Crew over board how to find them ?

[roland stockham]

I have gone with GMDSS enabled H/H radios. Each crew member carries one attached to their life vest when on deck. The allow communications via VHF, have a GMDSS distress button that sounds an alarm on any ship with a GMDSS radio and, most importantly, you can poll the radio from on-board and it will give you its co-ordinates without any input from the casualty so you can find them even if they are unconscious. Range from the boat is about 6-10 miles max but depends on sea state as the signal is line of sight. The radio does need to be switched on so they are recharged when off watch.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Stumble

The 'best' answer ignoring cost right now is a plb/AIS transponder (soon to hit the market) combined with a ship board AIS system. As I understand it the AIS MOB beacons transmit a special MOB code that takes priority over other signals, and ship side AIS systems can be programmed to sound alarms any time it recieves a MOB signal.

I would need a deep dive into operation manuals before confirming this is correct though.

That is the way my AIS MOB beacons work, and you can test them.
The alarm on my Vesper will wake the dead, no way will I sleep through that, there is one or two vests that automatic inflation will set the MOB beacons off, I don't have those vest so mine have to me manually activated.
I did not have to do anything to the Vesper, it apparently is already programmed, an icon is of course displayed on the screen, steer for the icon of course.

[Wils4x4]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

MOB pole only works if there is someone else on deck and sees you go over, they of course then throw the pole.
Not always the case with couples cruising, I wanted something that would wake me up if she went overboard when I was asleep.
The MOB thing is a tough nut to crack, there is no one size fits all answer, throw enough junk on your harness and you less likely to wear the thing.

I endorse the AIS approach with regards finding crew in water, but to answer the specific of alerting crew of MOB occurring -
I believe there are proximity detectors available. the base station sits in the middle of the boat, and you configure the personal slave units to the half length of vessel. if the range between slave unit and base station falls outside of configured signal length, then an alarm sounds...

at this point the AIS becomes the lifesaver.

[hamburking]

I applaud the fact that you are thinking about MOB. Kudos. But as others have said, once you go over its almost too late. More effort needs to go towards staying on the boat.

If you fall over in a place with lots of boat traffic, on a nice summer day in good weather, your device would likely help...a bit.

When I crossed the Atlantic, I stood night watch alone. I knew that death was just the other side of the lifeline. I wore a harness and stayed clipped on tight. If I had gone over (or any of my crewmates) there was zero chance of being retrieved. The waves were too big, the wind too strong, the night too dark, the ocean too big.

On the other hand, sailing near my home on Lake Ontario, if I went overboard a search and rescue boat and helicopter could be on scene in 15 minutes, and I would stand a very good chance of rescue, especially if I had a device like yours. I usually sailed with just my 2 little kids (4 and 6 initially). I couldn't teach them to turn the boat around, but I did tech them to call a mayday. We practiced this all the time, and the VHF was always ON and set to 16, ready to transmit. Fortunately, they never needed to call a mayday, but it was a comfort knowing they knew what to do.

[Lou254]

Thank you Dave. Really on this idea I thought it was to good to sit on. I am sorry it has not been devoleped. As the first two that posted it already has a Patten. It should have been completely commercialised by now. It may seem and most likely is naive on my part. I would like to think if it was such a great idea I would have found some compensation from a benevolent corporation that developed it. At any rate what if one person was recovered because I put it out on the internet. My personal experience in the water drives the belief I had to find a good way to share this idea. I started with companies that make and market emergency equipment. Life rafts, slings poles, PLB EPRIB flares and all sorts of stuff. You could sink a battle ships with all the stuff. I approached a true offshore Sailor and lots of divers anyone I thought might hear me out. Even here on the world wide internet this going over like a lead balloon straight to the bottom. Kind Regards, Lou

[a64pilot]

You never know, about 1970 or so I had an idea after watching a car commercial, the commercial had someone mowing the lawn right beside the car and when you rolled the window up, the lawnmower could no longer be heard. Idea being that Luxury cars of the day isolated you from outside noises.
My idea was a cheap short range receiver that any emergency vehicle would set off by having a transmitter on board, max range a hundred yards or so.
I tried talking my Father into getting a patent as I was about 12 yrs old, he thought the idea unworkable.
Not too many years later I heard that the idea had recently been patented and one of the railroads had paid over 1 Mil for it. As far as I know it has never been implemented though.

