The Blue View - Flares, and More Flares

Marcie was doing her annual ditch bag inspection not too long ago, and noted that our flares were due to be replaced. Flares have a shelf life of 3.5 years, which seems like a long time, but it also seems like we are always buying them.

There are a host of different flares available, ranging from handheld flares, to orange smoke flares to signal rocket flares with parachutes. We’ve got quite an assortment. The prices vary accordingly, from expensive to really expensive.

We also have a 12-gauge flare pistol. Just like in the movies, a shotgun shell sized flare is loaded into the pistol, which is then fired into the sky, sending a bright red flare 500 feet or so high. Unfortunately, this type flare gun is considered a weapon in some countries, and must be declared and held in bond until the vessel leaves the country.

The U.S. Coast Guard requires us to carry at least three flares for daylight use and three flares for night use as a minimum. (Some types of flares are approved for both day and night use, in which case only three flares in total are needed.) In addition, because we sail offshore, we felt we should follow the International Sailing Federation (ISF) guidelines for offshore vessels, which requires 6 red parachute, 6 red handheld and 2 orange smoke flares. That’s a lot of flares, and did I mention that they ain’t cheap? It’s about $600 for the complete set – ouch!

Our approach was to carry the ISF flares in our sealed life raft, which has to be opened and inspected every three years. If we ever had to abandon ship, we’d be sure to have a good set of flares in the life raft, even if we lost our ditch bag. The coast guard is authorized to board any vessel in U.S. waters (or any U.S. flagged vessel anywhere in the world for that matter) to do a safety check. Since it isn’t practical to open the sealed life raft, we also keep an in-date set of the USCG required flares in our ditch bag to ensure we meet their requirements – and to have on hand if we have an emergency that doesn’t require abandoning ship.

Once the flares pass their “Best if Used By” date, they are most likely still usable and can still be kept aboard, as long as we have sufficient in-date flares to meet the USCG requirements. Thus, we have kept the majority of our outdated flares over the years to use as backups, and we’ve accumulated quite the collection.

Disposing of used flares is difficult. They can’t be tossed in the trash. They can’t be set off without the possibility of creating a false distress alarm. The coast guard won’t take them, nor will most local fire or police departments, and the manufacturers won’t take them back. In some places, the local coast guard auxiliary or sea scouts may take them for use in training. When we decide to start thinning our inventory of old flares, we’ll do what everyone else does - ask around and make lots of calls until we find a solution.

This year, we decided to use a different approach. The coast guard allows an alternative to the usual pyrotechnic flares. It’s now possible to buy an LED electronic flare that is USCG approved and which never expires, as long as the batteries are replaced each year. It is waterproof and floats, and once turned on, it flashes a very bright S.O.S. signal.

Since this is only a night time signal device, it is also necessary to have flares for day use. The coast guard also allows the use of a large orange flag with a black circle and black square printed on it, in lieu of the usual daylight flares. Weems & Plath, the company that manufactures the electronic flares, very cleverly sells a package that includes both the light and the flag.

We ordered the electronic flare package on Amazon, installed four C-cell alkaline batteries and tried it out. The light, which has a visibility of 10 miles, was as bright as expected. We stowed it and the orange flag in the ditch bag, and Marcie has changed her annual safety checklist to include changing the batteries.

Our life raft will be due for inspection this January, and the ISF flare set that is stowed inside will be near its expiration date. Should we invest $600 or so on the replacements or should we scale down a bit? We aren’t planning to cross any more oceans in the next three years, so maybe it’s okay to cut back.

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History Lessons While We Walk

I mentioned in a previous blog that the Great Bridge area of Chesapeake, Virginia is rich in history, especially relating to Revolutionary and Civil War battles. There are informational signs and markers everywhere and we've found it interesting to roam around on foot and soak up a little history. Walking through the Great Bridge Battlefields and Waterways Park is like stepping back in history.

According to Wiki, “its name is derived from the American Revolutionary War of Great Bridge, which took place on December 9, 1775 and resulted in the final removal of the Brits from the Virginia Colony.

Though the battles of Lexington and Concord took place months earlier, and are historically more memorable, the Battle of Great Bridge can be seen as the first strategically important colonial victory over the British, forcing Lord Dunmore's 200 redcoats to evacuate Fort Murray and withdraw to Norfolk.” A huge mural on the side of a local building commemorates the victory.

The “bridge” was originally just a narrow 10' wide causeway and remnants of it still remain under and around the modern Great Bridge bascule bridge, now situated about 50 yards to the south of the original bridge. The modern Great Bridge spans the ICW/ Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. A replica of the original causeway is just one of the illustrative displays at the park.

Just across Battlefield Boulevard (yup, that's the name of the main street, aka VA-168) is the Great Bridge Locks Park. This waterway was critical for getting supplies to the Confederates during the Civil War and the Union worked hard to blockade it. The famous Battle of the Merrimack and the Monitor took places just a few miles up the Chesapeake River at Hampton Roads. There's a huge, 7,900 pound ship's anchor sitting on the lawn reputedly from the USS Hartford. The USS Hartford was most noted for its victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864 when its captain, Admiral Farragut, shouted “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” The ship was dismantled at the Norfolk Navy Yard not far away from here and her parts were buried on vacant land along the Elizabeth River. In 2001, the anchor was discovered during excavation and moved here.

