Junior sailors coached on preparing for emergencies

First things first: When it comes to a fire, call for help.

That’s the advice Shelter Island Fire Chief John D’Amato gave to youths in the junior sailing program Monday morning at the Shelter Island Yacht Club. Whether the fire is in a building or on a boat and whether or not you think you can extinguish it yourself, first call for help, the chief advised.

Firefighters won’t get angry if they come out and find out you have successfully extinguished the blaze and they also have equipment to check further to ensure there are no possible embers that might flare up.

“If you wait too long, that’s when you get in trouble,” the chief said about delaying that call to the fire department. He also advised the young sailors to be familiar with the equipment they have. Fire extinguishers are labeled according to the types of fires they can handle, whether fueled by wood, flammable liquid, electricity or metal. To burn, a fire needs oxygen, fuel and heat and if you take away any of the three, the fire will be extinguished he said.

On the beach overlooking Dering Harbor, the youths took turns with extinguishers, as Chief D’Amato guided them to shoot below the flames and to sweep the hose from side to side.

When trying to extinguish a fire yourself, it’s important to always have an escape and that you’re not boxing yourself into a corner where you can’t get out, the chief said.

This is the second successive year the emergency training has been taught at the Yacht Club. Last summer, Shelter Island was part of trial program to bring the fire safety program to various yacht clubs. Now the training is a mandatory part of the junior sailing program, according to Ken Wright, who’s a former Yacht Club trustee and chairman of the junior sailing program that is run by Jeff Bresnahan.

“These kids will never forget now and they’ll train their parents,” Mr. Wright said about the hands-on training program.

Following the session on the beach, the group convened inside the clubhouse for lessons on how to prepare to deal with sudden incidents of high wind that could hit when they’re at sea.

The first lesson is if it’s obvious winds are going to be severe, don’t go out, said Robert Behringer of the Storm Trysail Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to support the education of young sailors. But if you are out when a squall threatens, be prepared. Know where emergency equipment is kept and how it works. Practice methods of dealing with heavy weather and be sure to not only wear life jackets, but to tether yourself to the boat and lower sails.

The youths also got some instruction from Trysail trainer Richard du Moulin on how to handle rescues of sailors who fall overboard.