Man Overboard Pole And Stuff

[Delancey]

So, casual survey of the docks suggests maybe at best a quarter of random cruisers I have seen headed down the ICW have a MOM of some type, the rest might have an obvious throwable while others have nothing at all.

I have been on boats with a MOM but never seen one deployed. Some are just a foam filled sling attached to a rope attached to the boat. Others have an inflatable pole and some kind of life raft. Not sure how often these are serviced. If you do a life raft service that seems like a good time.

I'm currently rigging up a man overboard pole similar to the one in the photo below but using blaze orange and SOLAS reflective tape. The yellow and red thing might be by the book but seems outdated.

Can't think of any reason not to have one on the boat except if I recall correctly Bumfuzzle had one that they painted gray because they didn't like the color.

Also a throw rope seems like a good idea, either the stuff-sack kind or a monkeys fist.

[Delancey]

An inflatable MOM. Seems prone to failure and probably expensive. Why not just have a pole?

[Kenomac]

We have a Lifesling mounted at the stern. Used it successfully to rescue an idiot and his dog six years ago aboard our Hunter 450. We highly recommend the Lifesling system for it's ease of use and simplicity. It's all you need, but also important to practice at least once a season as a refresher.

We also have Dan buoy and two bright orange throwing horseshoe floats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnhjOhWD4j0

[Delancey]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

We have a Lifesling mounted at the stern. Used it successfully to rescue an idiot and his dog six years ago aboard our Hunter 450. We highly recommend the Lifesling system for it's ease of use and simplicity. It's all you need, but also important to practice at least once a season as a refresher.

We also have Dan buoy and two bright orange throwing horseshoe floats.

Lifesling, okay. How much line did it have? I assume however much there was, the idiot was swimming for a bit before you could get it deployed and drag it to him? Or did you drop it as soon as he went overboard and he was able to get it right away?

Lifesling seems good but if someone ends up swimming before you can get it to them than maybe something throwable would be good to have on hand.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Delancey

Lifesling, okay. How much line did it have? I assume however much there was, the idiot was swimming for a bit before you could get it deployed and drag it to him? Or did you drop it as soon as he went overboard and he was able to get it right away?

Lifesling seems good but if someone ends up swimming before you can get it to them than maybe something throwable would be good to have on hand.

I'd never used one before. The idiot was fully clothed when he jumped in after his dog and I was left alone with the boat under sail making 8 knots. Working alone, I had the two of them back on the boat in about three minutes. I was approximately 100 meters away, by the time I was able to deploy the Lifesling and about 150 meters away when I was able to have the boat come about and begin sailing a circle around them. I also turned on the engine as I came about, but would not do that again in the same situation.

The Lifesling comes with 100ft of floating line. Floating line is essential, otherwise it can easily get caught in the prop during all the excitement.... which is why I would not use the engine next time.

The idiot was unable to swim as he was fully clothed and had a dog on his shoulders. The best he could do was tread water. It's impossible to throw something fast enough and far enough to be any good to someone fully clothed who's fallen in.

[neophytecruiser]

We have a MOB-pole coupled with a horseshoe float and a strobe light on one side of the stern rail with a life-sling on the opposite side. All line is polypropylene that floats. Since we do ocean sailing we feel the MOB-pole has the advantage of visibility in ocean swell, particularly at night with the strobe. The life-sling (along with the separate block and tackle) are useful for daylight use and emergency boarding if the person is unable to use one of the two ladders, either due to fatigue or sea state.

[S/V Alchemy]

We are taught "engine-less COB retrieval" in RYA courses. The method consists of chucking a fender weighted down with line off the boat without warning and the instructor sits there smirking as the crew executes a quick-stop and retrieval of the fender. It's surprisingly intense and while I got better at it, it made me realize that the realistic chances of saving someone who may be injured, or at times other than a nice, sunny day, drop rapidly.

A danbuoy (the other name for a "MOB pole" is good. One with a flashing light is better. One with a flashing light and an AIS-SART device on either the pole or (better) the crew is superior to that. Staying scrupulously tethered? Best.

