Safety Equipment

[floydraser]

9 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

If I can manage one then I am sure that any fit youngster can. 

At 63, that'll be me then! 

At around 30 I took a job delivering animal feed to farms in 25 and 50 kilo bags. Within a month I had taken an inch off my waist and put it on my chest. Seems to have slipped back a bit since then...

[marshman]

I am impressed PW - do you have a gym in your garden shed?  When I was younger the old 56lb bags were chicken feed ( of chicken feed! ) but 30 kg these days? Stuff of dreams - no wonder my 6 pack fell away with disuse!!!

Surely though even thats a bit chunky for a Drascombe???

[floydraser]

6 minutes ago, marshman said:

I am impressed PW - do you have a gym in your garden shed?  When I was younger the old 56lb bags were chicken feed ( of chicken feed! ) but 30 kg these days? Stuff of dreams - no wonder my 6 pack fell away with disuse!!!

I heard that back in the day when men were men, they hauled sacks of grain and flour of 18 stone. But they didn't live long.

[unclemike]

been there done that

[JennyMorgan]

37 minutes ago, marshman said:

Surely though even thats a bit chunky for a Drascombe???

I carry a 20 and a 10 on my Drascombe. I do have a windlass on the fore-deck! The 20 is reserved for a blow. 

I always regarded the old guideline of two pounds per foot of length, plus a little, about right. 

[Malanka]

19 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

I am designing a self-righting floatation device for litre spirit bottles. I'll let you know when I've cracked it. 

Drink some, then they float....

 

M 

[Malanka]

2 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

I carry a 20 and a 10 on my Drascombe. I do have a windlass on the fore-deck! The 20 is reserved for a blow. 

I always regarded the old guideline of two pounds per foot of length, plus a little, about right. 

We have two 25kg mudweights . Malanka is 39ft long 10ft6 beam and approximately 11.5 tons in weight. 
 

If Doug is reading this we have a windlass too. 
 

Those two hold her in a blow very well. 

[colino]

Think 22k mudweight is the biggest in chandlers now.{ Must have} Windlass one of the first things i had fitted.

[marshman]

Blimey - I doubt any of you could possibly drag!!!  2lbs a foot - thats over 30 kilos for me!!!  I think I have half that and rarely drag - to be fair I do have a smaller one as well but cannot remember when i had them both down!!

[JennyMorgan]

Chris from North Norfolk recently posted a picture of a block and tackle that he used to lift a mudweight, well worth checking out. You could also have a single and a double block, piece of cake!

 

 

 

[JennyMorgan]

2 hours ago, marshman said:

I have half that and rarely drag

Rarely suggests that you have dragged!  What can I say? Just curious, what do they have on the wherries?

[BroadAmbition]

It would be of interest, of benefit, to us all if this man of experience would be willing, to give us an insight to his knowledge and experience. Perhaps in the fullness of time he would give it a shot!

I will.  It's just that I'm now full on busy with work last two days have been out of the house for 12 x Hrs each day and 10 x Hr days in front of me now to Saturday inclusive.  Still lots to do at home so evening time is currently limited,  Only now just sat down to catch up with the Forum and need to get to bed pronto.

Re setting Rhond anchors, the attached should help

Griff

 

 

[BroadAmbition]

When we have crew onboard 'B.A' for trips out on the rivers I try and always give a 'Safety Brief'  I don't do this for regular crew that have been before unless their visit was ages ago.  I always do it at the start of a lads week however as a refresher.

The first part is the usual welcome onboard and how to operate the macerating w/c and importantly what NOT to put down it i.e only if its been through you and the supplied toilet paper - NOTHING else, followed by hob / oven operation, turning taps off, not leaving lights on, how the shower works, water extract pump, fans, windows / curtains / cabins /  Heating system / etc etc followed by not touching owt you don't know about and ASK if you don't know or are not sure. 

Firstly Fire - on discovering a fire bring it to the whole crews attention by loudly shouting 'FIRE' 3 x times.  The four onboard escape routes.  How to fight a fire, the location of fire extinguishers, fire blankets, where to turn off the gas supply, where to turn off the diesel supplies and main elec breakers.  The importance of saving life before the boat and not being a dead hero

Secondly - Flood, bring it to the whole crews attention by loudly shouting 'FLOOD' 3 x times then how to stem a leak and what actions to take if not possible. Location of buoyancy aids

Man overboard - Again firstly bringing it to the crews attention, especially the helm.  The importance of maintaining a visual contact of the person in the water at all times by one crew member with hand raised pointing to the man in the water and doing nothing else. Other crew deploying the ladder over the transom, where the ladder is stowed and how to deploy it (It's long with bottom rung weighted).  How to recover a man using berthing ropes and making a loop to hold them safe alongside in readiness for getting them back onboard.     This situation happened on day one of a Lads week at Reedham one year.  The recovery operation worked perfectly and he was out of the water in minutes unharmed.  The MOB and crew were mightily impressed how quickly and seamless the whole operation went

First Aid and where the first aid kit is stowed, anyone onboard who is a qualified first aider (Me as it happens) 

Then its deck safety that is not running, one hand for you on the boat - handrails, deck gear, berthing ropes stowage, why we cheese down ropes not primarily to be ship shape and Bristol fashion, that is the third and last reason. Fenders etc

There is another brief ref Dinghies, safety, towing, berthing etc

Then it's the standard - Any Questions? 

