Why this block is one of the most useful
Safety is not an eliminating block, but it is, together with the collision regulations, the knowledge that really matters when something goes wrong at sea. Here are the essentials: what equipment you must carry according to where you sail, and how to react to the most frequent emergencies.
The navigation zones determine the equipment
The mandatory equipment depends on the navigation zone (from 1 to 7). The lower the number, the further from the coast and the more equipment required: zone 1 is unlimited navigation and zone 7 is sheltered waters. The PER attributions reach 12 miles, which correspond to zone 4. It is regulated by Royal Decree 339/2021.
Lifesaving equipment
Lifejackets. At least one per person on board, suited to their size, weight and age (also for children and babies). They are completed with a light, except for daytime-only navigation in zones 4 to 7. Their buoyancy depends on the zone: 275 N in zone 1, 150 N in zones 2, 3 and 4, and 100 N in the rest. In zone 1, an additional jacket is also carried. On a jet ski, the jacket is worn at all times.
Liferafts. Mandatory in zones 1, 2 and 3, with capacity for all the authorised persons. They must be serviced periodically at authorised service stations.
Lifebuoys. Vessels sailing in zones 1, 2, 3 or 4 must carry a lifebuoy with a light and a line (a rope to recover it or for the person in the water to hold on to).
Pyrotechnic distress signals. Hand flares, rockets with red light and parachute, and floating smoke signals. Their light is red (the smoke signals, orange): they indicate danger and a call for help. The quantity varies by zone (for example, more units the further you sail); check the current official tables. The crucial thing: they expire, and carrying them expired is the same as not carrying them. Stow them in a dry, accessible place and renew them in time.
Fire-fighting and bilge pumping
Every vessel must carry portable extinguishers in the number and type set by the regulations, in accessible places, and the appropriate bilge-pumping means (pump and/or buckets). Remember the fire triangle (fuel, oxygen and heat): to put out a fire you remove one of the three —cutting off the fuel, smothering it or cooling it— and use the extinguisher suited to each type.
Man overboard
It is the emergency it pays most to have on autopilot.
- Prevention: on deck in bad weather or at night, a harness clipped to a jackstay and good lighting.
- If someone falls in: raise the alarm («man overboard!»), immediately throw a lifebuoy with a light, appoint someone to point at and not lose sight of the person, and put the helm towards the side they fell to move the stern and the propeller away from them. Note the position and time (mark MOB on the GPS). If you do not recover them at once and there is no grave danger to life, transmit PAN-PAN.
Heavy weather
- Heaving to (capear): ride out the storm taking the bow or the bow quarter to the sea, with just enough engine to steer and reduce the pounding.
- Running before it (correr): sail with it, taking the sea on the stern or the quarter; it eases the pounding but requires watching the steering so as not to broach.
- A lee shore: it is the shore the wind blows towards; it pushes you against it, with the risk of running aground. Move away and gain open water (to windward) in good time.
Flooding and grounding
- Flooding (a leak): find where it comes in, plug it with whatever you have and pump out to control the level. If you cannot control it, raise the alarm and prepare for assistance or abandonment. Never open the seacocks.
- Grounding: before trying to get off, check whether there is flooding and the state of the hull, and weigh up the tide (if it is rising, it may refloat on its own). Forcing the engine without checking can make the damage worse.
Fog and restricted visibility
Reduce to safe speed, switch on the navigation lights, sound the regulation fog signals and keep the radar reflector up so you can be detected. Keep an extra sharp look-out by sight and hearing and, if you have one, use the radar.
Distress signals
- MAYDAY (repeated three times): distress, grave and imminent danger to life or to the vessel.
- PAN-PAN: urgency, a serious situation without immediate danger to life.
- SÉCURITÉ: a safety message (meteorological or navigational).
The call is made on VHF channel 16; you can also alert Maritime Rescue (Salvamento Marítimo) or 112, giving your position, the nature of the emergency and the people on board.
How to study it
- Link each piece of equipment to its logic: the further you sail, the more equipment.
- Memorise three rules that come up a lot: a jacket per person, a liferaft in zones 1-3, a lifebuoy with light and line in zones 1-4, and that the flares expire.
- For the emergencies, keep the first reaction of each one (man overboard, flooding, grounding, heavy weather): it is what is asked about most.