Beyond the history of wars and battles there are several informational placards describing the building of the nearby Great Dismal Swamp Canal and the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. The Great Dismal Swamp Canal was hand dug and opened in 1805. In the 1820s, Marshall Parks, Sr. was commissioned to deepen and widen the canal to accommodate larger, deeper draft steam vessels. His son, Marshall Parks, Jr. took over when his dad died in 1840, and completed the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal in 1859. He was one of the first to envision and encourage the connecting of inland waterways along the east coast of the USA … today's Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

The actual Great Bridge Lock is “located approximately 750 yards west of the Great Bridge Bridge, and is the western terminus of the Virginia Cut of the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal. This tidal guard lock is a reversible-head, double-gated structure 600 feet long and 72 feet wide, with a depth of 16 feet. Its primary function is to prevent saltwater intrusion from the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River into the freshwater North Landing River and to control tidal currents from these two rivers. [...]The first Great Bridge Lock was built by the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal Company in 1859. The original Great Bridge Lock survived until 1917, when the Canal was widened. For fifteen years thereafter there was no lock, causing bitter complaints from shippers and local residents. [...]Under the management of the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Great Bridge Lock was completed on June 16, 1932.” From a strategic vantage point just west of the bridge, we can easily see boats and barges entering and leaving the locks as the locks open and close, usually in scheduled sync with the opening of the Great Bridge. We'll be heading through these locks in a few days as we make out way west to the Chesapeake Bay.

All in all, our morning walks have been quite educational and entertaining, while still fulfilling some of our daily exercise requirements. Multi-tasking at its best.

Life Aboard at the Atlantic Yacht Basin

We wake each morning to the horn blasts signifying the Great Bridge is about to open. It's not an unpleasant sound; it's a muffled nautical sound and we wait for it before we rouse ourselves out of bed to start another day. The kettle is on first thing … a cuppa before our morning walk. We've been walking every day even when it rains. Sometimes we explore the area around the boatyard, but more often we head to the little park on the north side of the river via the Great Bridge. The park itself has historical markers that describe the illustrious role played by Great Bridge in the Revolutionary War. This is also an historic battle area for the Civil War and there are lots of info signs and monuments to check out. I'll tell you about the history in a later blog.

There's a 1.5 mile loop route through the woods along the banks of the ICW and when it's not too wet, we enjoy this walk. It smells fresh and piney. The birds and squirrels are very active and we spotted a bald eagle standing sentry one morning. Native trees have name markers and there's a wooden boardwalk with views over the marshland. Plans for expansion of this park include a Visitor's Center and more trails. A wharf alongside the river provided us with a free night's tie-up when we first arrived back in June.

On the west side of the bridge, we can walk along the Elizabeth River towards the Great Bridge Locks and watch boats transit both the bridge and locks. In the early morning, casual fishermen and crabbers line the waterway.

The Great Bridge Locks Park provides lots of historical information about the building of the canal and the locks. There are picnic areas and playgrounds and wonderful views of the river. Herons hang out here, trying to get their share of the river's fish for breakfast.

We trek to the local supermarket, Farm & Fresh, everyday … whether we need to or not. It's only a ½ mile walk … a reasonable round-trip, but not nearly enough to reach my 10,000 steps goal (yup, still doing that), so we walk a bit further or longer or more frequently. Some days it's 2-3 trips to the grocery or the hardware store or Radio Shack or Walgreens ... in between projects.

The usual boat chores need doing, of course. While David is immersed in his projects, I write for awhile and then tend to the daily tasks. The deck and cockpit need cleaning almost daily to remove pine needles and tree debris, especially with the rain and wind we've been experiencing. I made new curtains for the aft cabin and installed them and subsequently decided matching pillows might be nice … they're on my to-do list. Cooking, cleaning, laundry and all the regular “pink” chores get done during the course of the day.

The cockpit mat was growing moss (on its north side) which probably indicates it's been wet and in the shade for way too long. I scrubbed it with a product called “Spore No-More” that David acquired a century or so ago and it seems to be working. Just in case it doesn't work, there's more old line where that came from and I know a good ocean plait mat maker.

By 6 pm, we're usually ready to call it quits for the day. We take evening showers in the marina facilities, then return to Cups for a beer or glass of wine. Though there are several restaurants quite nearby, we rarely eat out. It just seems easier (and cheaper) to eat aboard most evenings and save the infrequent dinner out for a special occasion. The meals are simple … grilled chicken breast and salad or white chili or sometimes just a salad or sandwich.

We either read or watch a movie on the computer till 10 pm or so and then head to bed and read a bit more before falling asleep. That's a day in the life here at AYB. Not so different than any other marina we've stayed at in other parts of the world. Not all that exciting. Needless to say, the days are flying by all too quickly, and even though we haven't left Atlantic Boat Basin yet, it's very pleasant just being aboard again. It's easy to get into a routine.