4th of July Fireworks Set To Music- Mesmerizing! Electrifying! Magnificent!

The Fourth of July on the water is the best place to be when the fireworks start; the reflections on the water, the expanse of sky and the way sound carries makes for a pyrotechnic palette of exploding reds, yellows, greens, silver and gold shimmering into crackling contrails followed by a delayed sonic boom echoing across the water as if trying to catch the speed of light.

If you've been there, I'm sure you had your favorites, and cheered, whooped or blew your horn in jubilant approval. The cacophony of different pitched boat "whistles" from air horns to car horns adds to the excitement. Here I share a majestic display set to music to get you in the mood for one of our most treasured boating holidays: Independence Day!

Introduction by William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill

William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill is the author of the book, Lubber's Log published by Llumina Press; a boating primer and adventure story about a couples experiences in moving up to a bigger boat.  

You can visit his website here.

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http://www.lubberslog.com

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning.

Introduction by William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill
I don't like to dwell on tragedy, especially as it relates to time on the water; it's our high time as boaters.  But experience will reveal in some small cases, that there are times when drowning is a specter looking for a victim. If we, as observers of someone in trouble in the water misinterpret their signals, choose to ignore them, or think them pantomiming a pretend victim,  life can be lost simply because we're only casually  interested in the panicky behavior, taken as a pranky call to us for help.  I think we need to be more vigilant, know the signs of the drowning distress signals and pay attention to them.. This article by Mario Vittone brings all this to light.  Thank you Mario for your insightful advice...   Please read this post! You and I may be there to save a life thanks to his counsel!

Article By Mario Vittone

The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

How did this captain know – from fifty feet away – what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC). Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:

1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.

2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.

3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.

4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.
(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006 (page 14))
This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:

 Head low in the water, mouth at water level

 Head tilted back with mouth open

 Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus

 Eyes closed

 Hair over forehead or eyes

 Not using legs – Vertical

 Hyperventilating or gasping

 Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway

 Trying to roll over on the back

 Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder.

So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK – don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them, “Are you alright?” If they can answer at all – they probably are. If they return a blank stare, you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents – children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill is the author of the book, Lubber's Log published by Llumina Press; a boating primer and adventure story about a couples experiences in moving up to a bigger boat.  

You can visit his website here.

Morning on the Water - Best Time of the Day?

Introduction by William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill

One of the best times to be "on the hook" is in the morning when the sun is coming up, in the evening when the sun is going down and all the times in between! But, all things being equal, I think morning wins the prize for being the most peaceful time of the day, when the boating community sleeps in and nature begins to stir; the world wakes slowly from its slumber as you revel in the peace and calm and beauty of it all before the pace quickens.

I discovered an article by Robert Beringer entitled Peace Of The Morning" I'd like to share with all the larks, loons and terns of the world.
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PEACE OF THE MORNING

Robert Beringer

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." Marcus Aurelius Roman emperor and philosopher A.D. 121-180

There can be no doubt. For boaters, the best place in the world is on the water first thing in the morning. For a few fleeting moments every day, it’s when angels sigh; when all the world, but for the drift of the tide from stem to stern, is still. My eyes open with the gull’s first cry and I crawl out from the cramped aft cabin, careful not to hit my head. In the saloon, motion is barely detectable, just enough to feel the swing of the rode, and the crackle of shrimp around the hull the only noise. On deck the air is heavy. Dew covers all exposed surfaces. I extinguish and stow the anchor light, as the waning moon smiles down from a lavender sky. The water is glass. Spiders, knowing that light converts them to prey, abandon their webs to seek solace within the many confines of the bimini. Something nips at the water’s surface; a small fish jumps. Our anchorage, so boisterous last evening, is now the picture of equanimity.

Private conversations are telegraphed from the distant shore. A baby cries, a motorcycle races, a dog barks. Prop-fouling crab pots that can be so hard to spot underway are now cleanly laid out in a long dotted line, awaiting their waterman. Dolphins and manatees are visible from great distances.

The sun cracks the treetops; its rays kiss the wind indicator, then slide down the mast. When they strike the deck, the boat comes to life: the vent fan begins to spin, the solar panel clicks, a faint mist forms above the deck.

A distant tug’s wake bumps the hull and the halyards rattle. A line of brown pelicans glides a foot above the water. The crew, too, comes to life. I hear the pump of the head, the clank of the coffee pot. Soon a delicious smell will waft up from the galley.

The still, cool of the morning belies the forecast of a hot and humid day; thunderstorms are coming. In the cockpit, I consider the day’s options and review the chart. Can we make the mouth of the St. Johns before the storms hit? How long will we have a favorable tide? We’re upwind of today’s destination; cat’s paws claw the river upstream. I’ll set the mainsail and pull the anchor, eschewing the engine. I’ll surprise late risers when they stumble on deck to find that we’re far from our anchorage.

Soon our floating world will be a beehive of activity: a meal, a destination, a course, a repair. It will be a busy day with a hundred tasks to perform. But for a few halcyon moments, I have the morning.

By Robert Beringer

Originally a Great Lakes sailor, college administrator Robert Beringer splits his time between the Chesapeake and Florida’s St. Johns River. Since buying Ukiyo (Japanese for “the floating world”) in 1998, he’s logged 22,000 coastal and ocean miles.

William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill is the author of the book, Lubber's Log published by Llumina Press; a boating primer and adventure story about a couples experiences in moving up to a bigger boat.  

You can visit his website here.

Preparing for Boating Season - Do You Have a List?

By William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill

One of the best parts of boating season is the anticipation of being back on the water on a clear day with a fresh breeze and good friends. When anticipation turns into reality you may once again be faced with an extraordinary list of things to do before "she" goes in the water and an equally extensive list of things to do before you can fully engage in the season without distraction. I personally enjoy this reintroduction to the boating season when I can again check off each task on a "to do" list, bringing me ever closer to that flight from the routine to the freedom of time and choice where you decide what to do, when and where to do it.

