Challenge: What Do You Do?

[sarafina]

if I couldn't pull myself aboard and Himself was sleeping so soundly he couldn't hear me yelling I would try to get to the area of the hull closest to his head and then pound... and hope that woke His sorry ass up!

[Sandero]

A good idea is to always have a knife and a loud whistle on long lanyards when you are on deck alone. Don't forget a strobe at night. Two tethers are the way to go.

[Strygaldwir]

I am surprised no one mentioned blowing the whistle attached to all your harnesses! They are so inexpensive and light, you can put them on all your life jackets too. They are a louder than you can scream, take less energy, and don't go hoarse. They also count as a signaling device by the Coast Guard, Fish & Game or Homeland Security when they pull you over in your dinghy! All my diving Buoyancy Compensator have them too.

Using that assumes I can't pull down my swim step and climb back aboard.

[Roy M]

Ditto the Lifetag (Raymarine Marine Electronics - LifeTag). For those unfamiliar with this accessory to the Raymarine chartplotters, you wear it on you person. If you go over the side (or get caught in the bilge), you can activate the most horrific sounder on the market and get folks to come for you. If you leave the boat, it marks an automatic waypoint on the electronic chart so you can go back to the point of departure into the briny blue. You can even tuck one under the cover of the outboard to set off an alarm when some badguy takes your dinghy. It beats the options.

[David M]

Originally Posted by Intentional Drifter

Yup, though never in reality, only in drills. Any crew that can sleep through the alarm is already dead.

I've never gone off my boat in an accident, but I've water skied enough to know that if I go off at anything over about 5 knots, there's no way I can counter that resistance and get back on board by myself.

Like others have said: When underway (1) No one outside the cockpit without someone else in the cockpit. (2) Anyone outside the cockpit is tethered. (3) Jacklines run inboard, all harness/tethers measured such that the harness will not go outboard of the lifelines. (4) When offshore, all crew (and dog) wear Lifetags. (5) At night, solo watch also has Horizon VHF/GPS handheld (with strobe) securely attached to PFD.

The idea is that if the unthinkable should happen despite all precautions, then the plan is for the Lifetag to go off, a MOB waypoint automatically is set on the E120, crew awakens, hopefully the person in the water is conscious and can radio to the now awakened crew who can then also spot the strobe, in addition to getting verbal instructions from the MOB.

I still don't want to test it, though.

ID

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

That's good if you have crew? Crew was not always an option for me, so I married some crew as in Hicock's advice.Now if I can just that 4'9" 100lbs mass of muscle to wake up, and save my sorry butt......i2f

Its not perfect for all situations, nothing is. Its just another tool in the arsenal of keeping someone alive. Because it may not work for one person does not mean it is worthless for others.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Often we expect things to be more complicated and look for complexity when there is none. The obvious isn't always the right answer. This time it really is.

People that go overboard don't really intend on it and didn't think they would at the very moment they did. This idea that "Oh this does not seem risky and I can handle this attitude really does not work". It's what they all say just before they splash.

It would be different if you just flew clean over the side and splashed. Being caught up in the line lines and dragged upside down, smacked on the head or being hit by the boat just seem to be part of the deal. As for a low boom - one in the head and your dead seems to fit enough as well. Safety is a process not just a PFD. The PFD is just the easiest part and not to be overlooked. It's easy to suddenly have something happen. You'll never know just before it happens - or it wouldn't.

Hear hear!!!!!

[lauri.hamilton@ebfin.com]

Happened to Peggy Slater while sailing Valentine to Hawaii. She was dragged along the hull for 11 hours when was spotted and rescued. She claims she is the only single handing woman who has sailed under water to Hawaii.

[imagine2frolic]

Sounds like Peggy Slater has quite the sense of humor........i2f

[mikereed100]

I would, in order:

1. Cringe while my lifejacket self inflates.
2. Try to blow the whistle on the harness
3. Bang on the hull and shout until I'm hoarse
4. Cry like a little girl
5. Relax and enjoy the ride
6. Repeat #4 at appropriate intervals
7. Wait until someone comes on deck and sees the tether leading over the side with the "Dope-on-a-rope" at the end.

[captmick39]

Originally Posted by mikereed100

I would, in order:

1. Cringe while my lifejacket self inflates.
2. Try to blow the whistle on the harness
3. Bang on the hull and shout until I'm hoarse
4. Cry like a little girl
5. Relax and enjoy the ride
6. Repeat #4 at appropriate intervals
7. Wait until someone comes on deck and sees the tether leading over the side with the "Dope-on-a-rope" at the end.

After reading every posting in this thread, aside from talbot, this is probably the best (although "drown" is about as fatalistic as it gets).

