Emergency Management at Sea - Grounding, Fire & Jury Rigging

Prerequisites

You should have:

• Day Skipper knowledge of safety equipment, MOB recovery, fire extinguishers, flares and liferafts.
• The RYA SRC (VHF/DSC) certificate, required for the Yachtmaster Coastal exam, and familiarity with MAYDAY and PAN PAN procedures and DSC alerts.
• A valid first aid certificate (RYA First Aid or an approved equivalent), also required before the Yachtmaster Coastal exam.
• Ideally, completed the RYA Sea Survival course, which gives hands-on liferaft experience.
• Completed the Heavy Weather Sailing lesson.

The examiner will expect a Yachtmaster Coastal candidate to take charge in an emergency: organise the crew, prioritise, communicate with the Coastguard and make a sound decision about whether to stay with the yacht.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to meet the following items of the RYA Yachtmaster Coastal and Offshore syllabus (safety, emergency situations, damage control, and communications) and the matching Day Skipper foundations:

• Apply a priority sequence to any emergency and take charge of the crew (RYA syllabus: emergency situations, skipper's responsibilities).
• Control flooding and manage a hull breach, including calculating inflow against pump capacity (RYA syllabus: damage control, leaks, pumping).
• Respond to fire in the galley, engine, electrical system and gas installation, choosing the right extinguisher (RYA syllabus: fire prevention and fighting).
• Rig emergency steering when the primary system fails (RYA syllabus: steering failure, emergency tiller, jury steering).
• Respond to dismasting and fit a jury rig (RYA syllabus: dismasting, jury rig, repairs at sea).
• Deal with a grounding and refloat or protect the yacht (RYA syllabus: grounding and refloating).
• Tow and be towed safely, and understand the salvage position (RYA syllabus: towing, assistance by others).
• Recover a person overboard in rough conditions and treat the casualty (RYA syllabus: man overboard, hypothermia, first aid).
• Call for help with the correct signal, DSC alert and voice format, and cooperate with a lifeboat or helicopter (RYA syllabus: distress, urgency and safety communications, SRC).
• Decide when to abandon ship and do so effectively, including the grab bag, liferaft launching and survival in the raft (RYA syllabus: abandon ship, liferaft, survival).

Managing Any Emergency

Emergencies usually start small and escalate because of slow or disorganised response. The skipper's job is to stay calm, gather information quickly, delegate clearly and keep the crew safe while the problem is tackled.

A useful general sequence:

1. Safety of people first: lifejackets on, everyone accounted for.
2. Contain the problem: stop the water, cut fuel to the fire, stop the boat from going onto the rocks.
3. Communicate: alert the Coastguard early with a PAN PAN or MAYDAY as appropriate. It is far easier for rescuers to stand down than to start from nothing.
4. Assess and decide: is it under control? What are the options?
5. Repair and recover: temporary fixes, then make for safety.

Taking charge: roles and communication

In a real emergency crews fail more often through confusion than through lack of skill. The skipper should:

• Give the crew a clear picture in one sentence ("We are holed forward and taking water; the priority is to stop it and pump").
• Allocate named tasks to named people, never "somebody get the pump". Use names, repeat the order back, and ask for confirmation when the job is done.
• Keep one person on the radio and one on the log or chart, so that the skipper is free to command and is not absorbed by a single task.
• Keep a record: time, position, actions. The log helps if the Coastguard asks questions, and an MAIB or insurance enquiry will ask for it later.
• Look after the frightened or seasick: give them a simple job in the cockpit, with lifejacket and harness on.
• Reassess every few minutes: is the situation improving, stable or deteriorating? A deteriorating situation is the trigger for escalating from PAN PAN to MAYDAY, or from fighting the fire to preparing the raft.

The RYA examiner will usually run a scenario at sea (for example "there is smoke from the engine compartment") and watch how you organise people as much as what you do with your hands. Talking through your reasoning aloud is strongly encouraged.

Preparation is the best emergency management

Most of the skills below depend on equipment being where you expect it. Before every passage the skipper should have briefed the crew on: the location and use of lifejackets, harnesses, flares, fire extinguishers and the fire blanket, the gas shut-off, the seacocks and softwood bungs, the bilge pumps (including the manual pump handle), the emergency tiller, the VHF and DSC distress button, the EPIRB, the liferaft and grab bag. The skipper should also have told the crew who takes over if the skipper is incapacitated. Use the safety briefing checklist from the Offshore syllabus and ask a crew member to demonstrate the VHF distress call. A crew member who has actually pressed the pump handle before is far more use than one who has been told where it is.

