SAIL - April 2015

14

APRIL 2015

FEEDBACK

From the SAIL community

THE NEXT

GENERATION

We live in Columbus,

Ohio, and recently

purchased a Tartan

40 named Willaway.

This is a picture of

our granddaughter,

Caroline Grace,

taking a turn at the

helm. It was taken by

our daughter Danielle

on our first day out.

We were making

final preparations

for our trip north

through the Straits

of Mackinac, down

Lake Huron to Sandusky, Ohio, on Lake Erie. Our daughter, her husband

and their two 2-year-old toddlers who live in Chicago came to see us off.

Caroline loved being on the boat that day, and I think she was quite angry

when we sailed off on our adventure without her!

—Bill Timms, via [email protected]

SAIL Spotlight LIVING THE SAIL LIFE @SAILfeed

In “Rainmaker Abandoned” (posted on

SAILfeed on January 31), Charles J. Doane

recounted the story of Rainmaker, the

Gunboat 55, being dismasted by a 70-knot

whiteout squall approximately 200 miles

southeast of Cape Hatteras. Everyone

onboard was safely evacuated from the vessel

by the U.S. Coast Guard (an experience quite

familiar to Mr. Doane). Here is a sampling of

what our readers had to say:

Thanks goodness crew and brave

Coast Guard got back safely. No

second guessing here. Crew reacted

from their perspective on the event

with human safety in mind and by all

accounts were successful. Kudos all

around. @JosePagan

Is [owner] Brian Cohen going to pay

for his rescue? Leaving the East Coast

in late January is fraught with huge

risks, which he took. ... I’m sorry he

lost his beautiful boat, but we all make

decisions, his was not a good one.

@AndrewBatchelor

The USCG are again the heroes, and

this is one reason we pay taxes. One

thing I always wonder about is why

people don’t leave on the AIS or a

simple SPOT tracker on board so they

can find the boat. I hope they recover

the vessel. @HughMoore

Sorry, I always said it, but for ocean

crossing, I’d rather be on a monohull!

@Ralph

SPICED UP

Susan Meckley’s idea of using

cayenne pepper in her fire

extinguisher (“Pepper Protection,”

January) prompts me to share

another important use for cayenne

pepper: stopping bleeding.

Cayenne pepper, ground into

a powder, is an excellent tool to

have on-board any boat in case of

cuts and bleeding. When applied

externally to a cut, cayenne powder

causes vaso-constriction (blood-

vessel constriction) and cessation of

bleeding—the results are dramatic.

An herbalist taught me this

property of cayenne many years

ago. I have since used this trick

many times over the years with

good effects. Even severe bleeding

will slow or stop in the presence

of cayenne.

I keep a one-pound container

of cayenne powder on my boat

just in case someone gets cut. Of

course, refrain from using cayenne

around the eyes or you will feel the

characteristic burn.—Pam Crow

via [email protected]

Reader Tips SAILORS HELPING SAILORS