safety at sea for solo sailors
Barring a miracle, we can assime that Duncan Lougee of the Folkboat "Minke" has drowned at sea. He was participating in last week's Jester Challenge, a solo adventure for boats leaving the south of England and sailing to Baltimore, Ireland. Sea conditions were light to moderate and fellow competitors were at a loss to explain his disappearance, until Minke was found laying abandoned. We can assume that Duncan, an experienced solo sailor, had fallen overboard. This is of course, extremely sad and distressing for his loved ones and fellow sailors. There is a common practice among solo offshore sailors to sail without a life jacket but with a harness. The belief is that the harness will prevent a fall overboard or keep you by the ship so you can climb aboard. Though there is some conjecture as to how straightforward it is to get back on board a moving yacht at sea. Life jackets are not worn because if you do enter the sea and watch your boat sailing away, you have no chan