But first, you need to take a look at a typical checklist of boat prep essentials if you want to stay afloat, have propulsion, comfort and peace of mind. A look at my checklist revealed twenty-two out of the water and twenty-nine in the water "Spring" prep items. Your list may look different given the type of boat you own. In fact, yours may not look anything like mine if your not a list maker. If you're not accustomed to enumerating even the most essential of tasks, your going to forget something and it may put a hold on your season.

For me, the "labor of love" begins when your boat is on the trailer or on the jack stands when it's a good time to take care of the things that don't require you to be in the water; get them out of the way. You know, like the cleaning stuff: the vinyl, stainless steel frames and hardware, glass, bilge, lockers, cabin, scuppers, the hull and bulkhead. Then there's the pre-immersion stuff: installing zincs and battery(ies), checking the oil and transmission fluid levels and test running the engine. Most importantly, don't forget the bail plug!

In the water, check all your systems, safety equipments and deck lines. Systems like your lights, hot and cold water, steering, GPS, radar, VHF, blowers, bilge pumps and air-conditioning; safety equipment like your visual distress signals (are they up to date?), fire extinguishers, first aid kit, "whistles" (I call them horns), flashlights, handheld devices like GPS and VHF; deck lines, are they secure, will they need adjusting or readjusting?

Finally, when the last item is checked off, it's time. The moment you savor has arrived. Save the dinghy, outboard and gas you're ready to rock and roll on the body of water of your choice without concern for the mundane. Congratulations, you can now focus on the 3-P's: Pastime, Pleasure, Peace and repose.

William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill is the author of the book, Lubber's Log published by Llumina Press; a boating primer and adventure story about a couples experiences in moving up to a bigger boat.  

You can visit his website here.

Used boat or New boat?

It's a good time of year to be thinking about making that major decision before it's too late; buying a boat before the summer boating season really begins happening. The pivotal decision in most cases is...should I buy the boat new or pre-owned? The "Boating Guy" from Discover Boating does a great job of laying out the pros and cons for beginning boaters or those who are moving on up or down...I love this guy and this site, he's really good!



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Boats "Vessels of Freedom, Harbors of Healing."

Why do people adore boats? Why do people go to great extremes to own a boat? US country singer/songwriter Kenny Chesney has a song titled Boats on his new CD Lucky Old Sun. In the song he sings:

"Boats.... vessels of freedom, harbors of healing...boats, twenty years of a landlocked job was all that Tom could take sitting at his desk all alone and depressed (he) says this just can't be my fate, went home that night and told his wife (that) you can tell all of your friends it's been real but it ain't been fun (so we are) gonna get us one of them...boats... vessels of freedom, harbors of healing...boats"

I've listened to that song a hundred times and it gets better each time. He found the words I've always known were there but never could quite find them. Good for him!

As a boater myself it sometimes becomes hard to explain to non-boaters what the love affair is all about. Perhaps it's a sickness; at least it's a bug. Some of us use our boats as a home, treating her like a member of the family. I do have a habit of talking to the Patricia Ann; she speaks back but in ways only I can hear. She has become a refuge of sorts, a protected harbor. Sleeping in a motel room when I'm on the road just isn't the same.

I have friends that use their boats for an escape from life's stormy weather, relying on their boats to unwind from everyday stress. They take their sailboats, trawlers or motoryachts out to feel the wind on their faces, the sun on their backs. Their boats bring them peace. Others friends, have their boats equipped to make a living from the sea, as do the many shrimpers and charter boat Captains that ply the waters of our Florida coast. Their boats become a life ring, protecting them from the "storm" that waits at the cabin door.

But as a full-time waterman, I can say it's more than what it seems. Yes, it's a state of mind. Leaving the regular 9-5 world behind, knowing you have everything you need to sustain yourself and your crew for days and weeks on end. If I want to stay, I do; if I want to leave, I can do that too. Oh boats can be trouble and they take tons of work to maintain but us boaters consider it a labor of love. You just can't place a price tag on the feeling when you are at the helm, everything works as designed, the air is crisp and the sea is calm. It takes only one good sunset to make it all worthwhile.

Mark Twain, an American author eloquently said "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

So ask yourself, do you yearn for that feeling .

Spanish philosopher Jose' Ortegay Gasset once said, "Tell me the landscape in which you live, and I'll tell you who you are."

That pretty much sums it up. Fair winds.

Mike Dickens, the author of this article,  is the owner/Broker of Paradise Yachts, located in Florida USA. 

William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill is the author of the book, Lubber's Log published by Llumina Press; a boating primer and adventure story about a couples experiences in moving up to a bigger boat.  

You can visit his website here.

Why You Might Need A Bigger Boat

Introduction by William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill

It doesn't take long to come to the realization that we want to take the next step, keep growing, not only figuratively but literally, particularly when we're talking about boating. It's almost an epidemic with boaters, the so called “fourfootisis; 12 footers become 16 footers, 16 footers become 25 footers, 25 footers become 36 footers...We can't arrest the need to keep striving for more room, more power, more gadgets.  I have found an article from one of my favorite websites First Boat that discusses this topic in a most entertaining way.  I had to share this with you because I know it's a question in every boaters mind and it begs an answer.  I give you, First Boat and the top ten reasons to buy a bigger boat!   Click here to find out why: To 10 Reasons to Buy a Bigger Boat?   


William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill is the author of the book, Lubber's Log published by Llumina Press; a boating primer and adventure story about a couples experiences in moving up to a bigger boat.  

You can visit his website here.