420DA Safety Upgrade

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My family and I will be ranging further on the 420DA this season than we have ever cruised previously.
I have 4 and 7 year old boys, one aging, arthritic female black lab, and a six year old male golden retriever.

And I am married to a lady who was an NCAA All American swimmer in college who thinks life jackets are for people who can't swim a school record 50 meter freestyle. All this has informed my apprach to safety upgrades to the 420DA this year.

Last year I watched a friend who runs a big boat pay very detailed attention to safety on his boat, and those observations have shaped my spring safety upgrade. There was a period when I was younger where the only time I wore a life jacket was when I was water skiing. Maturity, and witnessing some really bad/stupid things on the Potomac, have also informed my approach to safety. Given our upcoming cruise plans, we have added a ditch bag with a handheld VHF, GPS, flares, first aid kit, strobe light, air horn, flashlights, spare batteries for the GPS and VHF radio, 2 liters of water, and a survival knife. I will probably opt for an EPIRB at some point if we venture south towards the Atlantic, but that is not in our itinerary this year. I looked at several different emergency rafts, and am inclined towards the Revere coastal four person model, but since we depart Saturday and I could not make my mind up as to what I rally wanted, we are renting an offshore raft that stores in a valise for the duration of our trip. The ditch bag and emergency raft both fit nicely around the base of the helm chair of the 420. Neither obstructs movement, but are readily at hand. My wife got an auto-inflating PFD that is comfortable to wear, not bulky, but will do the job in an emergency. I wear one as well, replacing the waterski-style vests we wore last year, but only in difficult sea conditions. This year the auto inflating PFDs will be on when the mains fire up. The boys both have USCG approved PFDs, and the dogs both get PFDs as well for when we are underway. The last thing I need is a floundering dog going under, getting carried away by the current, accompanied by the terrified screams of the 4 year old watching "his" dog drown.
I suppose some will say I have not done enough, others will say I am excessively cautious for somebody who runs his 420DA principally on the Potomac. Having listened to the
"Pan-Pans" "Maydays" and USCG emergency marine broadcasts every weekend, I think we are appropriately managing the risks inherent in boating on the river and bay.

Shared FWIW and comment.

best regards
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[Four Suns]

That's probably a good list for the Chesapeake. You may want to look at Wal-Mart at the cheap non-contract cell phones (I think they are called Go Phones). I think you can get a cell phone with 60 minutes on it for less than 50 bucks total cost... and no "signing up" required. Put that in a waterproof bag and stick it in the ditch bag. The cell phones you have will get destroyed when they get wet and having a spare in a waterproof bag inside the ditch bag might be a good thing. Not good for offshore use but for the Bay, it makes sense.

You know my feeling on PFDs... I know some people here that struck a daymarker close to midnight and the boat sank in a few minutes... the impact was so harsh it caused one person to dislocate their shoulder. Try getting your PFD on in that situation.

 

[Skip]

Gary, does the go phone operate on a common battery, AA or AAA? If not, any idea how you keep the battery charged, or do you have to periodically charge it up?

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[330DA]

I thing you might consider is that BOAT US has an EPIRB rental program.

 

[Four Suns]

I would bet the Go phone requires it to be charged. They look to be standard Motorola flip phones. I'm probably going to add that to my ditch bag... I'll let you know.

 

[Odayssea]

For a few bucks you can throw a few general purpose items in the grab bag: 20' of nylon line with a floater at one end, a few feet of surgical tubing (imagine a gash in an extremity) and the most useful item ever, some waterproof duct tape to patch things up. Whistles are also a good idea; just tie one onto each PFD. The floating ditch bags are advisable of course since they don't do any good at the bottom of the bay.

 

[Skip]

Yes, my ditch bag floats. The whistles are a good idea. Good comments all. Keep 'em coming.

regards
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[Four Suns]

You may want to check your inflatable PFD for whistles. Mine came with a whistle on each one. I also added a small strobe inside each of the PFDs packing: you can't see it or touch it unless the jacket is inflated.

 

[Skip]

I bought an acr/solas firefly which will attach to my PFD. These are relatively inexpensive, run on AA batteries, and are fairly compact. Compared to the large, heavy, proprietary battery powerd POS strobe light the Army issued me as a Lieutenant, the ACS solas firefly is pretty cool.
I am really getting old.

 

[Cuttin' Edge]

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Did you find a life raft yet? I too have been looking at one...mainly cause of being in the middle of Lake Michigan and no land for 1.5 hours in any direction.... Looked a bit at Reveree. My neighbor has Winslow and says that's the way to go - but wow $$$ . Was looking a bit at the Survival Products one as well.... Hopefully I never need it - but any thoughts on them that you have looked at?

I got a EPIRB last year - mainly cause when crossing our lake, radio's don't work....

 

[Skip]

I will probably purchase the Revere Coastal. Cost is about $950. For the trip starting Saturday I rented a Winslow four person that stores in a valise. Fits under the helm seat next to the ditch bag. The Golden Retriever will probably use the ditch bag for a pillow underway.

regards
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[420]

I also include a small bottle of high quality vodka. For use as as an antiseptic as well as mental health...