Hurricane Irma, one of the ten most potent Atlantic Ocean storms ever recorded, roared into the Lesser Antilles. The first islands hit by the storm were scenes of terrible destruction. On Barbuda, nearly every building was damaged when Irma crossed directly over the island early morning Wed 6 Sep. On St. Martin homes were splintered by fierce 185-mph winds. Waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters) slammed into Turks and Caicos Islands.

Compared to Hurricane Andrew, which devastated large parts of South Florida in 1992, Irma’s hurricane-force winds are 2.2 times in area with 5 times the storm surge force. Irma’s total wind energy (112 terajoules) is 7.5 times as powerful as Andrew’s (15 terajoules), making it very similar to Hurricane Katrina’s power (116 terajoules) in 2005.

Here at ASA, we have been trying to contact our 63 affiliate schools and clubs in the Caribbean, South Florida, and the Bahamas with great concern.

Of our 39 ASA-affiliates in the Caribbean, those in the Windward Islands south of Dominica reported feeling the wave and wind effects of Irma but suffered little or no damage. As a precaution, some boats were moved into more protected waters before the storm’s approach.

And yet, other affiliates within this region incurred little or no damage and consider themselves lucky. But then, following in Irma's wake may be Hurricane Jose, with some of the islands already hit hardest by Irma also in Jose’s projected path.

Most of what we do at ASA is handle information. By sharing this information, we are looking for ways to assist our affiliates and for them to assist each other. Often times, we know, our affiliates find themselves in competition with one and another. But in times like these, perhaps we could work together in ways to co-ordinate assistance among affiliates, both before and after any future event such as this one occurs.

In this spirit, one of our affiliates, Seahorse Sailing School in Grenada, has reportedly filled one of its boats with supplies and is now travelling north to help other affiliates in the Leeward Islands and Greater Antilles. We will continue to monitor the situation, as we remain concerned about what ASA can do to ease the recovery.

With so much attention focused recently on Hurricane Irma, we have not forgotten about our affiliates in Texas and hurricane Harvey. Harvey, the first major hurricane (Category 3+) to achieve landfall in the continental United States since Wilma in 2005, impacted south-central Texas on Friday 25 Aug with 130-mph winds. By Tuesday over four feet of rain, more than a year’s worth, had fallen on Houston, breaching two flood-control reservoirs, and depressing the earth’s crust in the area by 2 centimeters. Harvey may exceed Katrina as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Yet, surprisingly, in a canvass of our 8 affiliate schools and clubs from Houston to Corpus Christi, the news is good. Everyone weathered the storm with very little or no damage. This is a credit to our affiliates in coastal Texas who have experienced major hurricanes before and know how to prepare for them. Of course, the same professionalism exists with our affiliates in the Caribbean, but it was not possible to prepare entirely for a storm the magnitude of Irma. 

If these storms continue to be bigger and stronger, whether more frequent or not, more rain and rising sea levels will exacerbate storm surge. Harvey is the largest U.S. flooding rainstorm ever. With no plans in place anywhere to install or update sea level infrastructure, coastal areas will experience increased flooding.

So, wind and water, two things we treasure as sailors, may increasingly prove to be our adversaries unless together we can somehow devise ways to withstand their increased advances.

It is pretty easy to show students how to decode the chart symbols for night sailing. The color and flashing of the lights are logical, the symbols are consistent, and the differences between a mark and a buoy are easily understood. 

Typically, the marks and buoys on your local chart are reviewed as examples, and the need for awareness in case of night sailing is stressed. When doing this exercise there is a realization that the color of the light is the same as the color of the buoy. Usually this is apparent without even being told.

The Preferred Channel Buoy, however, presents problems. It has two colors, and it is usually not on most local charts when teaching the night configurations. As a result, it is easily overlooked, and most students, unless specifically informed, will presume that a Preferred Channel Buoy has both green and red lights. The results of an inexperienced real-world misinterpretation can be imagined.

