Man Overboard with Auto Pilot Engaged!

[Lizzy Belle]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Oh lizzy, I know, but look at the DRAMA of the enlarged text.

Originally Posted by Therapy

I want them to put their "whatever" where their "mouth" (or text) is.

Originally Posted by boatman61

But he'll never make it back to a moving boat..

Nope, he won't. I'm just afraid he might actually try it.
Which is ok, we did too (see earlier posts) but ... we had rescue swimmers etc. with us, and professional trainers.

If he's just jumping overboard with the wife at the helm ... That could / will end badly.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Lizzy Belle

Nope, he won't. I'm just afraid he might actually try it.
Which is ok, we did too (see earlier posts) but ... we had rescue swimmers etc. with us, and professional trainers.

If he's just jumping overboard with the wife at the helm ... That could / will end badly.

Lizzy,
We did it in a power boat with me driving, my wife spotting and my two boys in the water. One boy "trying" and the other hanging there. No danger. Warm Florida summer water.
When the boys did it off of the sail boat they cut the speed of the boat down a lot. They are both over 6'4" and 250lbs. Hah!

If the guy tries it, so what. There are a lot of things tested every day on this planet. As long as it is documented it will be a positive experience. No matter the outcome.

Nite nite.

[carstenb]

Trying will automatically get him a nomination for the Darwin award. And there is no way he will make it back to the boat

[Steve Bean]

To clarify re: my proposed video, this will be on dry land. I apologize if my post led some to think I'm going to do it in the water behind a moving boat. When Monterey Bay gets up around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, I might try that...

[Lizzy Belle]

Glad to hear that, but I still don't understand why anyone being able to climb a rope on land thinks that has anything to do with climbing back on a boat.

But I'm sure that's just me being silly, cos I'm thinking you could post a vid of you climbing a mountain and I'd still say you wouldn't be able to climb back on that boat ...

[Sun and Moon]

A noted sailor, the late Robert Gainer, told this story some years ago on sailnet.
What's your biggest bonehead move sailing? - Page 10 - SailNet Community

Originally Posted by Tartan34C

Let me set the stage this way. I did my first trans-Atlantic in a 22 foot Sea Sprite in 1974 when I was 21. The Sea Sprite is not very heavy — compared to your weight — and the boat will change trim as you move forward and aft. For self-steering I didn’t use a windvane but instead I would balance things and trim everything and then sit or stand where I was going to be for a while and do the final trimming. Otherwise, the boat would wander after I moved. If I were going below to sleep I would do the final trimming while standing just aft of the cabin bulkhead because my center of gravity would be in that spot when I was lying down in my bunk. The boat was balanced enough that I could do this and sail without any type of windvane system.

Her sensitivity to weight was a lifesaver on my first trans-Atlantic. I started out sailing when I was 13 without a harness and tether to the boat. That became my habit. One day, some 500 or so miles out to sea on that first crossing I had the boat sailing herself and I was in the cockpit. I decided to get a picture and walked to the stern. While framing the shot, I lost my balance and fell overboard. Thrashing about and cussing my stupidity, I was hit in the head by something solid and, as any drowning man would, I grabbed at it and came up with a handful of line. I hung on for dear life and was slowly dragged in the water. When I came up I was surprised to see that I had hold of a genoa sheet on someone’s boat. I was hollering for them to get on deck and help, but no one showed up. Being on the lee side and the boat not having much freeboard I was able to get onboard. As I lay on the deck and caught my breath, I realized I was on my own boat and the genoa was backwinded and the boat was slowly sailing to the west, towards Canada while hove to.

The change of trim when I fell off was enough to upset the balance of the boat and the genoa became backwinded so the boat turned around and ran over me. I don’t think that would happen again if I fell off my boat another million times so I now wear a harness and when offshore stay attached to the boat even if I am on a boat with crew. Just a word to the wise: stay on the boat.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Steve Bean

To clarify re: my proposed video, this will be on dry land. I apologize if my post led some to think I'm going to do it in the water behind a moving boat. When Monterey Bay gets up around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, I might try that...

This is a boating forum, we only care about being able to do it on a moving boat. That is after all the topic!

[secrabtree]

On a lake and sailing a small boat (Day Sailer, Catalina 22) I have jumped overboard, grabbed a dragging polypropylene line pulling a float cushion, pulled myself back to a sailing boat and climbed aboard - when this 81 year old was 45 years younger. But a small boat is significantly slowed when a 200# man is being dragged. I don't believe that I could do that at sea with my Cal 39 (sold a few days ago).
An interesting aside. As related to me, also competing in that race but not actually seeing the event,about for or five decades ago, on a singlehanded Farallons race, one of the competitors fell of his boat in the Golden Gate channel. As he fell he caught the mainsheet, the part between the stern traveler and the aft end of the boom, and climbed back on the boat. He only got his feet wet, so he was climbing up the line but not being dragged in the water. Whether he could have done it while being dragged I don't know.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Steve Bean

To clarify re: my proposed video, this will be on dry land. I apologize if my post led some to think I'm going to do it in the water behind a moving boat. When Monterey Bay gets up around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, I might try that...

So, what is going to be your point?

[RaymondR]

To answer your original question?


There is lots of low power radio stuff available these days from which to build the transmitter and receiver to signal from a person in the water to the boat.


There are probably three situations to allow for, motoring,motor sailing and sailing.


Motoring, shut the motor down and put the helm hard over so the boat circles.


Motor sailing, motor to idle luff up into the wind.


Sailing, put the helm down to back the genoa or if no genoa put the helm hard over so the boat luffs or circles.


OK, so you need at least three channels and three buttons but almost anything is better than helplessly watching the transom disappear over the horizon and you probably don't have anything better to do anyway.