Has anyone ever deployed their man overboard pole? Are they becoming obsolete?

[Dave22q]

I keep an 8' pole with ribbon flags weighted to float upright. It is on a line with my horseshoe preserver with a float on the bitter end. The line is 50' poly so it floats. Long length so the MOB has better odds of getting to it and ease the eventual pick up. It has always seemed to me that a MOB rig has to combine flotation, visibility and easy access to have a chance of working. If I did much night sailing would add a strobe. Not sure a drogue would work and plan to experiment some. Anybody out there experimented with this?

[Hydra]

I have a telescoping danbuoy with orange flag and light, connected to the life buoy by 30m of thin floating line. My operating concept is: throw the lifebuoy as close as possible to the MOB then throw the danbuoy. The 30m of line give 10s at 6kts to release the danbuoy before dragging the lifebuoy. The MOB's mission is to catch the lifebuoy, then pull on the line and deploy the danbuoy.

Alain

[seabreez]

Originally Posted by TKDSailor

I see less and less of these on boats nowadays, and was wondering if these have been thought of as obsolete, given the advent of one button MOB on GPS chart plotters, flashing strobe lights on life jackets, etc. I still see where these could be beneficial for a sailing couple. Has anyone attached it to their Lifesling? I was thinking about doing this, because if I went overboard my wife could pick up the pole and I would already be attached to it (that is, if she DID turn around, and didn't run over the floating line!). Any experiences, thoughts?

I operated a rescue boat for years and used the man overboard pole, bouy, every time there was a man over rescue. We would drop it in at the last known position. This would give us a sense of the direction of the current and speed. On our pole we had a banner and had a telephone number to call, the date of the rescue, the time and instructions to leave this marker floating and not to tamper with it. While doing pattern searching we tried to keep an eye on it and we had it stolen twice. I suspect dumb boater who did not know what a man overboard bouy took it. We never replaced it...

[mowerandy]

Don't forget to make sure that your flag and/or pole are retro-reflective. We have an old Dan-bouy and I just added this important accessory.
Our lifebouys (hard ring type) both have drogues BTW, but not the danbouy (pole).
Never deployed either by necessity.

[Don C L]

Used to practice with kids, throwing the cushions over on a windy day with lots of whitecaps... it is amazing how fast you can lose sight of something at water level, even if it is bright orange, and cushions or rings can get blown away by the wind or surfed away by breakers and get out of the MOB's reach. The pole stays pretty much in place and stays pretty visible for a long time.

[gamayun]

I've never deployed one (and hope I never have to), but they're still required for races offshore San Francisco Bay....

[belizesailor]

Never deployed mine "in anger", but have used it a lot for training. As others have posted, it makes a huge difference for visibility. Mine has an automatic strobe attached which dramatically helps with night time visibility. Ive used it many times for night MOB drills.

If I were OB at night, I sure would feel better about the possibility of recovery with the pole & strobe in the water.

[sck5]

I was taught to throw the pole as well as any and everything that floats overboard when someone goes in the drink. The theory is that it is much easier to find a debris field than any single object. And finding a person is about as easy as finding a floating coconut - only your head shows above water.

[louielouie]

While on charter, captain mentioned throw anything over that creates a debris field in addition to.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by sck5

I was taught to throw the pole as well as any and everything that floats overboard when someone goes in the drink. The theory is that it is much easier to find a debris field than any single object. And finding a person is about as easy as finding a floating coconut - only your head shows above water.

A cooler without the drinks might be one of the first things to go in the drink.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Guys, absolutely do not connect a Lifesling to an MOB pole (& or, horseshoe). You'll totally destroy the efficacy of both. As they're each designed for entirely different purposes.
Think about it, even in the dark, a Lifesling's pretty easy to locate. Since at most it's 3-4 boat lengths away... on a tether no less. And towing the pole will cause it to lay flat on the water's surface, or be dragged around below it. Rendering it useless/worthless.

