Fear #1: Flooding

I recent podcast on marine safety urged me to plan ahead by enumerating my fears & developing strategies to avoid them happening. 

Today's fear is flooding the boat. This can happen for various reasons:-
1. Skin fittings, shaft seal fail.
2. Holing the hull.
3. Deck or hatch failure.
4. Overwhelmed by large seas.

Avoiding Reason 1:
a.Regular maintenance.
b.Regular visual checks.
c.Keeping bungs ready.
d. Limiting hull fittings.

Avoiding Reason 2:
a. Cautious navigation
b. Redundancy in nav tools
c. Using cross checks in position fixing. 
d. Enter on flooding tide.
e. Keep kedge anchor.
f. Avoid lee shores. 

Avoiding Reason 3:
a.Proper construction
b. Inspect hatches
c. Secure hatches at sea
d. Collision bulkheads, floatation. 

Avoiding Reason 4:
a. Safety at sea, weather routing, storm tactics. 
b. Batten down & reef.

Evacuating Water:
Hand bilge pumps in cockpit & below. 
Large volume automatic electric pump + care vs batteries flooding.
All pumps secured, strum boxes.
Maintain pumps. 

Repairing Ship:
Canvas square for hull damage. 
Spare timber for shoring up.

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