We're on! Five awesome days of Etchells racing is about to get underway.

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You have got to make sure everythings in set up right before going out in these conditions. No unnecessary going down the side of the boat sorting things out when at sea.

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Sailing through orca territory isn’t something we take lightly and while preparing this post for you guys, we heard another sailboat calling for help on the radio..How we stay informed and reduce the risk as much as possible: 📍We monitor:• GT Orcas App – To stay updated about interactions, sightings and risk mapping. • www.orcas.pt – MMSI verified fellow sailors for live-updates. • Telegram groups – Live updates from fellow sailors. • Orca Facebook groups - to stay updated. • We listen to channel 16 (as always) and when we here something related to a orca situation we start recording the conversation so we can go back and listen to it again ex. if we didn’t get the position, name of the vessel etc. ⚠️Our precautions:• We have chosen to only sail in daylight – Which sometimes means early mornings to do a long leg. If something were to happen, we rather want to handle it in full visibility than in the dark. • We have chosen to stay in shallow water - inside the 20m depth counter when possible, but still keeping a safe distance from breaking waves and shallow hazards. • We carry a duffel bag full of sand on deck– The most humane way to try and deter orcas, should they approach the rudder. • We maintain constant lookout – For tall dorsal fins, but also for coastal fishing gear when close to shore. • We talk through roles and action plans - so everyone onboard knows what to do in case of an emergency. 🚨Our procedure in case of an orca interaction: 1: Engine on, max speed, turn boat towards shallows and/or land. 2: One person in charge of throwing sand in the water to hopefully prevent the orcas from damaging the rudder. 3: One person in charge of flipping the swimmingladder down in the water and banging it with a hammer to make loud noises in the water to deter the orcas. 4: Other important things is to issue a Pan-Pan call on the vhf, continuous lookout and video documentation of the interaction. N.B that this is simply the way we’ve chosen to handle the situation, not a detailed A–Z guide on how you should proceed. Always make sure to research the specific area you’re sailing in. Stay safe. #orca #sailing #shortoftheday #circumnavigation

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