[Lou254]

I also want to thank a64 pilot w4x4 and H burg thinking I was not aware of the proximity alarm. Yes I agree staying on the boat is the best jacklines and a short teather. Odds are not good if you are in the water. Never give up the ship or life. Fly it to the ground regardless of the conditions. Boats should always float and life should be sweet. Sometimes ----- it happens and it is not. I thought this idea may have had more merit. The best ideas get devolped. kind Regards, Lou

[zstine]

Check this great new MOB product.. No association with company...
Uses a constant bluetooth signal to any phone/tablets/pc etc. When the it looses contact it figures you went over and your phone rings, vibrates and flashes the LED. It marks that spot and gives you a course and distance so you can return to the point the person went over. Great for couples who sail one on deck, one sleeping...
https://crewwatcher.com/

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Lou254

I have this idea I would like some feed back on. I think sailors and divers would be the best people to give evaluations . If a product was on the market that was a part of your self inflatable life vest . it would have an extra gas canister with helium. This would inflate a durable sausage shaped balloon. The balloons teather would also function as a vhf antenna. This would move your signal into a much higher line of sight. The closest thing I know of is a life that comes in a life raft. The kite needs at least 10 knots of wind and a life raft as a launch platform. Over 30 knots the kite will not work and I do not think the Balloon will stay off the surface. Even if it is on the surface it would greatly increase the size of the crew overboard. A person's head in the water is only a small ball. The balloon would also be a high visability color. The human face is not . Ok that is the basics. It would be nice to have a pattent and a company behind me. I do not have this but this idea is to important if it can save a life for me to sit on it. Kind Regards, Lou

Have been using a safety sausage as a signaling devise for finding divers for a least 40 years. Early ones were just a roll of bright orange plastic showed into your wetsuit or stinger suit or carried in BC devise in the case of scuba divers. Particually useful diving anywhere there are currents. As a divemaster i would ensure all divers diving off a vessel carried one. Back in those days bright orange Bouyancy Compensators were available but these days they all seem black or blue coloured , almost impossible to see so carrying a safety sausage is even more important.

These days there are a whole range available as a google search for divers safety sausage will reveal.

These days even if carrying a PLB it is a worthwhile device to carry. Plenty of videos on U-tube.

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[Dave_S]

I have been thinking of MOB alarms and back to boat updates of location. Are there any that do dills. I'm thinking of attaching one to a fender and throwing it overboard and don't want half of Queensland looking for a fender.

[Lou254]

A64 pilot that is a great idea! It may work it's way into Google cars. More likely I see Google delivery trucks. They will stop at the RR crossing. Stay clear of emergency vehicles and other surprising challenges. John doe public will have to keep his eyes open and fend for himself. I am impressed with the proximity alarms. It is like and anchor alarm for the crew. Anyway I understand the point about the need to research an idea and keep it a secret until you can benefit financially. I think of ideas all the time and I am sure most every human is doing the same. The energy requirements to chase down The system is a brutal bore for me. I have only pursued 2 of thousands of daily ideas both already had a pattent but like yours they are still not in use today. I will repeat for this particular idea the benefit was not going to be involved with money. I knew a crowd of humans would quickly dismiss or embrace it. Then it would have a chance to save a life. Kind Regards, Lou

[Lou254]

Hey Downunder as a Divemaster you have skill and experience. I can see from your post you know a lot of the products currently in use on the market. I have completed a padi dive certification. The dream is to tinker sail and dive. I gave up airplanes because they eat more than boats. Anyway the idea was to get the marker farther off the surface. Helium can do it. Some technical divers may already have it on hand. A small charge canister like a life vest has is large enough to fill a huge balloon. The vest cylinder currently has a relatively low volume and pressure with comparisons to dive or paint ball cylinders The sausage shape was to have two benefits. In the wind it will stay off the surface slightly better than a ball. If the wind is up enough to drive it to the surface a sausage shape with handles would be easier to hang onto and ride in the surf than a round ball. It is not a life raft but it can help. If you're able to get some of your body above the surface your helping the battle against hypothermia. One of the reasons your BCD should be full when your dive is finished is for the same reason. Get up get out warm up. Add an antenna with elevation for even more benefit. Elevation is the key. A bird at sea is easy to spot comparing them to drift wood. Then again if you just stay on the boat you would not have this problem. It is hard to dive and stay on the boat if it is not a sub. Kind Regards, Lou

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by downunder

Have been using a safety sausage as a signaling devise for finding divers for a least 40 years. Early ones were just a roll of bright orange plastic showed into your wetsuit or stinger suit or carried in BC

Indeed, we used to make our own in the early days. Take one beach lilo and a sharp knife, you now have 5 thin tubes for divers to carry. Orange and red are effective, but what was surprising was how effective dayglow green was against a drab background.

Pete

[Stumble]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

I have been thinking of MOB alarms and back to boat updates of location. Are there any that do dills. I'm thinking of attaching one to a fender and throwing it overboard and don't want half of Queensland looking for a fender.

If you are just using AIS you can contact the local Coast Guard and ask for permission to run a drill. In the past ours has been willing to allow such things, but they like to schedule them for times that they will otherwise be slow. It's good practice for them as well, racing to an emergency, etc.

But I doñt think any AIS alarm system has a 'drill' setting.

[tkeithlu]

Secondary question, particularly for us cruising couples. Once you've found your hypothermic mate for life, can you get him/her back on board with no help whatever from him/her? There have been some tragedies of this sort - found alive, but not recovered. I noticed this morning that the water temperature here in north Florida was 57 F. The only chance my wife would have of recovering me would be by my hooking onto a carabiner, and then her lifting me with the electric hoist we use for the dinghy and kayaks.