, was held in Sanya, China. One of the committees that met was the Offshore Special Regulations committee, which is responsible for creating equipment rules for six categories of sailboat racing, based on the proximity to rescue and the duration of the event.

Which distress signaling devices to carry is determined by local government and race authorities’ requirements, in what waters the vessel plans to sail, cost and personal choice.