First Time Sailors – Boat Safety Tips!
First Time Sailors – Boat Safety Tips!
Do you have a passion for sailing, but lack the much needed confidence? Then, following simple tips will help you sail like a professional! First and foremost, wear your life jacket all the time. It is the best friend for all first time sailors out there. Before getting into the waters, know the safe speed limits and abide by them.
As safety should be the first thing on your mind, inspecting the weather conditions is also crucial! Never venture into the sea without ensuring if your boat insurance is in order. Above all, check if the boat you will be sailing is sea worthy. Beware of oil spills. As there are stringent laws attached when it comes to water pollution. Unobserved but incessant oil spills can not only damage your boat, but can also pave way for some heavy penalties!
Taking care of your boat is very important in terms of personal and environmental safety. The first step in boat care is proper cleaning. It’s always good to wax or paint your boat once in a while. Flush your engine every time it’s out on the shore, and remember to cover it after the job is done. Check the batteries of your boat; you could get into trouble in mid sea if you don’t. Most importantly, pay a lot of attention to your boat’s bilge!
The boat’s bilge is the lowermost section where two sides meet. This part of the ship is prone to oil spills and collects water and oily residues, often causing a foul odor. Oil spews out from the engine and through a series of limber holes, eventually makes its way into the sea. No need to explain what it does to the marine ecosystem! So, cleaning your bilge is extremely important.
You can get a number of chemical bilge cleaners out in the marine hardware stores. However, most of them are harmful chemicals and when they are let into sea water after cleaning; the situation becomes worse than the oil spill itself. Some sailors place absorbent pads around the engine to soak up the leaking oil. These pads just suck up the leaking oil, but never remove it entirely. So, you should ideally be using eco friendly spill removing products.
Oil Gone Easy Marine S-200 is one such formulation that uses oil eating bacteria to cleanup oil spills. Available in 5-gallon pails, you even stock up this eco-friendly oil spill cleaner in your boat before you leave on your sailing trip and get a clean boat and an oil-free marine ecosystem! Let’s march towards a green planet!
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