As we Instructors all know, the Composite Group Flashing (2+1) is 2 quick flashes then 1 flash of ONE color light the same as the top color of the buoy. (See Diagram) So, when teaching the night configurations, it is probably a good idea to make sure that they are aware of the colors exception and will correctly seek and interpret the color and flashing of the buoy. You might even get a “Thank You” email someday.

Recently, we have received inquiries from parents who want to enroll their children of ages 16, 14, 12 years, and even younger into the ASA 101, 103, 104 sequence of classes.

There is no written policy at ASA regarding age restrictions for enrollment into ASA classes, neither at the low nor high end. ASA leaves it to each of its affiliate schools and clubs to decide. But, it is a topic that has been discussed at ASA over the years and the unpublished consensus is that age eighteen is probably the youngest age for which any attempt at certification would be appropriate. Age 18 is the minimum age required for ASA instructors, although it is not a hard age limit for our students.

However, in 35 years of teaching since ASA was founded in 1983, instructors have indicated that referential context, experience, vocabulary, teaching technique, and attention span may be issues with students younger than 18. This can lead to imbalanced explanation times and skills practice, prolonging and impacting all students in the class. Also, there can be legal issues with waivers and liabilities.

In the end, it is a judgment call that each ASA affiliate school and club has to make, and their decisions will likely vary from school to school and club to club.

With the recent passage of mandatory boater education legislation in California, ASA has received several inquiries about whether or not ASA certification includes getting a “state boater card.”

Currently, no ASA course qualifies for the mandatory state boater education in any state or territory. The main reasons for this are the variances among states and the fact that the standard that forms the basis for mandatory boater education is for powerboating, not sailing.

Mandatory state boater education courses are based upon an American National Standard (ANS) created by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) Education Standards Panel (ESP) titled ANSI/NASBLA 103-2016 Basic Boating Knowledge - Power, more simply known as the "Powerboating ANS”. 

While most of the topics in the Powerboating ANS do apply to sailboats and are included within the ASA Standards, (e.g. anchoring, required equipment, rules of the road, USATONS, etc), there are other topics (e.g. jet skis, diving, snorkeling, water skiing, hunting, fishing, etc) that are outside the scope of the ASA Standards.

Some ASA affiliates and instructors have suggested that the ASA 101 Standard should include such content as to allow an ASA 101 course participant to receive a state boater card. The summary description for the ASA 101 Standard is:

“Able to skipper a sloop-rigged keelboat of approximately 20 to 27 feet in length by day in light to moderate winds (up to 15 knots) and sea conditions. Knowledge of basic sailing terminology, parts and functions, helm commands, basic sail trim, points of sail, buoyage, seamanship and safety including basic navigation rules to avoid collisions and hazards. Auxiliary power operation is not required.”

To get any of the existing ASA courses approved to comply with the Powerboating ANS would require changes to the ASA Standards and a strategic shift away from sailing into general boating to include powerboating. In addition, there would need to be a conformity assessment performed by NASBLA for each state.

In February 2017, a new ANS for sailing titled ANSI/NASBLA 102-2017: Basic Boating Knowledge - Sail was published. Currently, no state has mandatory sailing education although the possibility exists that future legislation may be enacted.

A table showing a summary of state mandatory education laws may be found at https://www.nasbla.org/education/mandatory-education. For individuals who need a state boater card in any state, the easiest and least expensive way to get a card is by taking a course through providers such as BoaterExam.

The cost and time commitment to complete these courses are very reasonable, and US Powerboating is reportedly offering a free California boater card for a period of time. ASA affiliate schools may be able to generate additional incremental revenue by offering study/prep courses covering the required powerboating items in order to help their students complete mandatory state boater education.

A table showing a summary of state mandatory education laws may be found at https://www.nasbla.org/education/mandatory-education. For individuals who need a state boater card in any state, the easiest and least expensive way to get a card is by taking a course through providers such as BoaterExam.

The cost and time commitment to complete these courses are very reasonable, and US Powerboating is reportedly offering a free California boater card for a period of time. ASA affiliate schools may be able to generate additional incremental revenue by offering study/prep courses covering the required powerboating items in order to help their students complete mandatory state boater education.