Safety at the RVYC

Often not at the top of our mind, safety at the Club, particularly in the sailing operations, is a matter that concerns us all. This therefore outlines the different aspects of safety measures at the RVYC so that we all can enjoy the Club unharmed.

It must be stressed that safety is not the responsibility of the Club as such, but of the individual members, their families and their guests. By necessity, being a members Club relying on volunteers for much of its Management, the Club must disclaim any legal responsibility for the safety of sailors, guests, visitors and their boats. It must also be emphasized that the primary focus of all efforts will be for life rescue, and that this will take precedence over rescue of any boats and gear.

1. Proper personal equipment:

   1. Adequate Buoyancy Aid / Personal Flotation Device (PFD): It is mandatory to wear proper flotation aids according to your weight. The jacket should fit snugly.
   2. Rubber shoes: Recommendable to wear to avoid cuts on rocks.
   3. Protection against the sun: It is highly recommended that you either cover your body with appropriate clothing and/or use sun protection cream.
   4. Protection from dehydration: It is advisable, particularly when sailing for longer periods to take drinking water with you. Particularly smaller children can dehydrate quickly.
   5. Mobile telephone: When sailing beyond the Club’s direct visual range, please take a fully charged mobile telephone with the following numbers pre-saved on it:
      • RVYC Rescue Mobile 082-2147047
      • RVYC Office 038-250-116
      • RVYC Club Manager’s Mobile 089-7779197
   6. Longer sailing trips/going cruising: Take a whistle, torch and flares with you as well as a GPS, if available.

2. Check that your boat is in seaworthy condition: That should include:

   1. Standing rigging: Chain plates, stem plate, shrouds, forestay and clevis pins. As a general rule, using standard rigging on catamarans which is more than 3 years old (2 years if used heavily or by heavy crews) is not advised, especially when cruising.
   2. Running rigging: Halyards, jib luff wire, shackles and fastenings for halyards.
   3. Rudder: Gudgeons, pintles, tiller/tiller extension and fittings holding the rudder blade down.
   4. Buoyancy: Buoyancy bags properly secured and inflated and inspection/drainage holes in tanks properly closed.

3. Consider your skills as well as weather and tide conditions:

   1. Your fitness: Only go out sailing if you feel confident that yourself, your crew and the boat are in a condition to handle the weather and sea conditions of the day.
   2. Weather: Remember that in a tropical country the weather pattern may change rapidly particular during the monsoon months. In case of a heavy storm front approaching you should quickly head towards shore or (in the case of a keelboat) the leeward side of an island.
   3. Current: Check the direction and strength of the current and when it will change. The tide conditions in the area around the Club can be very strong at times.
   4. Wind strength >15 knots: If the wind is stronger than 15 knots, it is recommended you not sail outside the visual range of the Club. If you are not an experienced sailor (or with one), you should not sail at all in these conditions.

4. If you intended to sail outside visual range of the Club or go cruising, take the following added precautions:

   1. Sign in on the cruising board in the Clubhouse, take a Club disk and record the disk number. Indicate the area and direction you intend to sail to as well as your expected time of return and your mobile phone number. Please do not sail outside your recorded area or direction.
   2. As an additional precaution inform the Manager, the Officer of the day (OOD) and/or somebody else of your plans.
   3. Return before the time stated by you on the cruising board and one hour minutes before sunset. If you know that you will be returning late then you should call in to inform the Club and give your position and wind condition.

5. Return to the Club one hour before sunset, giving sufficient time for eventual search and rescue activities before it gets dark.

1. Determining a Rescue Coordinator (RC): If you spot a boat in trouble or if a cruising boat is overdue, please bring this immediately to the attention of the Officer of the day (OOD), the Club Manager or, in case those two cannot be reached, any General Committee member, or the most experienced member present. This person should take over the Rescue Coordinator (RC) role, but revert it to the Club Manager once he is available again.

2. Determining a search area: The RC will immediately collect in written form all pertinent information: Time, last known location, messages, telephones, etc. The RC will try to contact the missing boat via mobile phone and try to locate it via GPS if available (be aware the GPS unit needs warming up for at least one minute for proper readings) and/or by obtaining from the missing boat references to known landmarks. Taking this information, wind and tide into account, the RC will determine a search area. In case of no communication with the missing boat, the RC will have to determine the search area based on sign-out and any other information that can be obtained.

