MAILBOAT Letters

Abandoning Ship

The article “The Perils of Abandoning Ship” is well written in that it documented the perils of boarding a large ship from a small boat in heavy seas. However, two very important points could have been added to the article.

The first is, boats that remain afloat, no matter how incapacitated, are usually a lot safer for the survival of the crew than attempting to abandon ship onto a life raft or a large ship.

The second point is that owners of all boats heading offshore should install a storm curtain for each berth: a piece of canvas hemmed on all four sides, about two feet wide and running the full length of each sleeping berth, secured firmly with a strip of wood and screws along its length on the companionway side of each sleeping berth so that it can be brought out from under the mattress when needed.

The opposite free edge of the canvas is hemmed with grommets for lacing 1/4-inch or larger line to secure with quick-release clips to fasteners on the cabin overhead. This can be used during foul weather and would have greatly reduced the risk of head injury to the crewmember by keeping him in his berth during the knockdown, and they would not have needed to make the decision to abandon ship for the medical problem of the head injury.

With storm curtains for each berth, the boat’s crew in the article would have had a good chance to ride out the storm, intact.

Steve Gross Port Roberts, Washington

A Nose for Trouble

Great issue, as always. One additional note: If possible, the person who sniffs your boat’s bilge after refueling should not be the person who actually handled the gas nozzle. Close proximity to gasoline fumes will numb your nose for several minutes.

Tony Gibbs Bath, Maine

RIBS and Props

Thought you might be interested in this feedback on the prop injury article e-mailed to me by our (US SAILING/ US Powerboating) Master Instructor Trainer, Dick Allsopp (Capt, USN Ret.). The inflation level of a RIB is something a lot of dinghy owners may never even consider—but may discover on their own, eventually, after noticing the difference in handling ... sometimes the hard way.

The skittishness and overreaction to
waves are often caused by overinflation.
Dag Pike, in his excellent book Fast
Powerboat Seamanship, discusses this
at some length. Basically his test is that
if you hit your tube with a clenched
fist and it bounces back, your dinghy
is overinflated. Hard tubes are for boat
shows. I don’t know if that was a factor
in this incident or not.

I have frequently taught at programs where people have complained about the instability of their RIB at high speeds. Usually the RIB is overinflated. Pike goes on to say that the seaworthiness of a RIB is due to its ability to flex in response to the waves.

Jo Mogle
Vice Chair, Training Committee
US SAILING
Portsmouth, Rhode island

Negative-on-Negative
Terminal Covers

I read the article “Boat Projects Gone Awry,” and where you speak about the many surveyors who often see batteries that are loose, just waiting to be thrown about on the next big wake and so on, you go on to say that (negative) terminals must be covered, something DIY-ers often forget. Any metal object that is grounded and touches a (negative) terminal will spark. I think you meant to say positive terminal, seeing that the negative terminal is always grounded. Unless you are referring to a Model A Ford with a positive ground system.

Ray Burge Winthrop Harbor, Illinois

Hurricane Prep and
Absentee Owners

We own a sailboat, insured through BoatU.S., and keep it at a marina on the West Coast of Florida. Last year we kept it in its slip during the summer hurricane season and had no problems. That was our first year having the boat here in Florida.

We aren’t sure what we should do during hurricane season this year. We will be out of town for the months of June and July. Would you recommend leaving the boat at our dock in the marina (800-foot seawall can withstand 12-foot storm surge; floating concrete docks) and having someone check on it during severe weather? Or should we have the boat hauled onto land and put in a boatyard?

Adeline Lindley Hudson Valley, New York

There is often no right or wrong answer, only a best guess as to how safe a boat will be at any given location. As Steve Letro points out in this issue (“Predicting Storm

SEAWORTHY

Publisher

William M. Oakerson

Editor

Robert A. Adriance, Jr.

Associate Editor

Charles D. Fort

Contributing Writer

Gregory O. Jones

Graphic Artist

Nancy K. Roberts

Proofreader

Regina D. Cruz

Circulation Nelo Karimi Kristin Loyd

Seaworthy is published quarterly (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct) by BoatU.S. Marine Insurance, 880 South Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304-4695. Subscription rate: $10 per year. Single copies: $3.50. Tel. 800-262-8082 x3276. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Seaworthy, 880 South Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304-4695.

Letters to the Editor should be sent to Seaworthy, c/o BoatU.S., 880 South Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304. E-Mail: Seaworthy@BoatUS.com. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and brevity. To get an insurance quote for your boat, call 800-283-2883.