Pole hole in boat's bum?

[DennisDW]

Really? Do I need it? I'm getting ready to repaint and I could cut it out and close it up and fair it in like it was never there. It makes access to stuff under the rail hard to get to. I'm not racing. Aren't there better mob options?

Or should I keep it and rig it? I do sail offshore with crew. Thought usually only one person is on watch at a time. If you go over you can't pop your own pole, can you?

Naive in paradise.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[tkeithlu]

Dennis, I'm afraid you're not getting responses because it's not clear what you are asking. Could you describe what this strange tangle of SS tubing does, or is supposed to do, so those with appropriate experience can wax eloquent?

[barnakiel]

Good location as the pole does not tangle nor gets damaged or lost in a wipeout.

I like it. Seen it on many older racers. I would keep it if you are ever going to use it.

If you plug it with foam and light filler then paint over, next owner can easily retrofit if they like too.

b.

[DennisDW]

Hi tkeithlu, you betray your youth. I am happy for you.
Dennis

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Cheechako]

The pole hole makes good sense. Keep it.

[Jim Cate]

Dennis, IMO if you wish to have a MOB pole, the "hole-in-the-bum" is the best way to mount it. If you don't feel the need, then removing the interior housing and closing up the hole is a good plan. All up to your ideas about safety equipment. FWIW, we gave up on those poles a long time ago. If you are very worried about MOB recovery, an AIS based locator as now available beats the pole all hollow.

And just in case tkeithlu is serious... that is a wind-vane self steering unit.

Jim

[deblen]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Dennis, I'm afraid you're not getting responses because it's not clear what you are asking. Could you describe what this strange tangle of SS tubing does, or is supposed to do, so those with appropriate experience can wax eloquent?

I had to look up "bum hole" too!! MOB Pole for Man Overboard Is Great But Dan Buoy is Better

I did guess correctly on the "tangle of tubes"

Not sure why fwd sloping transoms were popular-eye of the beholder?

Cheers/ Len

[Moontide]

Keep it. Keeps the pole out of the way and out of the sun.

Attach to a line to your horseshoe perserver so pole deploys automatically if horseshoe is deployed. Much easier to see than just a floating item, especially by the person in the water.

Don't forget to put a drogue on so it doesn't blow away faster than the MOB can swim to it.

[reed1v]

Evidently you do not wear a life vest nor a line hooked to your MOB gear. Good for you. Who needs all that stuff? For the rest of us, single handed sailors of past eras, your vest and MOB were about the only thing that could save you if you went overboard(before epirbs). The MOB was attached to the boat, you attached to the MOB, and the vest attached to you to keep you above water.

[wrwakefield]

Dennis,

As others have mentioned, it depends upon whether you want to keep a rigid POB pole, or go with alternatives and use the hole in question for something else.

I abandoned rigid poles with my last vessel because I found them difficult to securely stow in an immediately deployable manner; as they age they shed fiberglass splinters when touched; offer no useful buoyancy to a swimmer, and are hard so could cause harm.

We replaced it with a Dan Buoy which counters all our issues listed above.

However, we primarily rely on electronics for announcing and pinpointing a person in the water. We currently have AIS transmitters attached to our inflatable PFDs. When the time comes, we plan to upgrade to the MOB1 which includes AIS and VHF DSC [Calls your own boat, and manually calls all ships...]

But, if we have someone take an unplanned dunk while not wearing their PFD, or wearing one without alert devices, the Dan Buoy can be tossed in their direction [we can toss it about 25-30 feet...] and it offers significant buoyancy and hand holds should they be able to swim to it... [And yes, hitting the swimmer with the Dan Buoy package before it inflates could also cause harm as it is ballasted and that would hurt if landing on one's face or head...]

In case this helps you with your planning.

Cheers!

Bill

[phydeaux]

I raced for years with a pole-in-the-hole. Stowing the MOB pole in the tunnel keeps it out of the way and out of the sun. The pole is attached to the horseshoe. When the MOB yell comes, the helmsman or whomever is at the transom (running backs?) simply drops or throws the horseshoe, and the drag pulls the pole out, deploying the flag and light. I went over the side at night, the relatively inexperience trimmer dropped the buoy, which dropped the Forespar rig, all of which saved my life on a breezy and lumpy night 25 miles off Mexico.
If you can't afford a Dan Buoy or a MOM-8, this simple system works.

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by deblen

Not sure why fwd sloping transoms were popular-eye of the beholder?

Cheers/ Len

IOR racing rules measurements gave a better handicap.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by deblen

I had to look up "bum hole" too!! MOB Pole for Man Overboard Is Great But Dan Buoy is Better

Seriously? You had to look up "bum hole"?

Not sure why fwd sloping transoms were popular-eye of the beholder?
Cheers/ Len

Reverse Transoms = More Water Line for Less Weight (in theory).
If you can find a racing boat with a transom any more that is. As nowadays, everything has 0 arse (Open Transoms). Reverse Transomed boats are now "Racer-Cruisers", well, of a sort.


For the OP. MOB Poles are still great to have, even if you have electronics. As they make it a lot easier to find the MOB visually, even if your electronics get you close. Because even in calm waters, it's surprisingly hard to spot a person, even up close. Let alone in big waves, heavy weather, or at night.

With a self illuminating pole, especially with a built in tip light. Or even just some SOLAS tape on the pole's upper end, or on the flag, it makes your odds of finding someone after dark a Lot better. And there aren't many ways to get a light or reflector 8'+ above the water.
Try it some time, finding something tossed over the side, in waves or after dark. It's scary. But it should be part of your drills sked.

Plus, as has been noted already, it's an easy way to deploy your whole MOB kit in a second or three. Cheaply.


Also, what are your other options for when someone's not secured to the boat, or doesn't have a PFD? As there are times when a harness or inflatible PFD's are as dangerous as they are helpful. Or that you have to cut away your tether, or remove/puncture your PFD, so as not to drown.
http://www.pbo.co.uk/seamanship/is-i...a-tether-25125

And a lot of the so called "Safety Hooks" on tethers, & tethers themselves, are crap. Particularly some of the mandate approved ones. As with a good number of the latter, I can get them to release via hand pressure alone, one handed while holding them. Ditto on being able to permanently deform them via the same method.
And on both of these, it's done using a motion which they're likely to be subject to in a lot of situations.

So, IMO, they're not fully trustworthy. Ergo, you need a Plan B.

And I say the above, having done a number of Safety at Sea Seminars; as a student, equipment tester, teacher, & researcher. In addition to some SAR training, Aircraft Egress in Water, Dive School (USN), etc.

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by cal40john

IOR racing rules measurements gave a better handicap.

Why a reverse stern - SailNet Community

"L" is the 'measured length' under the rule, and was the distance between the fore and aft girth measurements.. girth measurements were taken from deck edge to deck edge. So the reverse transom moved the aft girth point forward, shortening the measured 'L' vis a vis the boat's actual length for a rating advantage.

Surprisingly little available on IOR on a google search.. I know I have a graphic at home with a drawing of the pertinent IOR measurement points somewhere, but it's not on the web as far as I can see...

[DennisDW]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll keep it based on your recommendations. I have the pole and horseshoe buoy. I admit ignorance regarding reed1v's set up. When is one attached to the mob gear? Surely just in the cockpit? Do you have a reference to that rig?
Great advice again from the CF family.
Dennis

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app