The weather was not exactly the kind one might expect in an emergency on Thursday – the sun shined brightly and the wind merely tickled the water – but Jim Wohlleber, skipper of the Catalina 470 Beckoning, was adamant about drilling his crew on all aspects of safety at sea, fair weather or not.
Wohlleber has a competent crew to begin with – three other Catalina 470 owners, who will at the very least know the boat well, plus another with previous offshore experience – but by the end of his training session, their unit was that much more cohesive and that much more confident
The day began with casual introductions and a quick lunch en route to the staging area off Thimble Shoals, at the entrance to Hampton Roads. Michael Yorke, owner of the Catalina 470 Certa Cito (Latin for ‘Swift & Sure,’ his former Royal Signals military motto), is the only member of Beckoning’s crew to have sailed offshore with Wohlleber. His extensive experience includes half a dozen Bermuda trips, a previous Caribbean 1500 and an Atlantic Cup. Rounding out the crew are Scott Erskine, Bob Jones (owner of Silhouette), and Larry Cohen, owner of Comfortably Numb, and the only member not present for the demo. They all met earlier this year at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, where six Catalina 470s occupied adjacent slips at the Yacht Basin. Bob and his partner Pam hosted them for dinner at their nearby house across the bridge in Eastport.
Wohlleber began the drills with a man overboard briefing while his partner Yvonne Thayer stood by on the helm. He emphasized ‘training to proficiency’ – they went through each drill several times over to ensure each crewmember had a chance to take each role involved in the drills – and always staying clipped in. “What we don’t need is two guys in the water,” Jim firmly declared.
On the first go, Wohlleber took the helm. The MOB was an old cockpit cushion, but otherwise the drill was live. “Man overboard! Starboard side!” shouted Jim, as he heave-hoed the red cushion. Scott quickly scurried forward through the enclosed cockpit, keeping a keen eye on the simulated MOB and continuously pointing in his direction. Jim immediately reprimanded him, however. “You gotta be clipped in Scott!” he shouted from the helm. They started over.
“The whole idea is not to go in the water,” Wohlleber emphasized. For the MOB drill, each person was assigned a role – one to retrieve the halyard, one on the helm (who also deployed the Lifesling), one to keep an eye on the MOB and anyone else to assist. These roles were quite strict, and Wohlleber regularly demanded that they start over if someone overstepped their bounds. “Don’t f--- with procedure!” Wohlleber exclaimed on one botched attempt.
For example, the helmsman – and only the helmsman – is responsible for pressing the MOB button on the GPS, mounted conveniently at the helm. Keeping these roles strict and straightforward makes for an easier time during a real emergency. ‘Listen guys, out there if we have a real emergency, it certainly won’t be like this,’ Jim declared, commenting on the flat calm conditions and warm sunshine. ‘It will likely be at night, people will be bleeding, water will be flying around; so we’re drilling the procedure only,’ he said.
The idea is that offshore in a real emergency, the crew won’t have to spend so much time thinking about the situation and should be quicker to react.
Following the MOB drills, Wohlleber lectured on fire and flood safety (drilling both in the same manner), and abandon ship procedures. The crew actually retrieved the liferaft and ditch bag and simulated throwing the lot over the side. The liferaft, stowed under a cockpit seat, was specially designed to fit there. “If we need it,” Jim said, “don’t be gentle pulling it out. It won’t be going back in. And if we must abandon ship, nothing else matters at that point except getting off the boat.”
Wohlleber’s Beckoning was the only boat thus far to pass their safety inspection on the first try. Head inspector Peter Burch was impressed, even more so when he heard of their drills. Onboard the boat, Wohlleber, aside from the standard required gear, has plywood cutouts for each and every hatch opening on the boat, special high-density closed-cell foam to stop water ingress, expanding underwater caulk and a bevy of other bits and pieces should the worst happen.
“It’s important to follow procedures,” Jim noted in his detailed debrief on the way back to the dock. “Take your time and stay calm,” he continued. “But if it’s me, hurry!” he joked. Quoting Captain Ron, Wohlleber ended the day on a lighter note. “If anything’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen out there!” Beckoning and her crew will certainly be ready for it.