Hierarchy for flooding

For water ingress the order is: stop or slow the inflow, remove the water, assess the damage, then repair properly. Pumping alone loses against a sizeable hole: the flow through a hole increases with its size and depth below the waterline, and a 5 cm hole 1 m below the waterline admits about 300 litres per minute, more than most yacht pumps can handle.

Worked numbers: how fast does water come in?

Inflow through a hole is roughly 0.6 x area x the square root of (2 x g x depth), where depth is the height of water above the hole. For a quick estimate use the table below (litres per minute, round figures for a clean round hole; a ragged hole behaves similarly).

Compare with pump capacity. A typical manual diaphragm pump moves 20 to 30 litres a minute at a sustainable rate, a small electric bilge pump 30 to 60 litres a minute (less when the battery sags or the hose is long), a large crash pump or the engine-driven pump 100 litres a minute or more, and a determined crew with buckets 20 to 40 litres a minute. A 35 ft yacht with a bilge volume below the floorboards of perhaps 300 litres will be awash within a minute or two of a 5 cm hole 1 m down. The conclusion is that for any hole bigger than about 2.5 cm you must stop the flow, not just pump. This is also why seacocks are so important: closing one stops the flow instantly.

Make the decision about help early. If you cannot find the leak in the first minutes, or inflow exceeds pump capacity, send a PAN PAN or MAYDAY and prepare the liferaft while the repair continues.

Flooding and Hull Breach

Finding the leak

Taste the water: salt or fresh? Fresh suggests a burst water tank or pipe; salt means a hull or fitting problem. Check in order: seacocks and hoses (heads, engine intake, cockpit drains, sink), stern gland, rudder stock, log and echo sounder transducers, keel bolts, then the hull itself. In many sinkings the leak is a failed hose or fitting, not a hole.

Stopping the inflow

Click to zoom

• Tapered softwood bungs: keep one tied next to each through-hull. Hammer into a failed seacock or hose fitting.
• Collision mat: a sail or tarpaulin drawn under the hull over the hole from outside, held by lines; water pressure pushes it against the hole. Works with holes you cannot reach from inside.
• Inside patching: cushions, bunk boards, a pillow or clothing pressed into the hole and braced with a boathook or floorboards.
• Underwater epoxy putty: for small cracks and to seal around a patch.
• Heel the boat: if the hole is near the waterline on one side, tack or move weight to lift it out of the water.
• Slow down: speed increases water pressure on a forward hole.

Meanwhile run every pump: electric bilge pumps, manual pumps, the engine raw water intake (closing the intake seacock and putting the hose in the bilge, with a strainer), and buckets. A frightened crew with a bucket moves a surprising amount of water.

Pumping, strainers and keeping the pumps working

Pumps fail because their strainers clog with debris floating in the bilge: labels, paper, hair, wood chippings. Keep the strainer clear, and put a bucket and sponges into use as a back-up. Check where the manual pump handle is stowed, that its through-hull outlet is above the waterline when heeled (otherwise it may siphon back), and that the non-return valves work. Run the engine if possible to charge the batteries that power the electric pumps. If the engine room is flooding, the water can short the electrics: isolate the batteries before they are submerged, unless pumps and radio depend on them, and keep the VHF on a separate supply or use the handheld.

Reducing the inflow by seamanship

Alter course and speed to reduce the water pressure on the damaged area: slow down for a bow hole, heel the damaged side up, and keep the boat head to sea if damaged forward. If there is a risk of sinking close to shore, consider deliberately beaching the yacht on a soft shore (sand or mud, at low water if possible) so that it can be repaired and refloated rather than lost in deep water. Always weigh this against the damage a grounding will cause.

Collision and other flooding causes

Collision with another vessel, a container or a whale, striking rocks, a failed keel bolt, a broken stern gland, a split rudder tube and an open hatch in a knockdown are all common causes. After any hit, check the integrity of the hull from inside before continuing: look behind lockers and under bunks, and look for water seeping or weeping from the keel to hull joint. Keep the log and note where the contact occurred. Even if the damage seems minor, tell the Coastguard and consider getting a surveyor to look at the yacht when ashore.

Exam tip

Examiners expect you to state the order (stop, pump, assess, repair), to name the tools you carry (bungs, collision mat, putty, pumps) and to know where the seacocks are. They will often ask: "What bungs do you carry and where are they?"

Fire

Fire on a yacht is dangerous because of fuel, gas, GRP and limited escape routes. Prevention and a fast first response are everything.

Click to zoom

The fire triangle and extinguishers

A fire needs three things: fuel, oxygen and heat. Remove any one and it goes out. Every firefighting action on a yacht removes one side of the triangle: turning off gas or fuel removes fuel, closing hatches and using a blanket or CO2 removes oxygen, and water or cooling removes heat.