I like to inform crews that there is no such thing as a 'Daft Question' where safety and operation of 'B.A' is concerned.  I would sooner have to answer the same question times many rather than not be asked and an avoidable accident / situation occur.

All the above is concluded prior to casting off for the first time

Griff

[Vaughan]

Many thanks for that Griff, and all sound sense.

 

5 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Man overboard - Again firstly bringing it to the crews attention, especially the helm.  The importance of maintaining a visual contact of the person in the water at all times by one crew member with hand raised pointing to the man in the water and doing nothing else. Other crew deploying the ladder over the transom, where the ladder is stowed and how to deploy it (It's long with bottom rung weighted).  How to recover a man using berthing ropes and making a loop to hold them safe alongside in readiness for getting them back onboard. 

 

I recognise that as Navy training, that we were all taught when doing small boat handling.  I would just add one thing, where the Broads are concerned, especially for the helmsman : 

Always approach a swimmer in the water bows on, to keep them well clear of the prop. Once you have got hold of them with a rope or boathook, turn the engine off and you can then pull them towards the stern where you can get them out more easily.

For someone in the water, I always recommend swimming to the bank. In most places on the Broads, once you have got to the side, you will be standing on the bottom anyway!

[JanetAnne]

My kids and subsequently grandkids have all done man overboard training and tested their lifejackets in the process. It gives confidence in the bouyancy aids as well as making a fun afternoon aboard.

Ironically the missus didn't get involved and she is the only one to ever fall in! 

[marshman]

Two 22kgs as prescribed! My suspicion is that that figure comes somehow from the H &SE and with volunteers we cannot exceed that figure. There is another tucked away in the forepeak and a "special" used when in we go "south"!!

Even though I have been around rhond anchors for years, I hate them - give me a good old stainless steel pin any time - I have never pulled one out!

And as for "cheesing" ropes, never on any of my boats! I use to sail Thames barges many years ago and they were banned there - ropes need to be available in an emergency and "cheesed" ropes invariably end up with a kink. Let go the topsail on a barge with a kink in the rope and you will cause untold damage - same applies IMHO on any boat. Plenty of ways to safely coil a rope without making it look poncy! ( Sorry Griff! )

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by grendel
remove spaces at end

[marshman]

oops sorry about that post - not sure why I have a lot of space!!!

[Vaughan]

Cheesing down is OK if it is coiled down "with the lay" of the rope and then it won't kink.  I agree that this is only done on ropes which you are not going to use very often, such as the forestay tackle, and it prevents a tripping hazard on the deck.  Halyards, sheets and mooring warps would be "flaked down" in a form of elongated overlapping coil, which lays on deck looking a bit like a flat spring.  Again, you must always flake down with the lay of the rope.

[Vaughan]

3 minutes ago, marshman said:

oops sorry about that post - not sure why I have a lot of space!!!

Giving yourself plenty of social distance, again!

[JennyMorgan]

4 minutes ago, marshman said:

oops sorry about that post - not sure why I have a lot of space!!!

Social distancing?

[Vaughan]

4 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

Cheesing down is OK if it is coiled down "with the lay" of the rope and then it won't kink.

This is also why when you buy a new coil of rope, you always take the rope from the centre of the coil and not from the outside.

[grendel]

in actual fact the weight limit used to be 25kg for men, but the HSE has changed that now, to what you can comfortably lift, and you have to risk assess every lifting task, so if you are happy lifting 22 kg, fine, but if you are exerting yourself then 16kg may be where your limit is.

there are still a lot of places that quote the 25kg limits though.

[floydraser]

Thanks for all these answers. For some reason the notifications are social distancing through the information highway.

[floydraser]

47 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

Cheesing down is OK if it is coiled down "with the lay" of the rope and then it won't kink.  I agree that this is only done on ropes which you are not going to use very often, such as the forestay tackle, and it prevents a tripping hazard on the deck.  Halyards, sheets and mooring warps would be "flaked down" in a form of elongated overlapping coil, which lays on deck looking a bit like a flat spring.  Again, you must always flake down with the lay of the rope.

Excuse me, is there an interpreter in the house?  Any photos?

Since taking up boating I have formed a theory that all naval terms were developed in the old days so that they may be understood when shouted through a howling gale by an old Cornishman with no teeth! 

I clearly learned nothing from watching the Onedin Line.

[Springsong]

Safety equipment. I don.t think anyone has mentioned fire extinguishers . on a 37' boat I think a minimum of three maybe four and a fire blanket in the galley. As for types maybe refer to the BSS manual.