SAILING SAFELY FOR CRUISING COUPLES

SAIL THE SEAS, LLC PRESENTS A NEW COURSE FOR 2018
SAILING SAFELY FOR CRUISING COUPLES

Couples who go cruising know a satisfying life style.  In exchange for the freedom to go where and when you choose, you have a small risk that an emergency may develop which endangers your lives away from the usual support systems available to city dwellers.  The risk is small, but being ready and able to cope should be a personal commitment.  Your lives depend on it.

This course is for couples who plan to go cruising on a small boat where help is not immediately available should one of the two be unable to help during an emergency caused by injury/incapacitation, weather, going overboard, fire, flooding, need to anchor, or other situations which may arise during a cruise.   Ask yourself if you would be able to recover your partner who went overboard.  Ask yourself if you would be able to get your boat back to a safe harbor.  Would you be able to keep the boat from sinking?  Would you know how to use the radio to call for help?  Are you ready for any emergency where the partner who always attends to such matters is suddenly not available and it is up to you to save a life or your boat?
 
If you are not able to take over in an emergency, you and your partner should feel uncomfortable leaving the dock for you are depending on luck for your safe return.  Isn’t it far better to learn and practice the skills that some day may save the life of your partner or prevent the loss of your boat?

Topics covered in SAILING SAFELY FOR CRUISING COUPLES include:
  1.  Stopping your boat.
  2.  Heaving to.
  3.  Raising and lowering sails, and how to reef.
  4.  Starting and stopping engine, and what needs checking during
       operation of the engine.
  5.  How to operate your GPS.
  6.  Determining current position by latitude and longitude.
  7.  Reading a chart to identify hazards and safe route to port.
  8.  Determining course to steer.
  9.  Dead reckoning.
10.  Steering a compass course.
11.  How to operate and set a course on your autopilot.
12.  Anchoring.
13.  Using a VHF radio.
14.  Using your depth finder.
15.  Using your radar.
16.  Using your automatic identifying system (AIS).
17.  Determining tides.
18.  Identifying and using aids to navigation (ATONS) shown on charts.
19.  Sending a MAYDAY message.
20.  How to operate an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB)
       and personal locator beacon (PLB).
21.  How to prevent going overboard.
22.  Locating a person in the water.
23.  How to make and release a man overboard pole.
24.  How to throw a rescue line and repack.
25.  How to deploy and recover a Lifesling for man overboard recovery.
26.  How to use flares and other visual distress signals.
27.  How to use fire extinguishers.
28.  How to control flooding.
29.  When and how to abandon ship.
30.  How to get a weather forecast away from TV and phone service.
31.  What to do if you run aground.
32.  How to cope with life threatening injuries.
33.  Basic knots: bowline, half hitches, clove hitch, cleat hitch, reef, rolling hitch and stopper knot.                 
34.  How to dock and undock your boat.
 
BOTH PARTNERS ON A CRUISING COUPLE TEAM SHOULD HAVE MASTERED ALL THIRTY-FOUR OF THESE SKILLS.
 
This course is tailored to the needs of the cruising couple.  It’s best conducted in a classroom and on the couple’s boat, but can be presented in a classroom in a condensed format without the practical work on the boat.
Contact Rich Miller (703 780 3765 or email sailtheseasllc@gmail.com) to discuss the organization of a class which best suits you.