Fourth delivery of the "tips" of Maritime Rescue: Emergencies

The problems at sea must be solved with common sense, without breaks and with imagination. The main thing is to assess the scope and consequences of the problem, to check whether there are other vessels in the vicinity and to assess quickly whether it can solve the situation by its own means. Recreation boats have little ground and low-capacity sentines that are quickly filled.

If you discover water on board

• Try the water. If you are sweet, you have a leak in the drinking water tank and you can relax.
• If salty and hot, it comes from engine cooling. Look for the leak.

"If it is salty and cold, it has a waterway". Locate the origin immediately as you may lose the boat. The water lines may come from:

• The cover, due to leaks (poor maintenance) or a poorly closed hatch. It is not serious, as long as it does not affect the electrical circuit or navigation equipment.
• A hole in the hull, as a result of collision or stranded.
• Loss of stowage of background valves, of press stoves (*) or of passing helmets under the flotation line.
• Water flow through the evacuations of the toilet or sink.

(*) It's normal for the press to drop some drops of oil.

If you discover water in the sentine

Start all bilge pumps immediately. Do not turn off the engine, as the electric pumps consume a lot of battery and can be downloaded in minutes. Designate a crew member to pump with the manual pump and the rest to chew with the balds. To strengthen the work of bilge pumps, let go of the engine's cooling seawater, obture or close the pass and cause the boarded water to suck.
Set immediate course to port.

If you find the waterway

If it is in the helmet, try to cover from the inside with clothes or cushions and keep the closure tight. In sailboats, you can also try to reduce the input flow by using one of the sails (foque) from the outside, passed under the hull and straining it from band to band. If a valve or a helmets pass fails, close or place a conical wooden spiche to the custom. If the track is small, apply repair paste capable of acting (polymerize) under the water.

Prevent

• Close the valves you do not use.
• Do not allow filtrations from the deck to the inside.
• Secure the stamina of muffins and hatches.
• Set the anchor so it doesn't hit the helmet.
• Set the batteries and all the heavy material strongly.
• Never allow water in the sentine.

If you can't stop the water entry, make a distress call. In waiting for help, increase the float by emptying the fresh water tank to the minimum necessary and by throwing useless weight overboard. Prepare to leave the boat, but wait until the last minute and remember that "A half-sunken boat is better place to expect help than a raft, to pass to it, when the sinking is imminent"