Safety at Sea seminar

This was the second seminar we attended earlier this month. Talks about some of the typical things that might happen at sea...and sometimes how to deal with it.

1) fire: high school preso about the fire triangle (oxygen, heat and fuel), and a little fire extinguisher instruction...

2) An MD (also a ship's medical officer) showed some really really gross pictures of a lot of limps that have gone wrong...Dislocated fingers....I had to keep my eyes closed as I started to feel really sick.

3) Hypothermia is a big problem at sea, especially in our regions, so the doctor explained how you can gradually get the person to warm up by putting your body against his or hers.

4) Sea sickness: definitely take sea-sickness tables on the liferaft (and a book...). I just assume that I will be seasick at some point. There are useful things to know.
- going below deck can cause you to become seasick, if that is the case, ask someone else to do little chores below. It should be better if you actually lie down (apparently the up-and-down motion is worth for our stomach).
- if you become seasick, other that asking your other crew to just kill you right then and there -it is helpful to take the helm as it seems to reconcile what your brain things is moving and what you see moving.
- if seasickness is part of body adjustment, it should last more than 3 days...
- always have something in our stomach and keep a few salty crackers from time to time
- don't overhead
- no alcohol
- look at the horizon.
- If you see it coming, stop the work you are doing (unless it is super urgent) and go back to it in small chunks of time to avoid really getting seasick
Seasickness can become a problem if you can't hold fluids as you are at risk for dehydration. Hopefully, it will never get that bad!
- The patch works wonder.

5) Flare demo (again...) - in heavy wind and rain...Like fireworks really.

6) Introducing SSB and emergency numbers, EPIRB, satellite phone (another hint: get the Coast Guard's phone number and store it on the satphone. If your SSB goes down, you can use that phone to talk to someone...but 911 or Channel 16 won't work too well...

7) grab bag: prepare your grab bag with everything you want to take with you on a liferaft, including IDs...medication you may have to take, etc...

8) other random demos of water makers, lifejacket operation and servicing, EPIRBs, etc...

I didn't learn much during both these workshops but Nathan won a book at the raffle :)