Ronja Räubertochter

Safety Briefing

We’ll cover this safety briefing before your first trip with Ronja: How to get help, and what to do in case of fire, a leak, or a person over board.

Distress signals and purpose

  • Radio distress call. Press and hold the red distress button for a digital transmission (including location). Or call “Mayday” via radiotelephony by pressing and holding the PTT button on the handset. Works in line of sight, approx. 20 km (Helsinki or Tallinn within range)
  • Mobile phone emergency call. International emergency number 112. MRSC Helsinki +358 2941002, JRCC Tallinn +372 619 1224. Only works in coastal areas!
  • Parachute rockets (4 pieces). Long range (at 300 m for 40 s) day and night.
  • Red torches (4 pieces). Short range (60 s) used to locate the position day and night.
  • Continuous fog horn. Short range.
  • SOS with fog horn or flashlight ··· ‒ ‒ ‒ ··· Short range, line of sight/range of audibility.
  • Square flag and ball.
  • Waving arms.
  • Smoke.

Repeat distress signal in 3-5 min. intervals, until you receive confirmation!

In consequence, a search and rescue operation (SAR) will be conducted.

Only the skipper (or the co-skipper) will command a distress signal! The skipper going overboard is a reason for a distress signal, too…

First aid

There’s a first aid kit underneath the fridge.

Harness and life jackets

There are four automatic life jackets onboard, those have an integrated safety harness.

  • Wear bad-weather gear underneath when fitting.
  • Try, adjust, check and keep your personal vest.
    • Close the crutch strap.
    • Secure the carabiner to avoid a tripping hazard.
    • The vests are numbered.
    • Keep yours in your cabin (where you can find it quickly)!
  • The live vest automatically releases when in contact with water
  • However, there’s a hose for manually inflating or deflating (in case of suffocation) the vest!
  • Features of your life jacket:
    • Whistle
    • Flashlight
    • Spray hood with reflectors
  • When to wear the life vest:
    • whenever you feel safer
    • from wind strength 6 on (22 knots; strong wind)
    • from dusk ‘till dawn
    • in poor visibility (fog, rain)
    • when you’re alone on deck
    • whenever the skipper wears it
  • When to wear the safety harness:
    • in heavy seas
    • when working (e.g., on the fore deck)
  • Where to latch the safety harness:
    • on guardrails (the steel bar with the holes in it)
    • on shrouds and stays (the steel wires)
    • on the jackstay (the black ropes running on the port and starboard deck)
  • Where not to latch the safety harness:
    • on running rigging (lines, ropes, dangling ends, …)
    • on the railing (the white steel line, it will rip off the deck)
    • steering wheel (will rip, too)
  • The lifeline has two carabiners. Always keep one latched while looking for a new latching point with the other.

Equipment

  • Emergency knifes in glove boxes (for cutting lines tangled around people)
  • Shroud cutter in the first port under-seat compartment (for cutting shrouds in case of a broken mast)
  • Hacksaw in the first port under-seat compartment (for cutting a broken mast)

How to perform a radio distress call…

  • Digitally: Press and hold the distress button. The display will indicate the call and request (optional) details about the nature. Position and vessel name are sent automatically. Wait until the MRCC reaches out and acknowledges the call.
  • Radiotelephony: Select the international distress channel 16 (press the “16” button to switch to this channel).

[press and hold the transmit button]

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday

This is Sailing Yacht Ronja Räubertochter, call sign DG8817, MMSI 211861620

[repeat identification three times]

Mayday Sailing Yacht Ronja Räubertochter, call sign DG8817

In position… [read latitude and longitude slowly from radio/chart plotter, chart, or give a visual bearing]

I… [nature of distress and assistance required]

I have… [number of persons on board]

Over.

[remove finger from transmit button]

Use this template for a Mayday call

Mark received distress calls down in the logbook immediately.

In case of fire…

Fire is the most threatening hazard aboard a sailing yacht.

  • No smoking under deck!
  • There is a smoke detector.
  • Sources of fire:
    • Cigarettes
    • Candles
    • Oven (galley)
    • Heater (head)
    • Engine (underneath cockpit)
    • Batteries (port locker), electrics (all wiring), electronics
  • Fighting fire
    • 3 ABC extinguishers:
      • aft cockpit locker
      • companionway locker
      • forecastle
  • Fat burning on the stove:
    • Fire blanket
  • Engine fire:
    • Close fuel feed
    • Drive engine empty

In case of a leak…

Most likely, a seacock (hull breakthrough or valve) broke, use:

  • emergency plugs (located underneath the fridge)

In case the hull is perforated, use:

  • blankets
  • pillows
  • mattresses
  • timber (there is a crowbar in the port under seat locker)

In any case, bail the water

  • bilge pump in the stern (handle is in the starboard cockpit locker)
  • manual bilge pump (in the starboard cockpit locker)
  • buckets (in the starboard cockpit locker)

When the tiller or rudder breaks…

  • Use furniture and wood boards (e.g. table, closet, …)

In case of a person over board…

This is serious!

  • At water temperatures below 15°, the person will suffer from a cold water shock, then fall unconscious, and eventually become hypothermic. We won’t have much time for search and rescue!
  • In heavy weathers or at night, the person won’t be well visible. We’ll have hard times to locate them.

If a person should fall overboard, instantly:

  • Shout “man overboard” (on port/starboard)
  • Throw the yellow life buoy and the orange dan buoy after the MOB.
  • Allocate a crew member to point at the person. Keep pointing. Don’t lose sight of the person. This is essential!
  • Press MOB button on the chart plotter. This will mark the person’s position on the electronic map:
    • Menu (upper left), then
    • the red MOB symbol (lower left)
  • Send a DSC distress alert and a Mayday. This gives SAR invaluable time to ramp up. We can always cancel the distress if we retrieve the person on our own!
  • Prepare the throwing line (starboard cockpit locker).
  • Originally, the skipper will bring the boat alongside the person in the water. If said person is the skipper, the most important points:
    • Drop all lines (and the sails)
    • Switch the engine on, and return toward the person over board
    • Switch the engine to neutral before reaching the MOB, contact of the person and the propeller is to be avoided at all cost!
  • We’ll do a crew drill and perform the RYA rescue manoeuvres under sail and under power.