Sailor Washed Overboard Drowns

[sweetsailing]

You don’t even have to be underway. It only takes a moment of carelessness to slip and fall into the water whether it be from cleaning, repairs or just having a pee.

I agree with rebel heart, Boatman and Pelagic. You can have an accident anywhere. As an example, I fell down the companionway of our boat at the dock. The reason I fell? I violated the rule of one hand for me and one hand for the boat. Both hands full, in the dark, bad idea. Luckily, I was just fine and to remind me, my friends installed a jack line down the companionway stairs the next day, LOL!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by SimonV

When do You clip on.?

I clip in whether I feel the conditions are such that I could not tread water long enough for someone on the boat to come back to me, of if I feel the conditions are such that if someone went over that they would get lost from view and hard to find

[MarkJ]

I clip on only when conditions warrant it.

When you start getting scared of everything its time to give it up and find a Retirement Home in Florida.

[David M]

They are called rogue waves, at least by NOAA.

Ocean Prediction Center - Rogue Waves

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I clip on only when conditions warrant it.

When you start getting scared of everything its time to give it up and find a Retirement Home in Florida.

When do you wear your seat belt in your car? All the time or just when conditions warrant?

My warranted conditions: offshore or at night or in rough seas

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by jackdale

When do you wear your seat belt in your car? All the time or just when conditions warrant?

My warranted conditions: offshore or at night or in rough seas

Each to their own.

Look at the difference between your avatar photo and mine. No one is under any doubt at all that I enjoy doing things my way. One supposes you enjoy doing things your way.

Im not changing my life. its too much fun.

A friend of mine who is in his 90s (actually he was my first offshore race skipper when I was about 17) still single hands his 49 foot Huon Pine boat and his daughter said: "Dad, that's so unsafe! You might fall overboard!"

And he said "I couldn't think of a better way to go."

After 35 years of ocean sailing under my belt I prefer to do things the way I want


Mark

[Jimbo485]

Originally Posted by jackdale

When do you wear your seat belt in your car? All the time or just when conditions warrant?

My warranted conditions: offshore or at night or in rough seas

Seatbelt gets uses when conditions warrant it. That means no seatbelt when moving a car from the garage to the street, turning it around on private property, starting it up to warm it in winter, doing maintenance, at the drive-in, etc.

Same with the boat. Only when conditions warrant it. I initially taught my woman just to round up if she ever wanted to stop the boat. We tell guests if they fall overboard in the day there is a 50% chance they will die. At night, 99%.

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Don't be so sure... seem to remember a lady being ripped off her boat last year on some event to the islands.. near Bermuda a storm hit the fleet with some serious results for a few boats..
I'd still keep one hand for you and one for the boat..

if we're talking about the same story on that NARC event, I believe she was not clipped in. She had just come out of the companionway.

Heres one story:

Woman Lost At Sea 285m Off Bermuda | Bernews.com

and a thread...
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ars-71693.html

May be others

[SaltyMonkey]

A seatbelt is there so the ambulance drivers can find the body.

[nimblemotors]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Each to their own.

Look at the difference between your avatar photo and mine. No one is under any doubt at all that I enjoy doing things my way. One supposes you enjoy doing things your way.

Im not changing my life. its too much fun.

A friend of mine who is in his 90s (actually he was my first offshore race skipper when I was about 17) still single hands his 49 foot Huon Pine boat and his daughter said: "Dad, that's so unsafe! You might fall overboard!"

And he said "I couldn't think of a better way to go."

After 35 years of ocean sailing under my belt I prefer to do things the way I want


Mark

So when someone posts MarkJ fell overboard and drowned, we will all toast and say "he went out his way!". If you don't have children or family that will miss you, no problem. I do. But I do agree, it should not be a LAW to wear a seatbelt, a helmet, life jacket, etc.

JackB

[dirkdig]

Whats the thoughts of clipping on say a 45 ft cat?

I have never done it on ours, only should have on 2-3 situations though.
It is a very stable platform

[Jimbo485]

Originally Posted by dirkdig

Whats the thoughts of clipping on say a 45 ft cat?

I have never done it on ours, only should have on 2-3 situations though.
It is a very stable platform

We have a 40' cat with 24' beam. I have clipped on a few times. My son clips on as well sometimes. Rarely needed until we start surfing or get waves over the deck.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by dirkdig

Whats the thoughts of clipping on say a 45 ft cat?

I have never done it on ours, only should have on 2-3 situations though.
It is a very stable platform

I think there are too many rogue wave and whale encounter stories to be authentic. But every now and then it's bound to happen. My old little Wharram cat was very stable compared to a mono but there was a fast motion to the boat in a seaway that took some getting use to. I guess those big sluggish overloaded barges don't react the same way.

[sailorboy1]

what

[svmariane]

Originally Posted by SimonV

When do You clip on.?

Wow.... From the responses so far, it seems this is sort of like a "How do you anchor when..." type question!

Okay - there are two of us aboard, center cockpit boat, and these are our rules when underway, and matters not if night or day:

If out of the cockpit: inflatable life jacket, tether attached to jack lines. I've a tether hook-up point at the mast for mucking around with the storm try'sl.

If one person sleeping: infl. life jacket, tether attached to ring-bolt in cockpit. Use of jack lines if exiting cockpit.

If nasty wxr, both do same as when one person sleeping (above).

Exception for daytime "fair" wxr only: If winds under 15 kn, seas, say, under 3 meters - and both in the cockpit - then nothing at all. Her bikini being also optional. Now maybe it's just us, but it seems a tad tricky to cuddle when wearing inflatable life jackets.... I mean, what's the point of being on the high seas in the South Pacific, on a sailboat with self-steering, if we can't take time for a little romance????

Anyway, with our center cockpit, I've found it quicker and easier to change tethers when bouncing around dealing with running back-stays and such, than to unclip and drag a tether along. So, My tethers:

One each port/stbd, more-or-less permanently attached to the jack lines (when unused, they sort of dangle into the cockpit). Each has that double end sort of "Y" thingy.

Two straight tethers in the cockpit. (Can be grabbed before exiting companionway.)

One straight tether left attached where boom meets mast for try'sl work or main'sl lash down. Or clambering up higher to watch the pretty coral as we enter a lagoon

Well, that's how we do things aboard Mariane.
What you do is up to you.