How do you put a price on safety?

Much debate over several weeks has been ongoing primarily twixt the Skipper and the Purser but also involving other crew members at times and the heart of the matter has been what we should be carrying aboard in the way of emergency equipment

I very quickly ran up a shopping list that totalled to a significant four figure sum! Even with a few big and arguably unnecessary (at least for now) removed it still came to getting on for two grand and that just isn't on the cards at the moment

And that, of course, led to a debate about what to leave out - after all, if you CAN leave it out did you actually need it in the first place? The other side of the coin being that if you need it, how can you leave it out? We are, after all, talking about equipment for use in a dire emergency here, not luxury items or performance enhancements/upgrades

So in the end, after much cogitation, I ended up spending just a few hundred quid on some very carefully chosen items and I shall now bore ... I mean entertain ... you with the details and justifications for the decisions (partly in the hope that I can deflect the ire of the Purser when she finds out how much money I've spent on the boat ... again)

So here we go ...

Item number one on the "setting up a grab bag list" is, of course, a grab bag!

There are big fancy ones but we haven't got anywhere to keep one of them, this neat small size bag will fit neatly in the small locker at the base of the engine box / companionway steps where it will be easy to grab in an emergency.

It comes with a shoulder strap and it's waterproof and buoyant.

I've just realised that I have assumed my entire readership (that's BOTH of you!) are familiar with the concept of a grab bag on a boat - it is, of course, a bag containing all the essentials for survival in the event of an emergency up to and including having to abandon ship

Now the very first item into the bag is a bit controversial. After fully discussing it with all the regular crew members Erbas will no longer be carrying conventional pyrotechnic flares.

I may get around to discussing this decision in more detail in a follow up post but suffice it to say for now that rather than spend about £100.00 on replacing the out of date pyros, I've ordered an Odeo Mk.III Laser flare for just £13 more

The next item on the list was one of the biggest areas of debate and again I'll look at discussing this too in more detail in a seperate post.

For now, into the grab bag will go a 406mhz satellite PLB. Although described as a "Personal Locator Beacon" there is no difference in function between a PLB and an EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon). Both work exactly the same way, the smaller PLB simply has a shorter battery life (24 hours as opposed to 48) and requires manual intervention rather than being set off automatically.

A PLB will suffice for our needs in coastal waters

 It looks tacky and cheap and it is cheap so I ordered two! You can't beat a whistle for attracting attention - sound carries an astonishingly long way over water and the sound of repeated whistle blasts is sure to be noticed if there's anyone within hearing distance.

Next up? A decent first aid kit.

I've been muttering about this for some time - I'm not talking about the kit with some sticking plasters and a bit of savlon in it for the "ouch, I've cut my finger" moment, I'm taking about the real deal "oh ****, he's ripped his finger off", or worse, serious situation.

So I decided not to muck around and ordered a Cat.C first aid kit in a soft pouch (the better for fitting in the grab bag) - this is the kit required by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency for small commercial vessels and if it's good enough for them ...


Then came several items which cost just a quid of two but wouldn't half be a comfort to have available in a crisis ...

Emergency water rations (four 0.5 litre pouches) because water is life. Actually, in reality I'm working on the basis of we'd be rescued or dead within 24 hours (this is the North Sea we're talking about!) but water makes the taking of tablets easier (there are painkillers, sea sickness tablets etc.) in the first aid kit plus rinsing sea water or sickness residue from the mouth would be a comfort. And of course you can drink it!

And with something to drink, what could be better than a sweet to suck on?
So in goes a tin of barley sugar sweets.

Comfort and energy all in a handy package (I might get some Kendal Mint Cake too - that IS a sugar rush!)

Let there be light. And there was light. And it was good!


A handful of light snap sticks is barely the price of a pint each for me and the Bosun so in they went. Never know when they might come in handy!

And for the price of a round of drinks for the whole crew I chucked in four emergency foil blankets too - these really do save lives and they cost pennies

And finally, there is one item not on the list that no sailor should ever be out of reach of ...

and that's a good knife. This one floats, glows in the dark and can be opened one handed. I just need to add a lanyard to it and it'll be perfect for the job

And the price of safety? £449.95 of which virtually half was the cost of the PLB and a further quarter was the cost of the laser flare

PS. While Jane isn't looking I also ordered a few other bits and bobs like a filtered funnel for filling the diesel tank, some fender socks to stop them rubbing the paint off the hull, some glue to repair the teak laminate that's coming away in the saloon, shackles for the jacklines (actually that probably counts as a safety item!) and a dyneema soft shackle for attacking the sheets to the genoa so they can be quickly switched to the No.1 jib if we change down the sails. Wasn't much cost wise, honest darling (oh hell, I'm gonna be in trouble again)

All of the above came from my first choice online chandler Seamark Nunn

"What's in your grab bag" from the RYA

PPS. If either of you have been paying really close attention, by the way, you'll recall that we also bought the life raft that was aboard Erbas when we bought her last autumn. We've still got it - it's been offloaded into the bosun's store to make space for the inflatable dinghy - but it needs servicing.

I'd certainly consider offloading the dinghy and reloading the life raft if we were setting out to go offshore (e.g. across the North Sea) but in inshore waters where we normally sail the drawbacks of carrying it are too great.