Falling overboard - how to disable autopilot

[bensolomon]

The **** was shot.

[Emouchet]

Falling overboard and dying... This is not that dramatic if this is while doing something you love

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Have you guys never noticed.. there's not a single solo sailor that's proved any off these gimmicks work.. in real life..
Or if he has he's keeping quiet about it..

The guy who sailed US to England in 1962 in Tinkerbell, wrote that he was washed overboard 4 (or 6?) times in heavy seas with a simple tether attached but pulled himself back aboard. Of course Tinkerbelle was tiny...

[hellosailor]

Doc-
If he was lying ahull, which would be logical in a tiny boat in a storm, it wouldn't be running away from him the way anything under sail in normal conditions might be.
Last time I saw numbers about being towed in the water....even when divers with "sleds" and face masks are being towed to survey the bottom, they don't exceed one or two knots. Someone at the surface can literally drown in their own bow wave once you get above that speed.
But hey, if someone wants to try rope-surfing solo at sea and post the results on YouTube...it will be entertaining.

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Doc-
If he was lying ahull, which would be logical in a tiny boat in a storm, it wouldn't be running away from him the way anything under sail in normal conditions might be.
Last time I saw numbers about being towed in the water....even when divers with "sleds" and face masks are being towed to survey the bottom, they don't exceed one or two knots. Someone at the surface can literally drown in their own bow wave once you get above that speed.
But hey, if someone wants to try rope-surfing solo at sea and post the results on YouTube...it will be entertaining.

thats true
and why you need to stop the boat

[Viking Sailor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Oh I thought about it a lot back in the 80's as a day/weekend sailor..
But later I went out there and saw/experienced the realities, so stopped thinking stupid unworkable thoughts.. so far so good..
Do you honestly think anyone could recover then swim fast enough to grab a 150ft trailing line after falling of a boat doing 5kts dressed like this..
If you do.. you need to give up the LSD..

Just because you were unable to come up with a workable solution doesn't mean that someone else isn't up to the challenge.

There is a well known cruising couple that proudly stated that they didn't have lifelines on their boat. They believed that it made them safer by making them more aware of the risk of going overboard. Were they smart or stupid? They cruised all over the world. So, for them, they were smart!

My best advice to staying safe and onboard is to mentally stay in the present. At all times be aware of what is happening around you, know what your next move will be, and what can go wrong NOW.

ps: Disagreeing with you doesn't make someone a drug user.

[Mr B]

I would suggest that in most cases of MOB the wind would be above 10 knots,
Even if you could stop the boat dead, or even getting it to go around in circles,

The Windage on the boat would have it travelling at a faster pace than you could swim towards it, Let alone get back aboard it,

A Cat, Yes you could get back aboard as the transom steps are low to the waterline and have rails and wires you can get a hold off, Or even the ladder on the back steps,
My Cat, dragging the drive leg and no sails up, Still manages 5 to 12 knots, In any wind above 10 knots,

Most yachts I have seen its a vertical wall,
Well above grabbing hold of any thing,
Travelling at sea, Nothing would be hanging over the side to grab hold of,

To be realistic, How many people could actually pull them selves up a trailing rope,
They would be extremely tired from pulling themselves along a trailing rope behind the boat,
If they could pull themselves along a trailing rope any way,
Above five knots, Your dreaming,

MOB, Is not in a dead calm sea with no wind, Then you might have a chance,

Throw a sealed container over board, and see how far you sail away from it with all sails down, Bare masts, In ten knots of wind or above, Or even five knots of wind,

Most sailors are not Olympic Athletes, Cant swim fast, cant climb ropes vertically,
I personally cant,

Even the racing sailors have difficulty getting the MOB back on the boat with three or four crew dragging them back onboard, And they are trained for it,