11 July 2011

What you need to bring

A list of useful things to bring on an off shore voyage:
  • Your own wet weather gear, if you have some.  I have very limited spares, check with me first.  Depending on the voyage, you may be able to get away with a good spray jacket, but for offshore voyages you will probably want true nautical "wet weather gear" available from somewhere like Whitworths.
  • Your own lifejacket, if you have one.  I have several spares, check with me that they aren't all taken (we must have one lifejacket on board per person at all times, even when just sailing around the harbour).
  • Your own favourite snack food.  You will need to stand night watches at some point so having your favourite brand of snacks stashed away to munch on will help make the time pass.  Ditto your own form of entertainment, whether that be an iPod or a deck of cards or whatever.
  • You do not need to bring your own EPIRB or PLB but really a PLB costs around $400 - $600 depending on the model, and they have the potential to save your life if you go overboard.  If you're sailing a lot I would buy one.  You can also use them bushwalking -- if you get lost then you turn it on and the rescue authorities will find you.  The MT410G is the model I have, it's a pretty good buy, it has an inbuilt GPS so when you turn it on the authorities will know exactly where you are.  http://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp?cat=144&item=74527&intAbsolutePage=1  I have a spare one for anyone who's on watch that does not have their own, so it's not an absolute necessity, but then again is your life worth $600 or not?  If you are going to buy one then you need to buy it well in advance of any trip and register it in your name (with your emergency contact details, etc) using the forms that you get when you buy it.

Other things you might like to read:

http://www.cruiserlog.com/wiki/index.php?title=Yacht_Crewing_Information

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