I really wish reporters for local media would ask a few simple questions about boating rescues they report on - so that rest of us could draw out the moral of the story. After all, we can learn a lot about boating safety by seeing what has gone wrong with others. But so often, as in yesterday's rescue of three young kids in a drifting sailboat, while the father was found walking on the beach, their lack of relevant questions leaves us wondering, frankly, what the hell happened here?

Yesterday's report concerned a 25-foot sailboat adrift off Boca Grande in "treacherous waters" with three children, the oldest 12 years old, aboard without any adults. The boat drifted "from shore" leaving the father stranded on the beach. But what really happened? Had they been anchored and dad swam or waded to shore, leaving his kids alone on the boat - and then watched it drag anchor and drift away? The rescuer is quoted as saying they cut the anchor rode, which "which had gotten hung up on something under the water." But if it was snagged, why was the boat drifting? I'm rather flabbergasted - is this a story about failure to anchor well - or blatant disregard for child safety and boating safety? Maybe there will be updated stories to let us know, or maybe like so many boating stories in the media, we're left only with our imaginations about how somebody could mess up so badly in a boat!

An article in the May issue of Soundings magazine contains a terrifying story of a 38-foot trawler, with all needed safety equipment aboard, that was lost at sea in the Atlantic south of Florida when its prop and rudder became fouled by the tow line to the dinghy. As a storm blew up and the trawler surfed waves downwind, the towline forcibly ripped the towing eye from the dinghy. The line shot forward, the boat was bounced down on the line, and the prop and then the rudder were fouled. Without steerage, the boat drifted broadside to the waves and took a pounding, starting to break up and requiring the fortunate rescue of all crew.

Captain Wes DeMott, an experienced boater, describes how he could have prevented the incident by stowing his dinghy on deck. He does not mention whether he was using a floating tow line, which might have been less likely to snag the prop. It's essential to consider all your options for towing or otherwise managing a dinghy when cruising, and it's also essential to be able to free a fouled prop quickly caught in any line. Speaking as one who once caught an invisible lobster pot warp and had to dive beneath the boat to free the prop, I'm very aware of the need for urgent action. Whether the right gear, planning, and foresight might have helped DeMott save his boat cannot be known, but we should all be aware of this risk and have a plan in mind in case it happens.

And I don't mean "geezers" disrespectfully - indeed, I love stories like this. An 85-year-old and three crew from 56 to 61 just sailed from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean on a 39-foot raft constructed from lengths of pipe and powered by a 400-square-foot sail. It took them about 2 months for the crossing, during which no doubt they had the time of their lives. Anthony Smith, who conceived the voyage and built the sailing raft, said he'd dreamed of the crossing since boyhood - say, seven or eight decades! While they were fundraising for the British nonprofit WaterAid, they also wanted to demonstrate that old guys are quite capable of undertaking great adventures. Said Smith upon their arrival in St. Maarten, "What else do you do when you get on in years?" I hope I'm saying exactly the same thing when I reach his age!

I'm hearing more and more sailors saying they're moving to navigation using an iPad, iPhone, or other device instead of a traditional dedicated chartplotter. While I'd never trust one of these as the only means of navigation aboard, navigational apps certainly have a lot to offer, including a much lower cost if you already have the device. For one low price you get all the NOAA charts you need (raster or vector, depending on the app) without having to buy proprietary chart cards or CDs. The GPS in most iDevices is fairly good for routine navigation, and if you want more precision you can add an external GPS such as found in the Magellan waterproof case for iPhones. In addition to the standard navigational functions offered by plotters and handheld mapping GPS units, these apps often include a lot of extras that take advantage of your connectivity, such as weather and photos of harbors. Some also incorporate the ActiveCaptain information about marinas and anchorages.

Navigational apps worth considering include PocketNav from MemoryMap (my favorite, using precise and informative raster charts), Charts and Tides which incorporates the ActiveCaptain cruising guide, and Navionics' Marine and Lakes Boating GPS. If you happen to choose one that does not include tides, I'd recommend AyeTides as the best of many apps providing information about tides, currents, sun rise and set, etc. These are exciting times for sailing apps - which can add an extra layer of information and fun to your sailing.