Safety at Sea - Refining Skills and Embracing the SDSA Community

Our team at Dockwa is stoked to be collaborating with the Salty Dawgs Sailing Association (SDSA) to share monthly cruising tales in The Running Fix Newsletter! 

Cruising can bring unexpected challenges, from a crew member overboard, to a fire, to a steering failure offshore. Being prepared is crucial for every boater. Recently, a group from the Salty Dawgs Sailing Association gathered for hands-on Safety at Sea training, practicing essential techniques like flare firing, life raft deployment, and emergency response. Led by experienced skippers, the session highlighted the importance of knowing your gear and practicing safety procedures, ensuring sailors are ready for the unexpected. While no one hopes to face such crises, being prepared can make all the difference. Let this article inspire you to seek out a safety refresher course near you!

Safety at Sea - Refining Skills and Embracing the SDSA Community

It can happen: One of your crew goes overboard in the middle of the night “without permission”; a hot oil fire flares up in the galley; steering is lost; your vessel is hundreds of miles offshore and you hear a mayday call; and one of the worst cases possible - uncontrolled flooding of your vessel, that makes abandoning ship your only recourse. 

These, and other, real-life sailing incidents can and do happen. How a vessel and its crew is equipped and prepared, and knowing how to lend assistance whenever possible, is what the US Sailings Safety at Sea (SAS) program is all about and why, on a beautiful Sunday in September, 25 sailors from the Salty Dawgs and Port Jefferson Yacht Club met to complete the Hands-On portion of the Safety at Sea program. Prior to the Sunday gathering, participants aiming for certification had completed about 15 hours of insightful online course material (video presentations by industry experts) that covered everything from communications, weather, and medical emergencies to crew overboard recovery, life rafts and the decision of last resort - abandoning ship.

The in person / hands on session was led by Sheila McCurdy. Sheila is a very experienced offshore skipper. She has completed many Atlantic and Pacific crossings and Caribbean passages, as well as innumerable offshore races. She is an engaging speaker who has been teaching SAS for over 20 years and often adds personal anecdotes and experiences to highlight the importance of preparedness and rational decision making. Sheila was assisted by Matt Temares, head of operations at Oakcliff Sailing Center and a professional firefighter.  

Sheila and Matt led the group through important and interesting classroom discussions after which we all went outside to the beach for hands on practice; to fire different types of flares, extinguish gasoline/oil fires, don our PFDs to experience their auto-inflation in the water, and finally the deployment of several 6-person life rafts. We experienced how truly difficult life raft entry can be and how awfully cramped a fully loaded raft can be.

The day ended when small groups were tasked with different emergency situations to solve. Everyone then listened to each group’s solution and chimed in with additional insights and suggestions. All the participants had a great day. It gave many of us a different, and much better, way of assessing each scenario. The SAS program increased our awareness of the importance of prevention, that includes both the knowledge of how to use on board equipment and making time to practice with that equipment. Whether the participants are preparing for a passage to the Caribbean this fall, in the future, or just cruising the coast, they are now better prepared and know what safety gear they need to have aboard. Most important, while we all hope we never have to use some of that gear, we know we can.

SDSA and PJYC are already planning next year’s course in Port Jefferson. Thank you to new SDSA sponsors LRSE and Landfall Navigation for their generous equipment donations of life rafts and flares. A very special thanks to US Sailing for offering our members a discount on the online course and to our Friends at Port Jefferson Yacht Club providing discounts to SDSA members on moorings and slips via Dockwa.

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