A recent live visual distress demonstration workshop conducted at Coast Guard Station Ludington offered a rare opportunity for boaters and the public to actually see visual distress flares in action. As I said in last week’s column, no one was more disappointed than I for missing this exhibition, but all was not lost, for I was able to discuss the exercise with two veteran chiefs- Monck and Reed of Station Ludington. Their Coast Guard careers total over 45 years; most of those years have been spent in search and rescue.

Chief Monck, Officer in Charge, Station Ludington, spearheaded the event; his organizational skills and attention to detail certainly paid off for those who attended this live flare demonstration. Fortunately, the good chief was more than willing to share with us the lessons learned.

According to Monck, many of the people who attended the demonstration were couples. Several wives launched flares along with their husbands. The purpose here was to acquaint spouses or other crewmembers in the use of distress signals. Instructors emphasized that boat captains should not only instruct crew members on the use of flares, but their location on the boat. Chief Reed recalled a case at Ludington where a boater slammed into the harbor breakwater at night and was killed instantly. His seriously injured wife pointed a passenger to the flares, which he fired off. Chief Reed spotted the flare from a half-mile away and responded in life-saving time. Not only was the boater fortunate that she knew the location of the flares, but that her passenger knew how to use them.

But how many boaters would know how to use them? During the demonstration instructors and students discovered that while flares may look similar, firing mechanisms and instructions vary. Reading instructions proved especially challenging after dark. Throw in a bouncing boat, worse still a sinking boat, or worse still yet an injured boater struggling in the water to fire off a flare for the first time- well you got the picture.

I discussed the high stress factor that normally accompanies a real flare situation with Frank Amodeo, an executive at Orion, a major manufacturer of visual distress signals. He told me he has instructed couples on how to use a distress flare in a classroom environment, and even though they indicated they understood how to use the device, when they faced the class to demonstrate their new knowledge they became flustered. If facing people made them nervous, imagine the stress level during an actual on the water crisis. That’s why it’s so important for boaters and crewmembers to know their flares, but also feel comfortable with them: if not, things can easily turn into chaos during an emergency.

Case in hand: last boating season a Grand Haven boat crew responded to a vessel in distress on Lake Michigan. The coxswain directed the captain to fire off a flare; he did, but unfortunately he fired it off into his overhead canopy. The live flare ricocheted onto the deck and hissed around his feet; fortunately he escaped injury.

Hey, it can happen to anyone, even Coast Guard people. I was aboard a Coast Guard 41-foot utility boat conducting pyrotechnic signal drills when a young inexperienced seaman fired off an Mk 127 parachute flare into the cabin of a nearby 41-foot Coast Guard boat. Ironically, during my watch the other night, I called our Group Operations Center and found Master Chief Harris on watch. He was on the 41-footer that took the renegade flare; although we laughed looking back at it, he said he never hit the deck as fast as he did that night.

I don’t want to give the impression that Coast Guard personnel are careless with pyrotechnics, not at all, my intention is to show that visual distress signals demand your utmost attention and knowledge, especially under stressful conditions. That’s why the Coast Guard takes it people through live pyrotechnic drills sometimes under difficult conditions.

Chief Monck Reed and I discussed the times that we took part in visual distress drills in four-to-six foot seas, while adrift on our backs, at night. From a chest vest housing pyrotechnic devices, we had to remove the devices and fire them off, often through eyes awash with sea spray. The purpose of this drill was to become familiar with the device under adverse conditions. But the real key to the drills was becoming familiar with the device before entering the water. So, what it all comes down to is knowing your flares.

You can readily do this by reviewing the instructions that accompany your Coast Guard approved flares. Take a moment while sitting around your moorings, especially if you have family and friends aboard, to discuss the instructions. What you learn may surprise you, but what you don’t know about your flares may surprise you even more.

For more information, flare manufacturers offer insightful tips on their web sites. You can visit Orion Signals- Marine Safety Products at www.orionsignals.com, or Sky Blazers at www.skyblazer.com Also; the Coast Guard’s Federal Requirements pamphlet addresses visual distress signals. Boat Smart- give the web a visit or call the Coast Guard for their Federal Requirements pamphlet at 800-368-5647. ****

Boat Smart is now on the Internet: www.boatsmart.net (includes Lake Michigan water temperatures and local weather).

Use channel 16 for emergencies, and channel 9 for calling fellow boaters.