Poles are a necessity, like fire extingushers, not optional, nor luxuries. Given that at night, with just a 2m swell running, & a strobe attached to the pole, it can be damned hard to find the thing. Even when you "know" it's position. Think about how easy it is to lose sight of an entire boat in the daytime, if it's but a few swells away. So you need all the help you can get to find that crew.

Electronics seem neat, & have a place, but there are distinct limitations. For example, can you simultaneously; watch the MOB, drive the boat, handle sails & the engine, as well as watch watch a (night night vision destroying) screen?


An MOB situation is obviously serious, one for which getting quality training in dealing with it is invaluable. Both in terms of how to locate & pick up an MOB, & what to do (& not do) when you are one: In order to maximize your chances of rescue, & to boost your longevity while in the water.

I’ve had, & conducted extensive training on both. Professionally. And having had it, can’t imagine not. As until you do, you don’t realize it’s value, the dangers inherent to MOB situations/water ops, & what to do/not do during them. For example, in the pool training with emergency equipment offered as part of Safety At Sea Seminars/training. Including how tough such drills are for some, or rather many-most. Even in controlled situations in a swimming pool. Which begins to open up a lot of insight into what goes on (or doesn’t) inside of people’s heads in such situations.

An MOB pole with the following is crucial; flag, SOLAS reflectors (on flag, & the pole, etc.), horseshoe, strobe (preferably elevated on the pole), drogue, cylume light sticks, a signal mirror & or laser pointer.
You need to be able to have the whole kit reliably self launch with the pull of a remote lanyard. Either that, or have an MOM with the equivalent of the above noted accessory kit in with it.
Brackets purpose designed for holding this gear, & launching it thusly, used to be commonly available. Though I don’t much see them anymore since the creation of MOM’s, sadly. But they’re not too tough to build.

I’ve had an inflatable belt pack life jacket since ’92, with most of the above is tucked into it. Specifically; a signal mirror, cylume light sticks, knife, & whistle. Plus there’s SOLAS tape all over it. And I always carry a flashlight, & 2nd knife with me, 24/7. Addiitionally, there’s a strobe, & laser flare/pointer on my safety harness. Per SAR training going back many decades.

PS: Lifeslings are more than worth the coin. But be sure to routinely check the strength of the line(s) in them, & replace it regularly. As polypro is fairly vampire like when it comes to UV.

Also, the reason for both a strobe, as well as a solid, non-blinking light source, is that strobes are great for grabbing your attention, & guiding you to the general area. But up "close" tend to be disorienting, including screwing up your depth perception at night. Enough so that it's tough to pin down the exact position of the pole & light. Thus the light sticks, or constant on light.

Signal mirrors, & laser pointers are great for allowing the MOB to directly signal the rescuer. Including providing a precise directionality to where the MOB is located for the ship's crew. They work for aircraft too, at least initially to grab their attention. But after that can be kinda' hazardous to the pilot's vision.


NOTE, Here are some other threads on the topic:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ff-177686.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ete-96483.html

[Paul L]

So far in this thread one person said they used a pole in anger, but didn't list any details. If we are talking a crewed delivery or a crewed race boat, the pole might be helpful. On a typical Mom and Pop cruising boat I don't see them as very practical. Another one of the safety items that sound like they are a requirement but not really going to do anything for you when you are left with one crew that is probably below deck.

You can purchase a personal AIS/DSC Mob device that mounts on a harness/pfd for less than a pole and mount. These will blast off the DSC alarm on your boat and close by boats as well as deliver an updated GPS position to a chart plotter via AIS.

[Hydra]

I believe in "layered defence": harness + tether + inflatable PFD + AIS PLB, lifebuoy + MOB pole, life sling, stern ladder, lifting tackle, paramedic training.

The harness+tether is supposed to prevent falling overboard but things happen: in case of a sudden problem on deck, one could forget to don the harness and fasten the tether.

The AIS PLB is supposed to broadcast a position but activation in case of an unconscious MOB isn't 100% assured. And it has to be carried to be effective.

Then, a MOB pole could increase the chances of being found quickly, before being rescued.

Alain

[Cadence]

The biggest concern with someone going in the drink, is those on deck panicking.