I'm not a sailor but an avid sea kayaker who negotiates the UK coastline and wild camps on inaccessible beaches all year round. I recently noticed a crew onboard a powerboat not wearing life jackets and I'm constantly amazed at how blasé many boat owners are about their safety and that of their guests/crew. Perhaps it is the nature of the craft, or more to the point the size of the craft.
Sea kayakers are a very safety conscious community and I challenge you to find just one anywhere in the UK not carrying their most basic safety equipment such as personal flotation device, spare paddle, rocket flare and personal flares as well as the safety kit unique to our sport such as a paddle float, dry suit etc.
In addition, the standards for sea kayakers to coach or lead groups are very high indeed, even for sheltered calm waters. My point is that perhaps this is because we are the smallest sea going craft around and we find ourselves part of our environment rather than 'on it', quite often having to negotiate strong winds and tidal streams using our bodies as the propulsion system and also quite often finding ourselves in the water as opposed to on top of it in a cosy, warm boat.
I agree with the idea that there should be legislation that every boat owner has to attend a basic seamanship course as a condition of their insurance policy. This would ensure a basic level of seamanship as well as courtesy on the water. Courtesy isn't something we sea kayakers are too concerned about. We give way to anything larger than us which basically covers just about every craft on the seas today (including some seals!).
Perhaps the RNLI should drop people in rough seas so that they have to scramble onboard a small life raft and spend a night on the open water, to give them a bitter taste of what could happen if basic safety procedures are not followed. A bit like taking a drunk driver down to the morgue (maybe a bit extreme but a good example).
Much of basic seamanship is common sense but a short course to raise awareness of the implications of sailors' actions wouldn't hurt and it could also be an added stream of donations for the RNLI/coastguard, a much appreciated rescue service.
Kurt Finch is client services director and instructor for Nomad xtreme sport, which specialises in adventure training for management and personnel: www.nomadxtreme.co.uk