Click to zoom

Image: User:Gustavb, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Fires are classed by fuel. Choose the extinguisher accordingly.

Notes on equipment:

• Dry powder (ABC) is the all-round choice and works fast, but it makes a huge mess, clogs engines and is harmful to breathe in a cabin. Use it from the cockpit or the hatch whenever you can.
• CO2 leaves no residue and suits engine and electrical fires, but its effect is brief and it can re-ignite. It is hazardous to anyone in a closed space. Never discharge it in a space you are in.
• Fixed engine-space extinguishers (automatic or manual) discharge into a sealed compartment. They only work if the compartment is closed: close the air intakes and shut off the engine before discharge, and wait several minutes before opening.
• Fire blanket: keep it near the cooker and not above it; pull the tapes to release it, hold it in front of you and lay it over the pan, never throw it.
• Extinguishers should be within reach of the companionway, the galley and the engine, and serviced as per the manufacturer (typically a check each year and replacement or overhaul every five years or as stated on the label). MCA small vessel guidance and the RYA recommend at least two extinguishers on a small cruiser, plus a blanket. Use the PASS memory: Pull the pin, Aim at the base, Squeeze the lever, Sweep side to side.
• A typical hand-held 1 kg powder extinguisher lasts only 8 to 10 seconds. Use it sparingly, and have a second ready.

Gas safety

LPG is heavier than air and collects in the bilge, where a spark ignites it with explosive effect. Prevention: a gas detector in the bilge, a solenoid valve on the supply, a bottle locker that drains overboard, flexible hose that is in date and clipped, and the bottle valve closed after use. If you smell gas: no naked flames or switches, close the gas at the bottle and solenoid, ventilate by opening hatches, and pump the bilge. Never search for a leak with a flame; use soapy water.

General rules:

• Raise the alarm and get everyone into lifejackets, with crew not fighting the fire on deck upwind of smoke.
• Turn the boat so the fire is downwind (if the fire is forward, put the stern to wind).
• Fight a fire with your escape route behind you.
• Use extinguishers in short bursts at the base of the flames.
• If not controlled within a minute or two, send a MAYDAY, prepare the liferaft and close hatches to starve the fire of air.
• Toxic smoke from foam and GRP incapacitates quickly; do not stay below in smoke.

Prevention: gas alarm and solenoid, gas turned off at the bottle when not in use, regular wiring inspections, extinguishers serviced, fire blanket next to the cooker.

Steering Failure

Cables break, quadrants slip, rudder bearings seize and rudders are lost. Know how to rig your emergency tiller before you need it.

Click to zoom

1. Stop the boat: heave to or drop sails to reduce loads while you investigate.
2. Check the cause: cables, quadrant, autopilot drive arm, rudder stock.
3. Fit the emergency tiller to the rudder stock; it may need a block-and-tackle to the quarters to give enough power.
4. Balance the sails: adjusting the main and headsail can steer the boat surprisingly well. More main turns her into the wind, more headsail turns her away.
5. Drag steering: a bucket or drogue towed from either quarter (or a spinnaker pole lashed as a sweep oar) steers by drag if the rudder is lost.
6. Decide on help: a PAN PAN may be appropriate, particularly near a lee shore. Head for a safe anchorage rather than a tight marina.

Test the emergency tiller every season; on many boats it does not fit past the cockpit table or needs a tool that is missing.

Dismasting

Click to zoom

1. Check all crew are safe and accounted for.
2. Do not start the engine until every line and rope in the water is clear of the propeller.
3. Stop the wreckage from holing the hull: a mast alongside in a seaway acts like a battering ram.
4. Decide whether to recover the rig or cut it away. In calm conditions recover what you can (it may form a jury rig); in rough conditions cut away by removing clevis pins or cutting rigging with bolt croppers or a hacksaw.
5. Call the Coastguard (PAN PAN usually, MAYDAY if in grave and imminent danger). Your VHF masthead aerial is gone; use the emergency aerial or handheld.
6. Motor if possible, or rig a jury mast from the boom or spinnaker pole, stayed with spare halyards or Dyneema lines, and set a storm jib or scrap of sail.

The goal is a safe passage to a port with repair facilities, not elegance.

Grounding

Running aground is the most common emergency a coastal skipper faces. The correct response depends on the tide, the seabed and the sea state.

