Seaworthy: Essential Lessons from BoatU.S.'s 20-Year Case File of Things Gone Wrong

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You're safest on the water when you and your boat are seaworthy.

BoatU.S. provides marine insurance coverage to 250,000 American powerboaters and sailors, which makes its collection of claims reports one of the world's largest archives of boating accidents. For more than 20 years, as writer and editor of BoatU.S.'s quarterly publication Seaworthy, Bob Adriance has sifted and analyzed this rich trove to discover and highlight the profound lessons it contains.

Here is the ultimate boater's guide to preventing, responding to, and surviving accidents under power or sail, including hurricane damage, lightning strikes, collisions, fires, groundings, sinkings, crew overboard, dismastings, and more.

Experience may be the best teacher, but the lessons are a lot less painful when the experience is someone else's. Here is a unique opportunity to use other skippers' misfortunes to make your own boat and seamanship safer.

A boaters' guide as important and practical as any I've read. And if you can ignore the occasional frisson of guilty pleasure, one that's as engrossing to read as The Perfect Storm.—Tony Gibbs, yachting writer, editor, and novelist

Hair-raising disasters, hard facts, and helpful advice; Seaworthy is a compendium of no-nonsense information on avoiding problems that only a marine insurer could provide. Invaluable for the boater, builder, designer, and surveyor.—Dave Gerr, director, Westlawn Institute of Tecnology; author of The Nature of Boats and The Elements of Boat Strength

Table of Contents

Foreword by Tony Gibbs | Preface

1. Avoiding Collisions
Collisions Between Boats Underway | Collisions at Marinas: So Many Boats, So Little Room | Collisions Between Racing Sailboats | Avoiding Tugs and Barges | Avoiding Big Ships | Passing Under Drawbridges | What Should You Do If Your Boat Is in a Collision?

2. Preventing Fires
How Boat Fires Start | Troubleshooting 12-Volt DC Electrical Systems | The AC Electrical System | Poking Around Your AC Electrical System | The Problem with Portable Electric Heaters | Propulsion System Fires | Keeping Fuel Out of the Bilge: Gasoline | Keeping Fuel Out of the Bilge: Diesel | Galley Fires | Marine Dry Stack Fires | Your Boat's on Fire... Now What?

3. Staying Afloat
Why Boats Sink at the Dock | Why Boats Sink Underway | Why Fiberglass Boats Sometimes Fail | Sailboat Stability | Powerboat Stability | The Art of Securing Your Boat

4. Seamanship
Going Offshore | The Loss of Morning Dew | The Loss and Recovery of Grey Girl | Coping with Monster Waves | The Last Few Hours of Proteus | Coastal Cruising: Abandoning Ship | Entering Inlets | All About Boat Wakes | Minding Your Own Boat's Wake | Grounding and Ungrounding | The Question of Salvage | Overboard Rescues from Sailboats | Overboard Rescues from Powerboats | Boat Handling in Thunderstorms

5. Hurricane Warning
Where to Keep Your Boat in a Hurricane | Critical Points | Hurricane Preparation Worksheet

6. Be Careful Out There
Boats and Swimming | Waterskiing Safety | Wear Your Personal Flotation Device (PFD)! | Boats and Lightning | Boats and Carbon Monoxide

7. Winterizing and Spring Fitting Out
Winterizing | Winterizing Chores | Winterizing Worksheet | Spring Fitting-Out Checklist | A Few Final Words

Resources | Acknowledgments | Index

About the Author

Robert A. Adrinace has edited Seaworthy magazine and written and compiled BoatU.S.'s accident reports for more than 20 years. He is also editor of BoatU.S.'s Technical Information Exchange for Marine Professionals, the co-editor of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's Beacon magazine, and assistant vice president, technical services, for BoatU.S.'s Marine Insurance Division.

Seaworthy: Essential Lessons from BoatU.S.'s 20-Year Case File of Things Gone Wrong