This article, which features updates into 2015, describes the problems. I speak as someone who, had I not been tethered during a clear-air squall that hit us on the beam at 0330h 700 NM offshore, would have surely died. The PFD I was wearing would have just extended that process. The odds of the sleeping crew getting on deck and turning the boat safely about in night time ocean swell before travelling a mile away were just about zero. Hence my focus on staying aboard. The world encompassed: Self-rescue: More reality checking

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

We have a Lifesling mounted at the stern. Used it successfully to rescue an idiot and his dog six years ago aboard our Hunter 450. We highly recommend the Lifesling system for it's ease of use and simplicity. It's all you need, but also important to practice at least once a season as a refresher.

We also have Dan buoy and two bright orange throwing horseshoe floats.

This video confirms my beliefs on best man overboard recovery practices, with only a few exceptions:

1. Holler "Man Overboard". Very important for crews greater than double-handed, but even when just double-handed, this lets the MOB know that you are aware and have started MOB procedures. Very re-assuring to someone in the water. It also triggers the practiced MOB drill for those aboard.

2. Hit the MOB button on the chartplotter. (Takes but a second, but will be incredibly useful if sight of the MOB is lost (and it will be when only double-handed).

3. Toss the MOB pole. Again takes only a second, assures the MOB procedures have started, and helps the rescuer to locate the MOB. (Part of your drills is to teach MOBs to swim to the MOB pole to the extent possible.)

Note that a MOB, being so close to the water surface, may only be visible for about 1 second every 120 seconds in heavy seas, even in fairly close proximity. Even an MOB pole can be very difficult to see in flat, sunny conditions, from only 1/4 mile away.

4. After launching the Lifesling and dragging it around the MOB, immediately heave to. This leaves the vessel in the most stable condition possible, (especially if any kind of wind and seas are running), while the crew (possibly being only one person) tends to the needs of the MOB, including getting them aboard.

The video did not describe how to address if the MOB is incapable of getting into the life sling.

The only good method I can come up with, is to deploy the swim ladder, and then with life ring, tied to the boat, enter the water to assist the MOB into the life sling. This is a last resort, as the first Golden rule is to keep everyone in the boat, and should only be used, if the only means possible to get the MOB in compliance with this rule. Leaving the boat without the life ring is bad practice, as even hove to, the boat may drift away faster than one can swim.

Before suggesting MOBs or rescuers do any kind of swimming. Just try it some time, simulating the conditions of a storm, when wearing warm clothing, shoes, weather gear">foul weather gear, and a PFD, and perhaps in frigid water, and also when panicking due to the shock of the situation.

MOB Rule - Don't count on the MOB swimming anywhere, but if they can, they should do their best to swim to the MOB pole.

[anacapaisland42]

MOB pole essential in choppy seas........1st lesson I learned.....when someone goes overboard in choppy seas throw every thing you can overboard to mark their position.
It's VERY difficult to spot someones head in the waves. An MOB will float with them in a current.
Bill

[neophytecruiser]

I believe this novel story of rescue occurred off the coast of Baja California in 2003:

U.S. Coast Guard Rescues Man And Wife Off Coast Of Mexico

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- A 54-year-old man and his wife were rescued off of the coast of Mexico Wednesday evening by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman and Coast Guard air assets.
At approximately 5:54 p.m. Wednesday the Cutter Sherman received a mayday call from a woman stating that her sailing vessel had lost steering control and that her husband had fallen overboard in the 10 foot seas. The woman stated she had thrown a liferaft into the water after she was unable to spot him.

The Sherman launched an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter that was onboard the cutter, and a C-130 aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento was launched to assist in the search.

The Sherman located and rescued the woman from the sailing vessel quickly,

At approximately 10:55 p.m. the HH-65 crew spotted the strobe light from the life raft.

The man had been able to locate the deployed raft and climb into it until he was rescued by the Sherman, approximately 10-15 miles from his original location.

The woman was able to help save her husband because they had the proper equipment onboard (radios, flotation devices, signaling devices), and she able to remain calm and accurately relay her position to the Coast Guard.