1. Stop and assess. Check the crew, lifejackets on. Put the engine in neutral. Look for damage: sound the bilges and check for leaks, particularly after striking rock.
2. Note the tide. Is it rising or falling? Check the tidal height and use the almanac to find the time of low water. If the tide is falling you will be stuck for hours and may lie over on the bilge; if it is rising you will probably float off. This decides everything.
3. Soft grounding on a rising tide (sand or mud): reduce sail, try to power off by reversing along your track, or heel the boat to reduce draught (move crew to the boom end, swing the boom out and suspend a heavy crew member from it, or sit on the side deck). Do not use full astern power if the seabed is rock, because you may damage the rudder.
4. Kedge off: take the anchor out in the dinghy and drop it in deep water in the direction you want to go, then haul on the rode with a winch while the tide rises. Keep the line at an angle so as not to pull the keel further on.
5. Hard grounding on rock or on a falling tide: call for assistance, as you are unlikely to get off by yourself. Take down sails to reduce pounding, lay out an anchor to stop you being driven further ashore, and prepare to abandon ship if the yacht is breaking up.
6. Bilge keels and fin keels: a bilge-keel yacht dries upright and is stable. A fin keel yacht can fall over on to its side. Prop it with legs or spars on a falling tide or lay out an anchor to the side you want it to lie over on.
7. After refloating: check for damage, sound the bilges, check the steering, the propeller shaft and the rudder, test the engine and log it. Notify the Coastguard if there is any doubt about damage; lifeboats can escort you to a safe berth. Report a grounding that causes damage to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) where required.

Worked numbers: you touch the sand at 1400 on a falling tide with a draught of 1.8 m. The spot dries 0.4 m above chart datum, so you need a height of tide of at least 2.2 m to float, and 2.7 m is a sensible margin. The tide table gives low water at 1620 at 0.8 m and high water at 2230 at 5.2 m, a range of 4.4 m. Using the rule of twelfths (1/12, 2/12, 3/12 of the range in the first three hours), the height is 0.8 m at 1620, about 1.2 m at 1720, 1.9 m at 1820 and 3.0 m at 1920. You reach 2.2 m at about 1840 and 2.7 m at about 1900. So you will sit on the bottom for about five hours and float at about 1900. If the wind and swell are rising and you are on a lee shore, that wait may be unsafe: lay out an anchor, take sails down and consider calling the Coastguard rather than waiting.

Safety note: never use the engine at high revs against a rocky bottom, and never leave an anchor line led over the side where a propeller can foul it.

Towing

Being towed by the RNLI, a commercial operator or another yacht is common after engine or steering failure.

• Agree on salvage terms if a commercial vessel offers a tow; Lloyd's Open Form may apply. RNLI tows are free.
• Make the tow line fast to a strong point: a bridle around the mast foot or both bow cleats, led through fairleads and protected from chafe.
• Use a long tow line (in waves, at least three wavelengths so both vessels are on the same part of the wave) with a weight or nylon stretch to absorb snatching.
• Steer to follow the tug; keep a crew member at the bow to release the line if ordered, with a knife ready.
• Towing alongside is used in harbours for precise control.

Towing step by step

1. Agree the plan on VHF (working channel, speed, destination, signals) before the line is passed.
2. Pass the line from the towing vessel by throwing line, then pull the heavier tow rope across. Keep the engine in neutral near the other vessel, and keep all lines clear of the propeller.
3. Rig a bridle on the towed yacht, using both bow cleats or a line around the mast base, led through a central fairlead. Protect it from chafe with hose, rag or tape. Never tow from a single guardrail stanchion or a small cleat.
4. Start slowly. Take up the slack, and then increase speed gradually. The usual safe towing speed for a yacht is about displacement speed times 0.7: for a 35 ft yacht, around 4 to 5 knots. Excessive speed makes the yacht sheer and can put a heavy load on the fittings.
5. Steer in the tug's wake, and keep the yacht stable. In a following sea a long tow with a drogue or weight astern on the towed yacht reduces yawing.
6. Know the limit. The load on the tow is far larger than the weight of the yacht when snatching occurs. Nylon stretches and absorbs shocks, but if it parts it recoils violently: keep everyone clear of the line's path.
7. Approach harbour. Shorten the line or go alongside well before the harbour entrance, with fenders out on the side. Brief the crew before final manoeuvring and have an anchor ready.

Salvage and assistance

When a vessel is in danger and another vessel assists, the law of salvage may apply: the salvor may claim a reward for success. An RNLI crew will not claim salvage from a recreational boat. Commercial towing companies may require you to sign Lloyd's Open Form (LOF, no cure no pay) or a fixed-price contract. If a tow is offered by a passing vessel and you are not in danger, agree a price in advance, record the conversation on the log and ask for advice from the Coastguard. Before accepting a tow in a distress situation, do not delay safety waiting for a contract. Notify your insurer as soon as practicable.