   Should a boat report in informing of a return later than expected (particularly after dark), the Club Manager will keep a rescue motorboat and crew on standby until the boat is back safely.

3. Dispatch of rescue unit(s): The RC will decide on the number of rescue units and crew to be dispatched. Each rescue boat should be manned by two persons and, if possible, one of the crew should speak English. The RC should ensure they are reasonably equipped and have communication equipment. He will then proceed with the search.

   Whenever a rescue is mounted for a cruising boat, the rescue facilities provided to serve boats sailing in the vicinity of the Club should be left intact if still required, and the rescue craft for the search for the missing boat should, if necessary, be obtained by hiring one or more suitable speedboats (a RVYC boat-boy should be assigned to each such boat if possible). However, if it is clear that a sailor is in immediate danger, the Club’s permanent rescue facilities may be used, but these must be replaced immediately by further hire if other boats are still out sailing.

   If the search appears complicated, very distant or extremely urgent, the RC will also enlist the support of any one of the following:

   In all cases Pattaya Police Station should be called first. They monitor phone line 24 hours. They have full access all Emergency Assistant Unit in our area.

   1. Pattaya Police (South Pattaya Station) Tel: 038-420-802 to 3
   2. City of Pattaya Marine Search & Rescue Unit station Bali Hi
      Tel: 038-429-124 to 5 ext. 456
   3. Marine Police Station Sriracha Tel. 038-311-285
   4. Speedboat Services Tel:

   If necessary, the RC may require members to support the search with their boats. The Rescue Coordinator will select the most experienced members and consider weather and sea conditions when choosing this measure. Members must not withhold such help without substantial reason.

The Club welcomes members’ children and they should have fun, but it must be pointed out that the safety of children at the Club is fundamentally the responsibility of the respective parents. All persons under 16 years of age are considered children and should not be left without appropriate supervision of an adult. That includes proper arrangements if leaving the children in the care of another adult such as leaving mobile numbers and clearly informing both the adult and the child. Even if a “common-sense” support from other members may be expected, particularly when children are in danger, the parents are finally responsible.

Parents should instruct their children regarding the danger of snakes, scorpions and jellyfish. Similarly, children should watch out for incoming and outgoing sailing boats when swimming in the sea.

Facilities

Though the Club by necessity must disclaim responsibility for the safety of sailors and their boats, the Club is, of course, concerned about, the safety of members and visiting yachtsmen sailing off the Club’s premises.

Therefore, the Club will endeavor to provide appropriate rescue to suit the prevailing weather conditions.

It is emphasized that the facilities are primarily provided for life rescue and that this take precedence over rescue of boats and gear.

At the moment the rescue facilities consists of three club-owned rescue boats with outboard motors and one or more hired fishing boats, as circumstances dictate. They will only be used for boat rescue once their primary function of life rescue has been discharged. They shall never be used as utility boats.

In extreme emergency and after all other reasonable measures have been taken, assistance may be requested from the Marine Police (who station a patrol in Pattaya during part of the year) or the Thai Police.

Medical services are available at:

• Pattaya International Clinic (Dr. Sunya Viravaidhya)
  255/4 Pattaya Soi 4, Thanon Pattaya II, Muang Pattaya, Chonburi 20260.
  Phone: (038) 428-374; Fax: (038) 422-773; and
• Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, Sukumvit Road, North Pattaya
  Phone: (038) 427-751

Action

If you spot a boat in trouble or if a cruising boat is overdue, please bring this immediately to the attention of the race officer, the Club Manager, any General Committee member, or the most experienced member present.

In case of a missing boat, one or more rescue boats should be dispatched to the area in which the missing boat is likely to be found, taking into consideration the tide, the wind direction/strength and the condition of the sea. If the missing boat was cruising the information on the cruising board should be considered before dispatching rescue boats.

Whenever a rescue is mounted for a cruising boat, the rescue facilities provided to serve boats sailing in the vicinity of the Club should be left intact if still required, and the rescue craft for the search for the missing boat should be obtained from Pattaya by hiring one or more fishing vessels. However, if it is clear that a sailor is in immediate danger the Club’s permanent rescue facilities may be used but these must be replaced immediately by further hire if other boats are still out sailing.