Bob Knight and I are members of both the GLCC and The Cruising Club of America (CCA).  We both sit on the CCA Safety at Sea Committee as representatives of the Great Lakes Station.  The CCA Safety at Sea Committee has a public website at http://cruisingclub.org/seamanship/seamanship_safety.htm   In this website there is abundant material written by some of the country's leading experts on maritime safety.  It is a very worthwhile endeavor to peruse these articles to improve one's knowledge as to how to choose safety equipment, how to use it, and how to deal with matters when things don't go as planned.  This is good material for winter reading.

Rich Fink