Man Overboard in Rough Conditions

MOB recovery is a core exam skill. In rough weather, prevention (clipping on) is far better than cure.

Immediate actions:

1. Shout "Man overboard!", throw the lifebuoy and danbuoy, point continuously at the casualty.
2. Press the MOB button on the plotter to mark the position.
3. Send a DSC distress alert and MAYDAY: you can always cancel it.
4. Turn the boat back. Under sail, the quick stop or crash tack (tack immediately, leaving the jib backed) keeps the boat close to the casualty. Under power, approach from downwind so you do not drift onto them, with the engine in neutral or the prop stopped close to the casualty.

Choosing a recovery method

Aim to approach so that the casualty ends up close to windward of the boat, so that the boat is never blown down on top of them; expect the boat to drift away slowly, so be ready with a line or the Lifesling. The RYA teaches that you should aim to stop the yacht with the casualty alongside the shrouds and with the sails depowered. Crew should rehearse the method for their own boat, including the engine start, the MOB button, the first hand to point and who throws the buoy. A lookout who keeps pointing at the casualty is vital: in a seaway a head in the water is invisible beyond about 50 metres.

The cold water problem

Cold water kills in stages. In the first minute cold shock causes gasping and a loss of breath control (a lifejacket and spray hood help). Over the next ten minutes cold incapacitation removes the use of hands and arms. After about 30 minutes hypothermia sets in. In UK waters (10 to 15 C) a person may survive for hours with a lifejacket, but cannot assist their own rescue after a few minutes. This is why the recovery must be quick and why a Lifesling or a hoist is so valuable.

After recovery: lay the casualty flat, remove wet clothing, wrap in dry layers or a thermal bag, warm sweet drinks if conscious, no alcohol, no rubbing of limbs, and get medical advice by radio (Medico) even if they seem recovered. Be ready for CPR. Be aware of afterdrop, when cold blood from the limbs returns to the core, and of rescue collapse: handle gently and keep the casualty horizontal.

Recovery in heavy seas is the hardest part. A casualty in heavy clothing and water may weigh 100 kg or more and become hypothermic within minutes. Use a recovery sling (Lifesling), a halyard and winch, or a parbuckle with a sail. Lift the casualty horizontally if possible to reduce the risk of post-rescue collapse.

Calling for Help

MAYDAY or PAN PAN?

• MAYDAY: grave and imminent danger to the vessel or a person, requiring immediate assistance (sinking, fire out of control, MOB).
• PAN PAN: urgent situation without immediate danger to life (steering failure in open sea, dismasted but stable, injured crew needing medical advice).

DSC and voice procedure

Lift the cover and press the red distress button for 5 seconds (selecting the nature of distress if time allows). Then on Channel 16:

"MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY. This is yacht Seabird, Seabird, Seabird, call sign MABC1, MMSI 235123456. MAYDAY yacht Seabird, call sign MABC1, MMSI 235123456. My position is 50 degrees 30 minutes north, 001 degree 15 minutes west (or 3 miles south of St Catherine's Point). I am sinking after striking a submerged object. I require immediate assistance. Four persons on board. Abandoning to liferaft. Over."

Key points of distress communications (SRC syllabus)

• A DSC distress alert sends your MMSI, and your GPS position if the radio is connected, to all stations in range and to the Coastguard in seconds. If the radio has no GPS input, enter the position manually when you have a moment. Always follow the alert with the voice call on Channel 16.
• Wait for the Coastguard to acknowledge. If there is no acknowledgement within about 15 seconds, repeat the voice MAYDAY; do not stop transmitting.
• MAYDAY RELAY: if you hear a distress call that is not acknowledged within a few minutes, acknowledge and relay it to the Coastguard. Say "MAYDAY RELAY" three times, then "all stations" or the Coastguard, then the original message.
• Cancel a false distress alert immediately on Channel 16 so that the Coastguard stands down resources: "All stations, this is yacht Seabird... cancel my distress alert of time..." Silence on the channel is observed (SEELONCE MAYDAY) until the Coastguard lifts it with SEELONCE FEENEE.
• PAN PAN is sent as PAN PAN, PAN PAN, PAN PAN, All Stations (three times), followed by the vessel details, position, nature of the urgency and the assistance wanted. Use Medico (PAN PAN MEDICO) for medical advice.
• Handheld VHF: range is about 5 to 8 nautical miles to another yacht, further to a coast station on a hill. It has a short battery life (a few hours) and should be in the grab bag. Many now have DSC and GPS.
• MMSI and call sign should be on a card by the radio, with your boat name, a description and the number of people. This card means a frightened crew member can send the call correctly.
• Position: state it as latitude and longitude, or as a bearing and distance from a known charted object, true and in words ("bearing 225 degrees true, 3 miles from St Catherine's Point").

