Man Overboard with Auto Pilot Engaged!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by builder dan

My father was delivering a yacht down the west coast of the north Island in a storm and a breaking wave threw him out of the cockpit over the side luckily the next wave lay the boat over enough for him to get tossed back in.In storm conditions all the trailing lines wont be worth a damn,use a life harness and short tether.

What he said.

For one thing it removes the swim to the rope step. Also there are no devices involved that may not work when you actually need them to. (like some type of remote)

There's no need for special rope climbing techniques and if everything goes well you can use the initial adrenaline blast to reenter the boat.

[sailorboy1]

You people would be better off served with the understanding that going over the side means you are going to die, instead of these very unlikely can "climb back onto the boat" methods.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

You people would be better off served with the understanding that going over the side means you are going to die, instead of these very unlikely can "climb back onto the boat" methods.

Maybe the old guy in the movie "All is Lost" got folks thinking about going over the side.............and shaving.

So, use a tether then maybe Gillette Foamy.

[CarlF]

After the earlier comment about the Garmin "watch", I went and checked it out. Very clever (seems you have to like buying a lot of Garmin equipment)


We're also concerned for about your safety at sea, so quatix has an integrated MOB (man overboard) feature that triggers a MOB alarm on your Garmin chartplotter if the wearer falls overboard. If the boat is equipped with one of our autopilot systems, the chartplotter will then engage and navigate back to your last known position.

[robert sailor]

Cool if you are motoring but more or less impossible if offshore in a good blow.

[Stu Jackson]

We did try it out. My then 22 in good/great shape son hopped into the water behind the boat. He gave up after a few minutes, five knots building to six.

[Oregon Waterman]

Originally Posted by maytrix

So how many times have you done it?

On my 12.5 Expedition....maybe 50?
On my real boat? Not yet.
But that isn't the point. The point of the OP was to see if there are solutions and idea's about getting back to the boat if you fall off.
I trail a 40 foot line off the small Expedition and have used it quite a bit. I thrash that boat. I fall out of it, flip it, pitch pole it and have wrecked every which way possible in up to 40 knots of wind. It works on that boat.

Now, my 26 ton S/V isn't going to notice my weight trailing on a line 100 feet behind it at 6 knots. But I am pretty confident that I can get to the line and use it to hand over hand to the boat where my pushpit really comes in handy as its very easy to climb it (lower chain stays are just above the waterline).

After seeing the idea ITT, now I have a line and a cam cleat set up ready to mount in my cockpit. If pulled, it locks the tiller hard starboard using the cam cleat so if nothing else, the boat is going in circles.
If I get tossed off the boat, I have a shot.

Now, if I listened to others ITT, all is lost, give up, you are dead...
uh, no.
There is always a way, always.

I had thought about trying it out on my big boat and maybe I will and then I will share what I learned. If I didn't think it was possible, I would find another way to do it. Be it Garmin's approach or another way to get the boat to round up after MOB'ing.

YMMV

[maytrix]

Please do try it on your big boat and let us know how it turns out. I think its very different on a small boat.

I think the most important thing is to stay on the boat, especially as it gets bigger. Smaller boats, you probably have a chance, but on a bigger boat, it will likely be more difficult. Especially when you factor in getting knocked out of the bigger boat and being higher off the water.

I think the only reason so many of us are skeptical of this working is because of the conditions. It's different in a boat where you are expecting to fall out..etc. But in a larger boat where you shouldn't be falling out, once you do, its very different.

As you said, there is always a way. The bigger the boat gets, that way is to ensure you don't go over - very easy to do that.

[Andrew Troup]

Originally Posted by maytrix

.... there is always a way. The bigger the boat gets, that way is to ensure you don't go over - very easy to do that.

Tell that to Rob James, Eric Tabarly, et al

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Oregon Waterman

On my 12.5 Expedition....maybe 50?
On my real boat? Not yet.

Okay, now we have the truth. He can pull himself back to a 12.5 Expedition which is going to almost stop when he grabs the drag line. (and) He most certainly did it within maybe a mile of land probably in calm water on a nice summer day..

It sometimes worries me what people may perceive as fact from folks posting online..

Try that test with a 3-10 ton boat in 40 degree water temps with 5-7' choppy closely spaced waves in a bay where you can even see land or try it 200 miles off shore. It's somewhat different.

Expedition 12.5:

https://www.google.com/search?q=expe...iw=960&bih=481

[thomm225]

My main concern was for folks that might take you seriously. You are posting things that could result in someone dying because you did it on your toy boat.

That's all.

Plus you were hammering everyone else for not being as physically strong as maybe you are then we have you on your toy boat which you can almost pull back to you after you fall off.

As for me, it's pretty much my normal style of a comeback (just ask the moderators) plus I didn't ride my bike or run today so I'm a bit fired up although I did go down the hall at work to the gym after seeing your post and did a few pull ups, bench presses, and curls just because I am getting old.

[Andrew Troup]

Well done, guys.

Way to spoil a thread.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Andrew Troup

Well done, guys.

Way to spoil a thread.

Sorry Andrew I didn't have time to do a 500 word essay like you normally do as if you are being graded.

The Oregon dude and myself were just hammering away. Sometimes it isn't pretty.

[nigel1]

Opinions and thoughts are welcome so long as they are considerate.
This thread is turning into a pissing competition, and it will be closed if contributors cannot be nice.

[Coops]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Sorry Andrew I didn't have time to do a 500 word essay like you normally do as if you are being graded.

The Oregon dude and myself were just hammering away. Sometimes it isn't pretty.

Correct, it is not pretty, nor acceptable. Posts have been deleted and as stated above, it will be closed if it continues.

Coops.