Comments on: Safety at Sea http://www.weliveonaboat.com/2006/05/safety-at-sea.html Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:42:43 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: EVK4 http://www.weliveonaboat.com/2006/05/safety-at-sea.html/comment-page-1#comment-42 EVK4 Fri, 09 Jun 2006 20:46:00 +0000 http://www.weliveonaboat.com/index.php/2006/05/safety-at-sea.html#comment-42 Not doing MOB practice could actually create a leak in your black box... Not doing MOB practice could actually create a leak in your black box…

]]> By: Strathy http://www.weliveonaboat.com/2006/05/safety-at-sea.html/comment-page-1#comment-41 Strathy Sun, 04 Jun 2006 03:20:00 +0000 http://www.weliveonaboat.com/index.php/2006/05/safety-at-sea.html#comment-41 Thanks for the comment. Working on the 'you' would certainly add credits to your black box. For instance taking a first aid course. Not only would it give you knowledge on how to deal with a specific emergency but it would hopefully present you with emergency scenarios which will help prepare you mentally for when an actual emergency arises. I suppose we can never know how we will react when we find ourselves in a real emergency situation, but hopefully the training (mental and physical) will take over.<br/><br/>Thanks for the recommendation to "Deep Survival". I will read it. Thanks for the comment. Working on the ‘you’ would certainly add credits to your black box. For instance taking a first aid course. Not only would it give you knowledge on how to deal with a specific emergency but it would hopefully present you with emergency scenarios which will help prepare you mentally for when an actual emergency arises. I suppose we can never know how we will react when we find ourselves in a real emergency situation, but hopefully the training (mental and physical) will take over.

Thanks for the recommendation to “Deep Survival”. I will read it.

]]> By: C. Alexander Leigh http://www.weliveonaboat.com/2006/05/safety-at-sea.html/comment-page-1#comment-40 C. Alexander Leigh Sat, 27 May 2006 02:08:00 +0000 http://www.weliveonaboat.com/index.php/2006/05/safety-at-sea.html#comment-40 While I have not heard the black-box analogy before, the idea that systemic failure is the accumulation of small risks to a critical point rather than the result of a single large factor is common in human factors and survival.<br/><br/>What the black-box theory glosses over is the distinction between objective and subjective risks; it understands that both type of risk count against you, but these risks come from different places and are mitigated in different ways. Parties confusing the two have caused plenty of disaster over the years. <br/><br/>It's always better to successfully mitigate every risk ahead of time and not get into trouble; but I am totally unqualified to tell you how to do that on a sailboat (my experience is in the back-country and in engineering and business).<br/><br/>I will suggest another facet, though. When you do cash out of that black-box and something does go wrong, another (and the most important) factor comes into direct play: you. What you do and how you do it in the face of a volatile situation is key to your survival, and those who look to you as a leader. As an introduction into these concepts, I recommend “Deep Survival” by Laurence Gonzales. While I have not heard the black-box analogy before, the idea that systemic failure is the accumulation of small risks to a critical point rather than the result of a single large factor is common in human factors and survival.

What the black-box theory glosses over is the distinction between objective and subjective risks; it understands that both type of risk count against you, but these risks come from different places and are mitigated in different ways. Parties confusing the two have caused plenty of disaster over the years.

It’s always better to successfully mitigate every risk ahead of time and not get into trouble; but I am totally unqualified to tell you how to do that on a sailboat (my experience is in the back-country and in engineering and business).

I will suggest another facet, though. When you do cash out of that black-box and something does go wrong, another (and the most important) factor comes into direct play: you. What you do and how you do it in the face of a volatile situation is key to your survival, and those who look to you as a leader. As an introduction into these concepts, I recommend “Deep Survival” by Laurence Gonzales.

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