The mnemonic is MIPDANIO: Mayday, Identify, Position, Distress nature, Assistance required, Number of people, Information (anything else useful), Over.

Other distress signals include red parachute rockets and red hand flares (visible from aircraft and vessels), orange smoke (by day), EPIRB and PLB alerts via satellite, SART (on radar) or AIS-SART, continuous sounding of a fog signal, and slowly raising and lowering outstretched arms. Personal AIS MOB beacons alert nearby AIS receivers and the boat's own plotter.

Pyrotechnics and beacons

Pyrotechnics have an expiry date (typically 42 months) and out-of-date ones should be disposed of through a Coastguard or a marine retailer, never thrown away or burnt. Brief the whole crew on how they work, since you may be the one injured.

Helicopter rescue

Helicopters are used when casualties need urgent medical care or if the yacht is in danger. Follow the instructions given by the aircrew by radio (usually Channel 16 or 67).

• Prepare the yacht: clear the cockpit and deck of loose items, stow sails (or drop them), start the engine, and steer a steady course.
• The helicopter will give you a course relative to the wind (usually with the wind about 30 degrees on the port bow when winching to the cockpit or stern). Follow the course and speed instructed, and maintain it.
• Do not attach the winch wire to the boat. The wire carries a huge charge of static electricity, so let the winchman or hook touch the deck or water first to earth it.
• Never try to catch the hook, and never fasten the cable to anything.
• A winchman may come down. Follow their instructions and keep the casualty's gear light.
• If you are put into a strop, lock your arms down by your sides and do not try to help.
• Remember, rotor downwash is loud and violent. Hold on to things, use goggles and keep your voice and signals clear (a good plan is to agree hand signals).
• Keep your radio watch and be prepared for the helicopter to change plans.

Working with the lifeboat

The RNLI lifeboat may stand by, escort you, or take you in tow. Follow their instructions. Keep the crew calm, and be prepared to lose the yacht's stability to be towed. Report accurately the number of crew and any medical condition. Do not insist on a tow when the lifeboat crew advises abandoning the yacht, as they know the risk better than you do.

Abandon Ship

When

Click to zoom

The old maxim is: "Step up into the liferaft." Only leave the yacht when it is sinking under you or an uncontrollable fire makes staying impossible. A swamped yacht is still bigger, more visible and more survivable than a raft; in many tragedies, crews abandoned yachts that were later found afloat.

Grab bag

Click to zoom

Keep a grab bag packed near the companionway: handheld VHF (waterproof, charged), PLB or EPIRB if not mounted separately, flares, torch, first aid kit, seasickness tablets, water, high-energy food, thermal protective aids, a knife, signal mirror, whistle, and copies of documents in a waterproof pouch. Survival priorities are: Protection, Location, Water, Food.

Procedure

1. Send a MAYDAY with intention to abandon; activate the EPIRB.
2. Everyone in warm clothing, foul weather gear and lifejackets.
3. Check the painter is tied to a strong point. Launch the raft on the leeward side (the yacht then drifts towards it rather than away, and it is sheltered), then pull the painter to inflate.
4. Bring the raft alongside. Board directly from the yacht, keeping dry if possible: the heaviest person first to stabilise it.
5. Take the grab bag, extra water and anything else useful.
6. Stay attached to the yacht as long as it is safe; cut the painter (the knife is near the entrance) only when the yacht is going down or endangers the raft.
7. Stream the drogue, close the canopy, bail out, take seasickness tablets, set watches, keep morale up.

Liferaft: more detail

• Stowage and servicing: a liferaft in a valise below, or a canister on deck in a cradle with a hydrostatic release unit (HRU). Have it serviced at an approved station at the interval the manufacturer states (commonly every one to three years). Check the date of service on the label, the painter and the HRU expiry (typically two years).
• Launching: carry the raft to the lee rail or lift it into the water, with the painter attached to the boat. Pull the painter out firmly (about 10 metres) and then give a sharp tug to fire the gas bottle. Pull the raft to the boarding position. Do not drop a canister from a height.
• Upside down: if the raft inflates inverted, stand on the cylinder and pull on the righting strap, leaning back so the raft flips towards you.
• Boarding: step into the raft directly from the deck if you can, since a dry crew survives much longer. If you must enter the water, climb in via the boarding ramp, and pull each other in. The heaviest or strongest person boards early to stabilise the raft and help pull the others aboard.
• Inside the raft: cut the painter, stream the drogue to reduce drift, close the canopy to retain heat, bail out water, and keep everyone in warm clothing. Check for leaks and top up the buoyancy tubes and floor with the pump as needed. Use the repair kit (cones and plugs) if there is a puncture.
• Seasickness is almost certain; take the tablets early. Dehydration is dangerous: do not drink sea water, and ration fresh water: nothing for the first 24 hours (the body has enough reserves), then about 0.5 litre a day, if the supply is limited.
• Signalling: use flares only when you see a vessel or aircraft. Use the EPIRB and handheld VHF, the radar reflector on the canopy and the torch. Keep lookouts in rotation.
• Morale: the skipper should keep the crew calm and busy, assign watches, and keep a log.
• Cold: the main killer is hypothermia. Huddle, insulate from the floor, and cover with a thermal protective aid.

