Captain's Log

There are lessons we all learn from sailing. And there are lessons from life ashore that can help us at sea as well. Here is one that I will always remember. A favorite aunt told me soon after the birth of our first son that there was one key to being a good parent: "Don't drop the baby."

Good advice that we really tried to follow and succeeded at most of the time.

With that in mind, I have always thought that there is one key to being a good and long-lived sailor: "Don't fall off the boat." But it does happen. It happened to good friends of mine in the mid-Pacific as they were headed west around the world. (They will remain nameless because I doubt they ever told their parents about this.) It was 5 p.m. with sunset an hour away and time to tuck a reef into the main. The leech line needed tightening so he leaned out to the end of the boom to make the adjustment just as their full-keel cutter slewed off a wave awkwardly. In an instant he was in the water, and the boat was sailing away at seven knots. The windvane was steering, and the main and genoa were strapped out with preventers in full trade-wind mode.

She heard him shout as he went over the side and was on deck in an instant. She could see him 200 feet astern so she tried to heave the life ring and Danbuoy that were on the stern pulpit. But she lassoed the windvane instead, which instantly jammed. A good sailor, she kept her wits and instantly disengaged the windvane from the tiller while simultaneously beginning to count and taking note of the course the boat was steering-the two most important facts.

She was now a quarter of a mile from her mate. She managed to turn the boat onto a beam reach, again noting the new course and keeping up the count from the turn; the genoa backed so she could run forward to release the halyard and haul down the sail. This took several minutes.

With the boat under control, she tacked onto the reciprocal course (allowing a few degrees for leeway and current) and sailed back for the number of seconds she had counted from the turn. There, she turned onto the reciprocal course from before the turn. In theory she was now headed for the spot where he went into the water. She motored into the trade winds for enough minutes to cover the quarter mile and then stopped to listen for a shout. Nothing. It was going to be dark soon so she switched on the engine again and kept motoring into the wind. He was somewhere around. But where?

Then, as the bow dipped over a wave and rose again, there he was climbing over the bowsprit like a wild man. She had run right onto him, and he had done the rest-a happy ending that was the result of her skill and calm determination and, no doubt, a big dash of good luck. They both wore harnesses for the rest of the voyage.

This month we are pleased to bring you a Special Report on Personal Safety Afloat, equipment and techniques designed to make your time on the water safer and more fun (see page 54). And always remember first things first: don't drop the baby and don't fall off the boat.

Fair winds,