Safety

The Coast Guard says that the best life jacket is one you will wear, so comfort and function are important considerations when picking out a life jacket that suits your needs. Here are some things to consider when picking out the right PFD. 1. Getting kids comfortable on the ...read more

There’s nothing like having nice, big, fat fenders when it comes time to raft up with another boat or tie up alongside a nasty-looking dock. The problem is what to do with them given the limited storage aboard a sailboat when you’re underway, a problem that becomes especially ...read more

Following up on its popular form-fitting Sta-Plug emergency plug, marine equipment manufacturer Forespar has now come out with an even smaller version that it calls the Sta-Plug Mini. As is the case with the original, the soft cone-shaped configuration of the Mini is designed to ...read more

Quick-Release Offshore Safety Developed for the Volvo Ocean Race, Spinlock’s Deckvest Vito inflatable lifejacket includes a host of features designed for sailing to the far ends of the earth. Not the least of these is the company’s proprietary Harness Quick Release System (HRS) ...read more

Electronic SOS Slowly but surely the tide is turning away from the outdated pyrotechnic technology used in distress flares to new, less inflammatory alternatives. The latest electronic distress flare on the market is the Orion Electronic Beacon Locator Kit, a new venture from a ...read more

Throw that Raft If you’ve ever tried to swim in an inflated lifejacket, you’ll know what it means to go nowhere fast. The typical USCG-approved PFD is designed to keep you afloat, not help you perfect your backstroke. One time, a gent called Troy Faletra found that out the hard ...read more

SURVIVAL KITS Mindful of the confusion that can accompany shopping for survival products, ACR has helpfully collected the most important items that a prudent sailor might need into a pair of “kits.” The Globalfix Pro kit includes a Globalfix Pro Category 2 EPIRB, a C-Strobe ...read more

Andrew Taylor was working the foredeck of Derry-Londonderry-Doire, a competitor in the 2014 Clipper Round the World Race, on a stormy day in the Pacific when his worst fears became reality. “At some point, the boat moved pretty dramatically,” Taylor said. “The boat went down, ...read more

There He Goes! The Pan-Pan man-overboard locator won a Pittman award for 2017 as a great idea, and now it is in production as the Weems & Plath CrewWatcher. It’s a two-part system that employs a smartphone app to locate a small personal beacon that triggers automatically should ...read more

Throw your MOM Overboard A crew-overboard scenario is about the worst thing that happen to a sailor. You need to act quickly and decisively to keep tabs on the victim, circle back to them, and get them back onboard. In other words, you need something like Switlik’s MOM 8-S, a ...read more

No cruising boat is complete without a good pair of binoculars and a hand-bearing compass. West Marine’s Offshore 3000C binoculars combine both in one sturdy, waterproof package that will give you a lifetime of use. The 7 x 50 specification offers good magnification combined ...read more

The Fireboy CG and Ma Series automatic fire suppression systems recently took a big step forward environmentally by changing to 3M’s “Novec” 1230 Fire Protection Fluid, which has a proven track record in any number of industrial applications—including high-tech computer server ...read more

The next generation EPIRB is almost here, and it adds a local rescue dimension to the renowned yet still improving global capabilities of the 406 MHz COSPAS-SARSAT system. Upon regular 406 transmitter activation, the McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS EPIRB will also begin sending out an ...read more

The PanPan personal beacon is a waterproof 1.2-by-3.1in Bluetooth 4.0 device that can create an active MOB network aboard your boat by leveraging the capabilities of the smartphones and tablets you already have onboard. Basically, in the event you or your beacon get far enough ...read more

When calamity strikes, there’s no substitute for an Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB), a device that should be considered as important as a liferaft. This satellite-monitored electronic signaling device is registered to—and carried by—the vessel, not an ...read more

Today there are more devices than ever before that allow mariners to call for help when in distress, but how do they work, and which is the right one for you? On March 30, 2014, the coordinates 179W were transmitted from Andrew Taylor’s AIS MOB device after he went overboard ...read more

For as long as people have been taking to the sea, they’ve needed a way to signal for help, guide rescuers to them in dire situations and terrible conditions. Since the mid-1800s up until recently, the go-to device for this has been the pyrotechnic flare. And with good reason, ...read more

I suspect most sailors don’t really think much about liferafts, until the time comes when they are about to step up into one from the deck of their sinking boat. At that moment, there is no more interesting topic on this earth. Did I get the right type of raft? Is it big ...read more

As sailors, we carry pyrotechnics on board—per U.S. Coast Guard and SOLAS regulations—and hope we’ll never have to use them. In fact, it’s illegal to use them, unless you’re experiencing an actual emergency or have received permission from the proper local authorities. As a ...read more