In Lin and Larry Pardey’s excellent book Storm Tactics, there is a quote from veteran Coast Guard rescue swimmer Mario Vittone. Mr Vittone says, “In my line of work, I have pulled dozens of people off their boat for the last time. Never have I seen (or heard of) anyone needing rescue from a vessel that was properly hove-to with or without a para anchor”. The key words here are ‘never’ and ‘properly’. If you have followed the advice in this book, you already have a boat that will heave-to ‘properly’. Wouldn’t it be great to practice the technique until the word ‘never’ also applied to you?