Survival priorities: PLWF in practice

Protection (from cold, wet, wind and sun: thermal protective aids, canopy, drogue), Location (so rescuers can find you: EPIRB, flares, keep the raft close to the wreck, and stay together), Water (conserve it, collect rain), Food (the least urgent, since a person can survive for weeks without it).

Click to zoom

Worked Example: Hull Breach

A 35 ft yacht with four crew strikes a submerged object 2 nm offshore. Water rises over the floorboards.

• T+0: Skipper calls "Hull breach! Lifejackets on. Jane, start the electric pumps; Tom, find the leak; Sam, get on the VHF." Sam sends a PAN PAN with position; he will upgrade to MAYDAY if needed.
• T+1: The leak is found in the starboard bow: a split 15 cm long. Inflow estimated at 50 litres per minute; pump capacity 30.
• T+2: Collision mat (an old headsail) drawn over the area from outside with lines. Boat slowed and put on port tack to heel the damaged side up.
• T+3 to T+5: Inflow drops to around 20 litres per minute; the pumps are now winning.
• T+10: Epoxy putty and a cushion braced with a floorboard inside.
• T+20: Water falling. Skipper updates the Coastguard, who sends the lifeboat to escort. Yacht proceeds slowly to the nearest port.

The key point is the systematic sequence: stop the inflow, pump, assess, then make good. The early PAN PAN meant help was already on its way.

Worked Example: Engine Fire at Sea

A 38 ft yacht with five crew is motoring in a Force 3 breeze, 6 miles off the coast, when the engine alarm sounds and smoke comes from around the companionway.

• T+0: The skipper takes the helm and orders, "Fire in the engine space. Lifejackets on. Mike, stop the engine and shut the fuel at the tank valve. Anna, get the fire extinguisher and stand ready at the companionway. Tom, VHF."
• T+0.5: The skipper turns the yacht so the wind blows the smoke away from the cockpit and the engine compartment, with the boat head to wind to keep the crew on deck upwind of the smoke. Sails are not hoisted.
• T+1: Tom sends a DSC alert and a PAN PAN: "PAN PAN, PAN PAN, PAN PAN. All stations. This is Seabird... Fire in engine compartment. Position 6 miles south of St Catherine's Point. Five persons on board. Fire fighting in progress. Will update." The Coastguard acknowledges.
• T+1.5: Anna opens the engine hatch only a few centimetres and discharges the powder extinguisher through the gap, or uses the fixed extinguisher port. Everyone stays away from smoke. The hatch is closed again.
• T+3: Smoke reduces. The skipper holds the engine bay shut for ten minutes, and has the second extinguisher ready. The fire does not re-ignite, but the engine space is still hot.
• T+5: Skipper updates the Coastguard: "fire out, no injuries, request lifeboat to stand by." The grab bag and liferaft are made ready as a precaution.
• T+15: The engine bay is opened carefully. The cause is a chafed fuel line sprayed onto a hot manifold. The Coastguard arranges a tow. The crew hoists the sails and sails the boat while waiting.

The key points are: fuel off first, extinguish without opening the compartment, communicate early, keep the liferaft ready, and do not re-open the hatch too soon.

Examiner's Expectations

The RYA instructor and Yachtmaster examiner will look for:

• A calm, organised response with named tasks given to crew.
• The right priorities: people, containment, communication, assessment.
• Practical knowledge of your own boat: where the extinguishers, bungs, pumps, EPIRB and grab bag are.
• Correct radio procedure: DSC alert, MAYDAY or PAN PAN voice call, MIPDANIO.
• The decision-making process about when to stay with the boat and when to abandon.
• A realistic idea of what you would do if the engine, the steering, or the rig failed in different conditions and with limited help.

Be ready to answer short oral questions such as "What would you do if you ran aground on a falling tide?", "How would you tow a disabled yacht?" and "What goes in your grab bag and why?" A good answer states the order of actions and the reasons for them.

