Boat Safety

Safety at sea should always be the most important thing on any boat anglers mind before going to sea and also while on the water. Catching that fish of a lifetime is always the dream of all sea anglers but it is never worth you life or that of your crews. remember, if in doubt, DON'T! On this page hopefully you will find some tips that will make your time afloat safer and more productive.

The Beaufort Scale

Force 1 Light airs  1-3 knots Ripples. Sail- drifting conditions Power- fast planing conditions Force 2 Light breeze 4-6 knots Small wavelets Sail- Full mainsail and large genoa Power- fast planing conditions Force 3 Gentle breeze 7-10 knots ocasional crests Sail- Full sail Power- Fast planing conditions Force 4 Moderate 11-16 knots frequent white horses Sail- reduce headsail size Power-may have to slow down if wind against tide Force 5 Fresh breeze 17-21 knots Moderate waves. Many white crests Sail- reef mainsail. Power- reduce power to prevent slamming when going upwind Force 6 Strong breeze 22-27 knots Large waves. White foam crests Sail-Reef mainsail and reduce headsail Power- displacement speed Force 7 Near Gale 28-33 knots Sea heaps up, Spray, breaking waves, foam blows in streaks, Sail-deep reefed main, small jib. Power-displacement speed. Force 8 Gale 34-40 knots Moderately high waves, breaking crests. Sail- deep reefed main, storm jib Power- displacement speed, stem waves Force 9 Severe gale 41-47 knots High waves, Spray affects visibility. Sail- trysail and storm jib Power- stem waves displacement speed. Force 10 Storm 48-55 knots very high waves, long breaking crests. Survival conditions

Things to take special note of:

(Still under construction)

Esential Equipment

Moored Boats

Boat Improvement

Boat Security

Check Points

All fishing trips should be planned. Never go to sea in a small craft without first checking through your list of check points. Things like the weather and tides are an absoloute must. You can use this check list below as the basis for your own and add to it how you please. Forward planning only takes a few moments thought and can make all the difference between being safe and well prepared and being DEAD! Be smart. Be alive!

1) LIFE JACKETS

These are an absoloute must have. You must have the right number aboard for all your crew and you must make sure that they are suitable to the size of the wearer. A small life jacket with suitable bouyency for a child is not suitable for an adult. Life jackets with the traditional collar are best if more awkward. these protect the wearer from drowning and swallowing water while unconcious. Another alternative is the floatation suit providing all the bouyency of a life jacket combined with the insulation of a wet suit! You can be dead in the water from hypothermia within an hour and so although expensive these suits are worth it.

2)Weather Forecast

You should NEVER leave for sea without taking the weather forecast with you. This can easily be found right here on this site or from Teletext page 162 on your TV. You should also keep an eye on the daily forecasts on RTE as these will give you an insight into what weather changes might be coming along in the near future. The VHF radio should also be monitored for its hourly updates on the situation and time should be taken to listen in and take note of what is being said.

Special note should be taken of the tide situation at certain marks. A spring tide will mean that as well as the water height being higher the currents will also be stronger. This combined with winds in the opposite direction can result in choppy seas.

3)Tides

The Compass is an essential piece of equipment on any boat. Ideally there is a whole host of other instruments you really should invest in as you will see in the Essential boat equipment section, but this is the basic navigation equipment that you must both posses and also know how to use. Any skipper who does not have one on his boat does not deserve to be one and should not own a boat!

4) Compass

Never leave for a trip withou having told someone reliable where exactly you are going and when you expect to be back. This person should be phoned and told iyou returned safely or if any change to this plan is made. This person should be given instructions to ring the coastgaurd should the worst occour. Make sure the have the phone number to ring...

5) Float Plan

Seems obvious but stupid incidents occour every year and waste the coastgaurds time when they could be saving someones life! Always make sure you have enough fuel on board. The most common mistake is to judge where you are going by how much fuel it normally takes. Outboard engines will use far less fuel on a calm sea when compared with a rough one! Another common mistake is to have plenty of petrol and run out of lubricant oil which will destroy your engine should you run it without it! The best solution is to bring two identical tanks and when one runs out you should have exactly the same amount of fuel to get back...sounds simple but you would be surprised.

6)Fuel and Oil

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