Safety measures on board
Very Important. Please read carefully.
The very first thing before even going aboard is to make sure that all children that are going to travel with you wear safety jackets.
The safety jacket (usually filled with cork or other material that does not sink) is an obligatory part of every set of rescue equipment. In fact, for each and every passenger on board there should be a jacket. For one-day trips simple jackets are enough, but if you will stay on water more than one day, the jackets should be equipped with whistles.
Just before recently, there was obligation each vessel to have signal rackets for danger. With the modern devices this is not necessary, but some captains prefer to have some of those just in case.
During stormy weather (or "violent" as the yachtsmen call it), it is not advisable to stay on the deck. If you insist on doing that, you should be secured with at least one rope to some of the immovable parts - at least at two different places.
One very important thing to remember: you must not (NEVER!) hold the rim of the yacht with your hand. It is very common that two vessels that are in a harbour or dock crash lightly .There are cranes (special rounded objects attached to the sides of the boat) to soften the hit, so that the vessels will have no damage - but if your fingers happen to be between the two massive boats, you might lose them, or they might get paralyzed which is also as bad. Be very careful about that!
Another important thing is to be careful with the boom - during the overturn downwind it can hit your head severely, and even send you in the water.
It can be helpful and it is advisable for all the passengers to know the sailor's knot - this is the only knot you can use if you fall in the water and they throw a rope to pull you out. It is a special knot which does not decrease and tighten the loop when pulled (thus it will not suffocate you).
Nobody is immune against sea-sickness - it happens even to the experienced "sea-foxes" - the solution is to go into the cabin, close your eyes and rest.
Before going to sleep, you should secure yourself in the berth - falling down in the middle of the night is not very pleasant.
Usually it is not permitted to swim in harbours - for your own safety use the places designated to swimming.
If you decide to have a plunge somewhere at open water, make sure it's a calm day (without a strong wind), and don't go too far from the yacht. Of course, it goes without saying that you should ask for dangerous predators like sharks before jumping into the water.
Never sit or step on ropes; also stand clear of the anchor area, because sometimes it needs to be operated very fast.
If you sit in the cock-pit sunbathing, you'd better have a piece of shelter as well, or put sun-cream lavishly, because you can burn really badly even for a day.
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