I am incredibly frustrated to hear that, despite incredible public outcry, the Kits coast guard station was permanently closed today.  I've spent a good deal of time playing and working on the waters of English bay and I can tell you with certainty that this is going to cost lives. It really is as simple as that. At the Jericho Sailing Centre our much smaller rescue operation saves hundreds of lives a year. I was reminiscing with Jericho Sailing Centre GM Mike Cotter about how many rescues we have performed over the years. I know that by my last year at the JSCA I had personally pulled in well over 1000 people. To intimate that the demand for a local rescue response team isn't there is to akin to burring one's head in the sand. The Kits station is reportedly the busiest station in Canada.

One of the main justifications for closing the station was that the type of rescues they were performing weren't life saving operations. I would argue that is because the coastguard was able to arrive on site in a timely fashion whilst the situation was in it's infancy... a simple matter when left for any length of time can become fatal very easily!

One of the biggest concerns is the off season rescues. With fewer boaters on the water there are less people to respond to an emergency. The current plan calls for the off season rescues to be performed by the hovercraft which has a much bigger area of coverage and is grounded in heavy winds and seas... I guess they're also going to do something to ensure that rescues only happen on calm days when their one vessel is available?!

Recently the statement was made that more money was going to be put in to boat safety education to help mitigate the potential damage caused by the station closure... This strikes me as completely absurd unless they're going to teach people how to postpone having heart attacks and other medical emergencies whilst on the water.

I suppose I'm rambling... Ask me how I really feel... I dare you! :P

For the past year I've been somewhat concerned with the lifelines aboard Thursday's Child. Not because they look to be unsafe or worn but because they're covered in white PVC and are almost impossible to inspect. Most offshore regulations now stipulate that PVC covered life lines are not acceptable - Im sure there is a good reason for this.  Personally I've always been concerned about the enormity of the situation that could result if a lifeline failed! If we ever got out in any wind we could easily have up to 6 guys hiking off of the lifelines. One man over board is a nightmare but if a lifeline went it could be up to 6! That would really suck!

After a particularly productive evening of surfing the 'net and watching sailing videos I came across this and decided it was time to have the lines replaced. Steve White of Steve White Rigging (How'd he come up with that name?) was all to happy to come down and help out! Even more excitingly he was pretty cheap!