This is the fourth of a series of articles on the subject of sailing safety. The articles will attempt to combine different ideas on safety from sources such as the Red Cross, personal experience, computer programming and other outdoor pursuits.

Awareness includes an acceptance that things won’t always go right. Awareness is my one word moniker for showing that you are constantly drawing inferences from experiences and learning.

A well developed awareness will even have an expectation that thing’s will go wrong. Yup a hearty respect for Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will. Working to eliminate things that can go wrong will help, but won’t be foolproof.

The quality of awareness will lead to making a plan; one of the Red Cross’s 5 steps. You just can’t assume it won’t happen to you. If you do, your plan will be insufficient and when a Murphy-esque situation occurs your performance will be lacking.

Be always aware. Taken literally this applies before you leave the dock!

Plan Examples: Float Plan. Make one before leaving the dock and it will give you a headstart on potential problems. You may never need to use this plan but it will assist in inventorying resources and skills.

Storage chart per the ORC Regs. Those rules for offshore racing state that a durable stowage chart (perhaps plastic laminated) is to be diplayed in the main cabin showing the location of the safety equipment. Again you may never need the liferaft, or bolt cutters but making such a chart is a form of preperation and murphy’s law prevention.

The above ideas show through in these quotes from Polar explorer Roald Amundsen “Victory comes to the man who has everything in order.” & Adventure is just bad planning.”

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