Anjou, see what a monster You created? (as in this thread)
Having been rigging since I could climb aloft, & having pointed out to newbies to offshore cruising more times than this body has of fingers or toes (all still attached, just no "extras")...You don't ALLOW Jacklines on the vessel that allow YOURSELF to wind UP IN THE H2O...You just don't. DOn't BUy THem, Don't accept them as "Gifts" & don't have them on board. Harsh? You bet. Your butt may be dangling ABOVE the water while You beat on that hull (sure wouldn't help much single handing, huh?), but at least You won't die of hypothermia before the S.O. awakens to the egg timer/alarm for the next watch.
As for the view from the toerail...getting really intoxicated can get that 1 accomplished as well. You're never really drunk as long as You can lay on the deck & not have to Hang On.

It's annoying for a realist/literalist (& guy who's single handed over too many miles) to have to play "let's pretend". All this little joker is thinking is "You can wonder what You'd do 'till the cows come home...it wouldn't happen on our boat, as it Couldn't happen on our boat (shy a giant tsunami/rogue wave & total knockdown...then You'd be thinking about a lot of other more important things like CUTTING that jackline & where's the life raft...EPIRB, etc. Bummer about the ditch bags; Jeez I wonder if this leatherman surge can hold up for a couple years on an uninhabited island? etc.
not that crying like a little girl is a bad thing, it's probably better to save the energy & see if You could try skiing while back there just for grins?

[zeehag]

before i go out-i would make sure my tether is not so long as to allow me to fall overboard because realistically, yer not gonna be able to pull yerself up and into boat once ye falls in---is not gonna happen unless ye are arnie schwartzennegger and he took too many steroids to be able to think that far in advance LOL.....the second thing is to kiss ass goodbye--yer not gonna get saved--yer partner, should ye be so lucky--is sleeping like a brick and wont hear ye over the sounds of the boat going thru the water nicely....kat might hear but he really doesnt care unless ye are the only one who feeds him!! the 3rd thing would be to pray really really hard---as ye watch the boat go away from ye fast because the tether broke---if this happens at night--yer done and gone-same in a storm--is hard to see folks in the water at nite and in storms...ye will not be missed until next watch or later-when the sun shines in and wakes the next watchman----have fun sailing!!! be real and have fun!! keep the tethers short and be safe....gooood luck~~~~~~~o~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~

[crazyhorse]

I know going over the side in ANY conditions is not an option (always one hand for the boat!) but it should never be treated as a "can't happen to me" situation! Although I haven't done it yet, with friends aboard (who know what they are doing!) and in safe conditions, I intend to do exactly that to see if I can reboard my boat without assistance and if I can't, then what do I need to do to change that. Obviously a boat underway even at moderate speed is going to make the task impossible so the trick is to luff the ship up. A trailing knotted warp attached to the tiller when pulled should allow a bungy cord to pull the tiller full one side allowing the boat to come about and hopefully enough time to to board before the sails fill again. Thats the plan.... when summer rolls around, I will see if it works! Any suggestions gratefully received!

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by anjou

This is something that Ive thought of more and more lately.

Sailing single handed comes with definite risks and Im so full of respect for the people who head off into the blue alone. Apart from the dangers of collision with other vessels and submerged objects, a broken leg or ribs could mean death.

So perhaps the risks are much reduced when you have company. There are many couples cruising and passage making. You share the watch, one is always awake and you do things by the book.

So there you are, on deck while your partner is sleeping. You have a harness and lifeline attached but you fall over board.

Suddenly, in the dark cold water, your not able to pull yourself along the line or climb back on board.


What do you do?

Die.


Realistically, that's what happens.

[anjou]

The thought of being shark feed would help me walk on water but not going over the side sounds like the best plan

[JohnV]

It's easy to exercise all kinds of foresight from the safety of our computers, but let's take this a step further:
So there you are, skipping along like a flat stone at 7 kts, inhaling your own wake since you're clipped on in front.
Your sleeping partner passed out dead drunk an hour ago. And he's deaf. And really pissed off at you for something you said 2 days ago. (It was: "Of course my daddy likes you, darling--I just wish you'd cut back on the amphetamines.")
When, though you're all of 120 miles (200 km) off the Somali coast, three fast, open boats appear. They fan out and you hear AK rounds fired into the air and make little "plup-plup" noises in the water around you. They won't be placated by your Fuji binoculars and MP3 player, you say to yourself.
Then two of them collide. A slick of gasoline (petrol) a couple of acres (some hectares) across surrounds your boat. A phosporus round lights it--only seconds before you see the huge dorsal fin knife through the foam ten feet (3m) from your feet.
Ok, now what?
Wait--suppose the Somalis turn out to be cousins of your angry, passive-agressive and disinhibited partner...
And then the sunburn you got on your butt a few days before starts to itch like crazy...
Sorry, I got a little carried away.
But I guess if there's a point, it's that asking a question like Anjou's is its own answer. Wondering what you would do is how you address the possibility.
John V.