Winter is the best time to check, repair and replace personal safety equipment. Interparus will tell you what to pay attention to.
Personal yachting safety equipment is more than a one-time purchase. The effectiveness of these tools directly depends on how familiar the yachtsman is with their operating principles and regular maintenance.
In many articles on our website, we make a key emphasis on the fact that safety is the key to a successful cruise. As practice shows, the off-season is a great time to check or update the crew's personal safety equipment. But what should you pay primary attention to?
This article is adapted from Cruising World's "Year-Round Safety" by Ralph Naranjo.
Off-season, yachting, equipment
The onset of winter usually means that most yachtsmen are putting their yachts on hold and going ashore. Regardless of how exactly yours the yacht went into winter storage, time spent on land should be spent usefully. The first task is to prepare rescue and safety equipment for the next yachting season.

Consider replacing old, worn-out gear and upgrading your entire kit. Our goal is to have reliable, functional and comfortable safety gear on board that you can wear for a long period of time. Remember, it is not about style or fashion, but about durability and longevity. The main criteria when choosing safety gear should be:
- Efficiency – the selected equipment model must function properly in any situation.
- Protection – When it comes to clothing, it is important that it provides adequate protection against hypothermia.
- Visibility and Brightness – All rescue and safety equipment should have reflective elements and be brightly coloured to make it easier to find a person in the dark.
- Comfort – the chosen equipment should not restrict the yachtsman’s movement.
All these criteria are valid for cruises of any complexity, as well as for regattas or extreme types of sailing.
Features of life jackets
The main symbol of rescue equipment is life jackets. The most pernicious misconception is also connected with them. It is that a life jacket that has not been used for its intended purpose can be considered new and its maintenance can be ignored. This is a myth that is dangerous to life!
Even if the life jacket was kept under deck the whole time, this does not exclude the harmful effect of high humidity on the rubber or other material it is made of. What can we say about life jackets used once or twice and thrown into a locker.

The best way to ensure the reliability of your life jacket is to strictly follow the manufacturer's maintenance instructions. If there are no instructions included, the Internet will come to the rescue.
A few words about life jackets and statistics
There have been many studies on the performance and effectiveness of life jackets. And although their necessity is recognized in 100% cases, you do not always hear about problems with their performance. Thus, the author of the original article, Ralph Naranjo, cites the following figures based on the assessment of safety experts and yacht instructors:
From 5 to 11% of all yacht inflatable life jackets are defective and do not work properly.
As Ralph himself notes, “If these statistics were applicable to airplanes, many more people would prefer to travel by train.” Fortunately, there are ways to check in advance.
Checking the inflatable life jacket
Start by checking the straps and clips for wear, cracks, corrosion. The life jacket should be opened after removing the auxiliary equipment. This usually includes a strobe light and AIS beacons, which should also be checked in test mode.

If the life jacket is automatic, check the gas supply mechanism for damage and corrosion. Inflate the jacket by mouth and leave it overnight in a temperature-controlled environment. The next morning, check the jacket for problems with the seams, whether water has accumulated, etc. If there are obvious problems with the seams, do not try to patch them yourself, even if you have experience with seams on rubber boats or bicycle inner tubes. Replace the life jacket.
Types of inflatable life jackets and methods of testing them
Globally, life jackets can be divided into three types:
- manual;
- automatic with water-soluble capsule;
- automatic with hydrostatic self-inflating system.
In the case of manual inflatable vests, the activation procedure is performed by the user. The yachtsman pulls the cord, which activates the gas cylinder, which inflates the vest. For this type of life jacket, it is necessary to check the condition of the cord and the gas cylinder.
Automatic life jackets with a water-soluble capsule, as the name suggests, are equipped with a special capsule that reacts with water, activating the gas cylinder mechanism. These capsules can harden over time and under the influence of high humidity, and therefore become less susceptible to dissolution. Regular replacement is recommended for such life jackets - often annually.
Automatic hydrostatic life jackets respond to small pressure changes when the jacket is submerged in water. The hydrostatic element must be in full contact with the water to activate the jacket, which sometimes results in failure to activate at shallow depths. Most of these jackets also have a manual activation feature, which corrects the situation.
There is a piece of wisdom in the US Coast Guard that says that any automatic vest should be treated like a manual vest with additional automatic backup activation function. Train yourself to immediately pull the manual inflation cord. If the automatic system beats you to it, that's great, but if the automatic system fails, no problem, you've already activated the vest.
Practice in handling rescue equipment
Regardless of the type of life-saving equipment, the key to success is constant practice. Even before going out to sea, you should know how exactly your particular life jacket works, how to give a distress signal, how to activate a personal beacon in case of falling overboard.

One of the best ways to learn these essential skills is to practice these maneuvers in a controlled environment. There are regular water safety seminars and courses for yachtsmen held throughout Europe and the United States. These classes allow you to practice any situation under the supervision of experienced instructors.
Yes, such seminars remain only an imitation, but without them in a real dangerous situation there is a high probability of getting confused. Try whistles, study the principle of operation of a strobe light, learn how to independently adjust the straps of a life jacket and activate an AIS beacon in controlled conditions. Hard in training - easy in battle.
The off-season is the time to hone your skills before the new sailing season. Remember the importance of safety on board your yacht.
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30.01.2025
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