Shock Waves on Nirvana?!

 

When I recently went to the Jewelry Show with my daughter, I was surprised at how much stuff they had!  I wasn't looking for jewelry, and had gone with my daughter for the quality time together.  However, this place had all sorts of stuff and I wound up buying a few things for the boat. 

 

Most of the items that I bought are a surprise for Ken, so I can't tell you what they are just yet.  However, one thing that I bought isn't a secret to Ken.  When I saw it, I had to call him and get his opinion.  It was a stun gun!  I never thought about owning one of these.  However, when I came across the guy giving a demonstration ... my mind started spinning.  "Protect yourself and possibly your life ... for only $45"!  Our lives are worth $45 aren't they?

 

Would a stun gun be useful when cruising?  We don't have a gun, and don't plan on getting one since most countries don't allow them anyway.  Safety is a concern in any walk of life, and we need something on Nirvana for our protection.  Would this be the answer?

 

In the past, I've heard about wasp spray and other options.  I think the wasp spray idea is great, and we'll be having a can on board.  However, don't we need a back-up plan?

 

After Ken said he didn't oppose to the idea, I bought the stun gun!  As I was making the purchase, I couldn't help but second-guess my actions.  Is this safe?  Will it really help if we're in a seriously dangerous situation?

 

 

I hope we'll never need to use this thing, but for $45 I felt it was worth having on Nirvana.  The gun can hold a charge for up to 5 months, and it has a wrist band that disables the gun if removed from the device.  In other words, if one of us had a good grip on the gun  with it wrapped around our wrist ... it won't work if the um, loser, pulls it out of our hand.  He (or she) wouldn't be able to turn it around and use it on us.  I liked this added security feature, since in order to use the gun we'd have to be close to the offender.

 

Before purchasing this little security device, we'd never heard about stun guns on a boat.  We wonder what the laws are concerning these devices.  Like guns, are they confiscated when entering a country?  Are they not considered guns and therefore allowed?

 

We'd love to hear your thoughts about this.  Do you know the laws about these zappers?  Do you own one, or know anybody that does?  Let us know what you know!

 

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Rules of the Road

 

With cruising in our future, I figured it would be a good idea to know the "rules of the road".  Ken and I have been boating most of our lives, but it's been in lakes, rivers and bayous.  We've had to dodge skiers and fishermen, but really not much more.  In fact, we've probably dodged crab traps more than anything!   

 

When I saw "The One Minute Guide" ... I figured this was the book for us.  I didn't want anything too complicated, and this book claimed to explain all the rules in a way that was easily understood.  Also, even though it's not required on our boat, this book satisfies the US Coast Guard requirements for carrying the rules on board. 

 

 

After reading through the book and marking some of the info with a highlighter, I would recommend this book (you can order from link above).  Not only does it break down the rules for easy understanding as claimed, but it also has a quick-reference chart on the inside cover.  Most of the rules seem to be common sense, but when in a stressful or dangerous situation ... common sense can be forgotten.

 

There's no way I can cover all the rules, but here's an idea of what's in the book ... 

• A sailing vessel is "under sail" and becomes a "power driven" vessel any time the motor is running.
 
• A sailing vessel underway keeps out of the way of:  a vessel not under command, a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver, and a vessel engaged in fishing.
 
• If you're motor-sailing or motoring, than you must keep out of the way of those mentioned above, as well as a sailing vessel.
 
• When motor-sailing on vessel 12 meters or more, display a cone, apex down.
 
• If two sailboats are meeting and on different tacks, the port tack vessel stay clear.  If on same tack, windward tack vessel stay clear.  If on port tack and uncertain about windward vessel, stay clear.
 
• If both vessels are power-driven and meeting head-on, both vessels should alter course to starboard and pass port-to-port.
 
• The book even goes into low visibility, sounds and lights on a boat.  Since our boat is less than 12 meters, we're only required to have a whistle, horn or whatever we choose.  Over 12 meters (but less than 20 meters) requires a whistle and 20m-100m requires a whistle and a bell.
 
• Nirvana requires a masthead light with a visibility of 2 miles, a sidelight of 1 mile, a sternlight of 2 miles, a towing light of 2 miles, an all-round light (white, red, green or yellow) of 2 miles, and a special flashing light (yellow light flashing at 57 times per minute) of 2 miles.  Larger vessels (12 to 50 meters) require the same lights, but require a higher intensity.  The book also instructs where to place the lights for different scenarios.
 

There's much more in this book, and I'm sure we'll be keeping it handy on Nirvana.  Hopefully, we won't be grabbing it for the "avoiding a collision" section!

 

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Swept Away!

Within this past week I've come across several stories of sailors who found themselves in a boat that was either sinking or severely damaged, leaving them stranded in the middle of the ocean.  One story was of three young men that were stranded for 50 days after their motor broke down, another was of a young woman from my home town (New Orleans) that lost her father on a passage to Bermuda when their sailboat was overturned by a huge wave, and another was about a man who survived on his life raft for 67 days after his sailboat was damaged by a large wave.

The last story was on the National Geographic Channel this past week, and I believe the events took place a while back.  However, while watching the tv show I started wondering about what we should have on our sailboat once we start cruising.  When Ken and I first started thinking about cruising, I started researching the internet and was reading anything I could find about cruising.  In my search I came across a few articles that mentioned having an emergency kit and a life raft in the event the sailboat capsized.  We have some time to prepare, so we're not making these type of purchases just yet.  However,  while I was watching the tv show I did start thinking about what we should have on our sailboat in case of an emergency.

The man on the television show survived on a covered life raft, along with an emergency kit that he had packed.  I don't know exactly what this man had, but he did have a couple cans of water, a couple cans of food, a knife, a large fork, some flares, and three solar stills (which took him over 10 days to figure out how to use them).

For loved ones that think we're nuts, Ken and I do NOT plan on long overnight passages (for the reasons above), and DO plan on cruising the coast as much as possible!  We take comfort in the fact that we won't be far from civilization, and therefore should not be too far from help.  We also plan on always wearing the proper safety gear and keeping ourselves "attached" to our sailboat when necessary.

We'd love to hear the thoughts of other boaters, and what they think is a "must-have" for emergency preparation.  Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!