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Blue Crab · 05-01-2013, 17:47

Off Galveston I was at the bow dragging down the jib, hanging on to the forestay for dear life in a nasty little squall. I was clipped in but as we went through a wave, the water picked me off the deck and I was hanging out there in mid-water. Wracked my arm but I didn't let go. Ended up slammed face-first on the deck but still aboard. Gotta be better than going overboard. My thought at the time was "Damn, that water's warm."

thomm225 · 06-01-2013, 04:16

I dug out my harness, jackline, and tether yesterday. Looks like the 35' jackline was my main problem. I was just hooking the tether to the jackline then to my harness like the guy in the earlier video. Anything happens, you go in the water and start getting dragged along near the stern where you have to figure out how to reboard.

(that's why my harness has been is storage especially since I have trouble reboarding at anchor)

I started this thread because we have been racing this winter, and the water temp has been between 44-48 degrees F. Several times going forward to rig my jury rigged wing and wing setup, I wasn't totally balanced and the jib clew (my hand hold) was all that was keeping me onboard. Also, sometimes we split tacks. You can make out the other boat but not whether there is someone on there sailing it. When I go forward my boat is under autopilot so if I go in there would definitely be a problem.

My (summer time) thinking is that I'll just swim to land but I doubt I make it this time of year in those temps.

So, after reading many of these posts I decided to try using just the harness and the tether. Hooking the tether to the opposite cabin grab rail before I go forward seems to work perfectly. I have enough room to work and it (the tether) doesn't impede my progress at all. (and) At the same time, it's not long enough to allow me to fall overboard.

If I had to go to the bow to work, I guess I'd have to unhook and rehook on the bow rails. I like to go to the bow in summer a lot on the way in for a beer while the boat is under autopilot. I just enjoy the ride up there looking back at the boat, etc. I usually am just holding on to the forestay/jib but if I were to hit something.......................anyway, now I think I'll just hook up a short tether so I can totally relax.

Blue Stocking · 06-01-2013, 05:30

Dying is really simple, and the multiple methods of rigging safety systems described here is only good if your circumstances fit the moment.
I was aboard a boat where the solo sailor had his foredeck to cabin, over the cabin area, and the cockpit area rigged with diagonal jacklines.
He said he always clipped on the line which had its aft end anchored to the opposite side from where he was working.
His theory was that should he fall over, the fwd movement would drive him aft, and the tether would tighten him to the boat.
The smallest ommision to detail can be fatal--a few years ago, an elderly crewmember, wearing a life jacket, went over the side, crew rounded up and successfully got back alongside the exhausted crew.
Member hooked him with the boathook, pulled upward
, and pulled the PFD over his head. He sunk and drowned.No crotch strap fastened.
Its that easy.

**sneuman** · 06-01-2013, 08:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Far too many Jackstays are useless as they allow the user to still fall over the lifelines. I have gone over and its a very scary thing being dragged along side. Now I only sail with a Wichard harness that has a snap shackle. Secondly you must have a boarding ladder. Rope ladders etc are very very difficult to use as you tend to push them up under the boat rendering them useless.

Nobody except exceptionally strong fit people can hold onto a knotted rope at 5 knots for anything other then a minute or so.

I participate in several mob trials including one in a F6. It's was a real eye opener.

Dave

The knotted line thing always struck me as a bit silly. As you point out, even holding on when be a challenge but even if you could, what then?!

Mambo · 06-01-2013, 08:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomm225

Has anyone out there ever reentered their boat after falling overboard while under way? Or jumped in on purpose and reentered?

I'm a solo sailor, and it has always been a concern........my boat is hard enough to reenter even when it is not moving.

Sure, Tristan Jones did it many times. On at least one occasion when the boat was moving too fast for him to easily pull himself back to the boat on the line he trailed, a shark cam along and gave him the extra incentive he needed to swim for it.

Seriously, I am sure plenty have done it but I wouldn't plan on it. I seem to hear more stories about people found dead on the end of overboard tethers than I do about singlehanders climbing back aboard their boats. Those who do "plan" for it, trail a floating line set up so that it will stall the boat when pulled (not sure how that would work under varying points of sail); then they have a way to drop some sort of boarding ladder down to themselves (seems like a good idea as others point out if only for use at anchor or in a marina).

Kettlewell · 06-01-2013, 09:01

Stern scoops and steps seem to me to be one of the better ways to get back aboard yourself or if you are trying to retrieve someone, and a lot of cats and monos have this feature now too. The scoops and steps have other issues with them, but for man overboard retrieval they seem like a very big benefit. I almost hate to write it, but one of the huge advantages of a catamaran offshore (former cat owner) is the ease and safety of getting around on the boat. It is just a different world from working on the deck of a mono. The lack of heel, the width, the wide walking spaces, etc. make going forward much easier. You are also that much farther from going over the side if you rig a jackline towards the center of the boat.

delmarrey · 06-01-2013, 09:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneuman

The knotted line thing always struck me as a bit silly. As you point out, even holding on would be a challenge but even if you could, what then?!

This is funny. This something I use to do in my youth on those hot summer days off the coast near Sandy Eggo, from my Cal 2-27. Although the water was warm and the boat only doing about 4 knots I always managed to pull myself up to the boat and get back on.

Now at 63 I'd probably drown.

Kettlewell · 06-01-2013, 09:11

I think the chances of catching the knotted line after you fell off a moving sailboat would be pretty slim. Just for kicks, on a warm day try jumping off amidships and see if you can catch the line, and then imagine tumbling off the deck on a dark night wearing weather gear">foul weather gear, popping back up, trying to orient yourself and then swimming full blast in the right direction in order to catch the floating line you can't see before the boat pulls it away.

**sneuman** · 06-01-2013, 13:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by delmarrey

This is funny. This something I use to do in my youth on those hot summer days off the coast near Sandy Eggo, from my Cal 2-27. Although the water was warm and the boat only doing about 4 knots I always managed to pull myself up to the boat and get back on.

Now at 63 I'd probably drown.

That's impressive. I suspect you were in a small percentile even in your youth.

thomm225 · 06-01-2013, 14:38

Well, we raced today and I had my harness on and the tether ready then we started and I must have gone forward 10X but didn't bother with hooking up...............

thomm225 · 07-01-2013, 04:27

But the other boats were close. When cruising alone though in the future, I'll be strapping in........especially if I cannot see land.

Now I understand Zeehag on his boat, Rubber Ducky, never unstraps even while at anchor when he's in the head

**Pblais** · 07-01-2013, 04:41

Quote:

a failsafe so that when you make a mistake or when s!!t happens that you live to tell the story

This covers a lot of situations on a boat not just jacklines. We can all screw up just one time and it would be nice to be able to screw up again. If you can't do it correctly most of the time a jackline won't save you given an infinite list of things you can do wrong. Jacklines are for those that are out there and know what to do. You have to know how to deploy them and be smart enough to use them.

thinwater · 07-01-2013, 04:43

Look at this new harness design. Interesting and worth thinking on, though I have not seen one.

HOME

thinwater · 07-01-2013, 04:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mambo

Sure, Tristan Jones did it many times. On at least one occasion when the boat was moving too fast for him to easily pull himself back to the boat on the line he trailed, a shark cam along and gave him the extra incentive he needed to swim for it.

I'm assuming you are aware that Tristan, while an engauging author, was a teller of tall tales. Perhaps 1/2 of the trips he wrote about either never happened, or happened in a very different manner from that recounted.

I'd be careful of taking his bolder statments too litterally.