There have ben some sad days here on the Chesapeake Bay.  Several days ago, a local publisher, Philip Merrill, was sailing on his 42' sailboat.  The day was blustry with winds in the 25k+ range.  But Merrill was, by all reports, an experienced single hander.  He had been sailing The Bay since he was 7 years old.  There were small craft advisories out but he was experienced and his boat was more than capable.  So out he went.  He was to sail a loop of about 17 miles.  Somewhere in that loop tradgey struck.  Merrill either fell off his boat or was knocked off by the boom.  Either way, he ended up in the chilly 62 ° water, that was on Saturday June 10th.  Later that evening his boat was found drifting in the shallows with no one aboard.  A exhausting search was mounted.  When I went sailing on Sunday the 11th I saw the large US Coast Guard C-130 Hercules, usually reserved for long range search and rescue, this plane was searching my small corner of The Bay.  In my 30+ years of sailing these waters, I have never seen such a search.  And of course there were countless small craft searching at the same time.  On Monday the 12th the search and rescue was changed to a search and ecovery as he was presumed dead.  A week later his body was found floating near Popluar Island, a small island chain just a few miles from my own West River and 11½ miles form where his boat was discovered. 

So, why do I take the time to report this information about a fellow sailor I did not know and never even met or even saw?  Because first, it was a tradgidy on the sea and as sailors it hurts us all when one of us is taken.  But more to the point I am writing to help remind my fellow sailors around the world not to be complacement.  Mr Merrill was not wearing a life jacket (PFD here in the US).  And he obviously did not have a tether either.  Both might have saved him and both should have been 2nd nature for a solor sailor.  When his boat was found the Coast Guard investigated his boat the first thing they checked was his GPS, which was NOT on.  The CG was interested in his GPS to see if there was a drastic change in course and a possible place for the incident.  So, as a third precaution, turn on that GPS to help locate you if you do fall off. And lastly, his portable, Handheld VHF was in the cabin.  If he had it on his belt when he went over the sid he could have used it to summon help.

We all love sailing and it is a relatively safe sport, but when we get lazy and not viligant, we may pay the ultimate price as did Mr Merril.  I know that some will say it may be a romantic way to go, persuing your life passion, but I think it is better to live to sail another day.

Joe McCary

Aeolus

West River, MD

An Update.  After writing and posting the above, the news in our area announced that Merrill's death was a suicide.  It seems he tied a small anchor around his feet and then shot himself in the head with a shotgun!

So, my last line seems even more fitting, live to sail another day!