On 2/18 I attended a presentation on the book "Overboard!" by Michael Tougias.  The presentation was by the author and Loch Reidy who survived more than 24 hours in the water after being washed overboard during a passage to Bermuda in May 2005.   At the time, I had remarked on my facebook page that there were several things that had run through my mind that they had done wrong.  I take that back, the thing done wrong has its source in one main issue - rushing to leave in order to keep to a schedule.  The need to keep to that schedule led to the captain discounting the potential risk of a low developing into a major storm on the voyage.  It also lead to leaving the black out panels off of the forward windshields in the rush to get underway, one of which smashed and was the source of water in the main cabin that kept filling the boat.  There were many more things that were done right and I really cannot put fault or have any real blame on anyone.  Loch's perseverance in particular is awe inspiring.  How the Coast Guard, Navy and AMVER vessels contributed to Loch's rescue and that of the remaining 3 crew members who were left on the boat is riveting. 

We have all at least felt the temptation to leave because people are waiting for us at a certain place on a certain date.  The main lesson to take away from this is that the decision on when to leave and when to stay in port is the most critical decision you can make for the safety of your boat and crew.  We saw that with the story of "Triple Stars" a year and a half ago.  There are other lessons in the book that we could all benefit from - such as how the wind wants to rip a life raft away from a boat once its deployed.

The book is very well written and a quick read.  I highly recommend it!

http://www.msc.navy.mil/sealift/2005/june/seay.htm

There is a complete list of lessons learned assembled by the author that can be found at this site:

http://www.soundingsonline.com/news/home-waters/101-new-england/253002-almeisans-lessons