Common Mistakes

Click to zoom

• Panic and skipping steps: pumping a hole without trying to stop it; abandoning a yacht that would have stayed afloat.
• Calling for help too late. Call early; you can always cancel.
• Unregistered or unserviced EPIRB/PLB. Register beacons and test them per the manufacturer's instructions.
• Grab bag not ready or missing key items.
• Leaving the raft to swim for shore. Rafts are much easier to find than heads in the water.
• Starting the engine with lines in the water after dismasting or knockdown.
• Opening the engine hatch fully to see what is burning: the fresh air feeds the fire.
• Using the engine in gear with a fouled propeller or a hull breach, which makes damage worse.
• Ignoring the tide when aground, and wasting energy trying to power off a falling tide.
• Towing from the wrong fittings, or too fast.
• Not practising: emergency tiller, collision mat, fire blanket, MOB recovery and liferaft boarding should all have been practised or at least walked through.

Summary

• Keep people safe, contain the problem, communicate early, assess and decide, then repair.
• For flooding: stop inflow, remove water, assess, repair. Find the source before assuming a hull hole.
• For fire: shut off fuel and gas, isolate electrics, use the right extinguisher, fight with an escape route behind you, MAYDAY if not controlled quickly.
• Practise rigging the emergency tiller and steering with sails or drag.
• After dismasting, clear lines before starting the engine and protect the hull from the wreckage.
• Use a long, chafe-protected tow line with a strong bridle.
• MOB recovery in rough weather requires a quick return, a downwind approach and a mechanical means of lifting.
• Choose MAYDAY or PAN PAN correctly and use the DSC button plus voice procedure.
• Know the grounding drill: assess the tide, check for damage, kedge or wait for the rising tide.
• Tow slowly with a bridle, long chafe-protected line and agreed signals; salvage terms may apply.
• Cold water kills quickly: recover fast, lift horizontally, treat for hypothermia and seek Medico advice.
• Step up into the liferaft: abandon only when the yacht is sinking or burning.

Check Your Understanding

1. What is the priority sequence for flooding?

Answer: Stop or slow the inflow, remove the water, assess the damage, then make a proper repair.

1. Water is rising in the bilge. How can you quickly narrow down the source?

Answer: Taste it: fresh water suggests a tank or water system leak; salt water means a hull fitting or the hull. Then check seacocks and hoses, stern gland, rudder stock, transducers and keel bolts before looking for a hole.

1. A pan of oil catches fire on the cooker. What do you do?

Answer: Turn off the gas, smother the pan with the fire blanket and leave it in place to cool. Never use water on burning fat.

1. What should you never do immediately after a dismasting, and why?

Answer: Start the engine before all rigging and lines in the water are clear, because they can foul the propeller and leave you without propulsion.

1. Name two ways to steer if the rudder is lost.

Answer: Balance the sails (main to turn into wind, headsail to bear away), and tow a drogue or bucket from either quarter to steer by drag. A spinnaker pole lashed as a sweep oar is another option.

1. When should you send a PAN PAN rather than a MAYDAY?

Answer: When there is an urgent situation concerning the safety of the vessel or a person but no grave and imminent danger, for example a steering failure in open water with plenty of sea room.

1. What does MIPDANIO stand for?

Answer: Mayday, Identify, Position, Distress nature, Assistance required, Number of people on board, Information, Over.

1. When should you abandon a yacht for the liferaft?

Answer: Only when the yacht is sinking or burning beyond control and you have to step up into the raft. A damaged yacht is bigger, more visible and more survivable than a raft.

1. Why launch the liferaft on the leeward side?

Answer: The yacht drifts down onto the raft rather than away from it, and the raft is sheltered by the hull from wind and sea during boarding.

1. Give four survival priorities in order, once in the raft.

Answer: Protection, Location, Water, Food.

1. You run aground on a falling tide in sand, with the wind rising. What do you do?

Answer: Lifejackets on, engine to neutral, check for damage and bilges, check the tide table to see when you can refloat, and try to reverse off at once only if the bottom is soft. If you cannot get off quickly, take sails down, lay an anchor out on the seaward side to prevent being driven further ashore, tell the Coastguard and consider calling for help if the weather is worsening.

1. Roughly how much water enters through a 5 cm hole 1 m below the waterline, and what does this tell you?

Answer: About 300 litres a minute, far more than a typical yacht pump can handle. You must stop the inflow (bung, mat, closing the seacock) as well as pump.

1. What precautions do you take when a helicopter winches a casualty from your yacht?

Answer: Follow the aircrew instructions, clear the deck, hold a steady course and speed as directed, never attach the winch wire to the boat, let the hook touch the deck or water first to discharge static, do not grab the hook, and keep crew clear of the winch area.