Infrared video from the C-130 is available upon request.

[Kenomac]

The MOB fully clothed or even partially clothed will be of little to no help in swimming to anything thrown overboard. They will actually (contrary to popular belief) be stuggling just to keep their coconut sized head just above the surface. Think about the scenario, you're trying to keep an eye on a floating coconut from 100-200 yards away in a wavy sea, while the coconut tries to stay afloat kicking with water-filled shoes, water soaked pants, a jacket and shirt which now weigh about thirty pounds.

The person overboard will be of no help, they'll never reach the stuff that gets chucked overboard before the stuff drifts away from them. This is what it's like in real life.... which is different from Hollyweird.

The fellow who reached the liferaft was lucky, and almost certainly wearing a life vest.

[Lodesman]

We have a lifesling and mob pole. The PO had painted the mob pole white and the flag had disintegrated. I repainted it fluorescent greenish-yellow, added 3M retroreflective tape strips, and a new O flag. The flag does make it easier to see. Have only used it for mob exercises, and haven't used the lifesling in anger yet, though I am convinced of its usefulness, enough to have bought another.

I echo the difficulty in spotting nothing more than a head in any sea, at any distance beyond "right under your nose". Push the mob button on chartplotter/gps, toss the pole and note your course before turning. After the turn, head for the pole, then pick up a course reciprocal to your original course when you get to the pole - the mob should be dead ahead.

[JPA Cate]

Part of my water safety instruction course years ago was to come to the pool one day, fully clothed over a swimsuit, and we all had to jump in and try to swim across the pool. We were allowed to remove our shoes, and, while treading water, instructed on how to use a shirt or even one's jeans, to make flotation. There must be a U tube video showing this. Recommended viewing. Jeans are pretty good, but you have to keep re-inflating them.

I don't know if I'd want to have someone on board who didn't know how to tread water! Never thought about that, before. Hmmmm!

Ann

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Part of my water safety instruction course years ago was to come to the pool one day, fully clothed over a swimsuit, and we all had to jump in and try to swim across the pool. We were allowed to remove our shoes, and, while treading water, instructed on how to use a shirt or even one's jeans, to make flotation. There must be a U tube video showing this. Recommended viewing. Jeans are pretty good, but you have to keep re-inflating them.

I don't know if I'd want to have someone on board who didn't know how to tread water! Never thought about that, before. Hmmmm!

Ann

My first question when new crew comes aboard (for a daysail) is, "What is your boating experience?"

My second question, "Can you swim?" I say it with a smirk, but it is good information to have.

In an MOB situation, I don't expect anyone to be able to swim anywhere.

However, if they answer that they can swim, then I expect they can keep their head above water if they are conscious, at least for a little bit.

If they answer they can't swim, I ask if they would be more comfortable in a PFD? (usually suggesting that even if not, I would be). It's suggested but not forced.

All are invited to help sail the boat with various tasks.

Usually, I have selected weather well and there is no issue.

Should weather be about to turn unexpectedly, all aboard who don't have PFDs on, are instructed to get them on, before coming out of the companionway.

If weather becomes *****, they are instructed to clip on before coming out of the companionway.

I know that either my wife or I can single-hand our boat, and get back to harbour safely under any conditions we've encountered.

The last thing we need is to be hampered by crew who is making the situation worse instead of better.

For any who don't wish to participate and ask, "Where should I move to be out of your way"? The answer is, "Just stay where you are, and let us work around you."

They end up being a sack of potatoes until things are sorted out, but as long as they aren't distracting or getting in the way of others who are helping to sail the boat, all is good.

[timbenner]

I thought I had this MOB subject licked with new Garmin Auto Pilot, chart plotter and WRIST WATCH CONTROLLER. They have a Garmin wrist watch that you can use to call your Auto Pilot and DRIVE THE BOAT BACK TO YOU WITH THE WATCH!!!!

Problem is, my wife said it won't work after she turns the chart plotter and auto pilot - OFF!! Thought I was getting somewhere, but she wins again, particularly since I'm worth more dead than alive.