Singlehander Missing Near Little Creek Inlet, VA

[btrayfors]

38F at the Chesapeake Bridge-Tunnel. You wouldn't last long in the water without a proper survival suit.

[John A]

Originally Posted by hanschristian38

I am not sure that a tether will do much good if you are alone.

What I always did, while cruising singlehanded for ten years, was to use the tether to keep myself within the toerails of my boat!

some times this required me to double the tether to make it shorter. Most times I had two tethers attached to the harness, this allowed me to attach one tether to another point before detatching the first tether.

If leaving the cockpit to go forward, ALWAYS go forward on the high side of your boat and cross over to the low side still atached to the jackline (you do have those right?). Don't be afried to crawl forward with the tether doubled around the jackline. If mast work is required,leave one tether attached to the jackline and double the second around the boom, so that you can use both hands to attend to whatever.

Four times the above steps kept me inside the boat. Once the jib sheet wrapped around my neck and jerked me into the air to the length of the tether and the slack of the jackline before slamming to the deck. If I'd not been tethered to the jackline, I'd have been flipped overboard.

I'll admit, sometimes I never wore the harness, but it was always in the cockpit. .

[nv5l]

Here's what it looked like after it was found:

[galleyslave]

The most common cause of such accidents is taking a pee over the side if you believe the reports of how many bodies are fished up with their flies open.

[Cormorant]

I've often wondered about rigging a Prussik loop on a tether to use as an ascender in the case that your tether is long enough to allow you to go overboard. Probably more complication (potential snags) than anyone would want.

[Therapy]

Sad to hear.

[Mimsy]

Very sad news indeed.

[Zednotzee]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

38F at the Chesapeake Bridge-Tunnel. You wouldn't last long in the water without a proper survival suit.

Contrary to popular belief, it will take about an hour for hypothermia to set in for an average person in that sort of water temperature. However, without a PFD, you'll drown long before that.

Cold Water Boot Camp

I agree, a proper thether shouldn't allow you to fall off the boat in the first place. My perference is a dual tether with a 3' as well as a 6' reach.

Handheld vhf is a good idea too.

[LostAtSea2011]

Well that wasn't a very good investment.

[Wand]

Originally Posted by John A

Don't be afried to crawl forward with the tether doubled around the jackline. If mast work is required,leave one tether attached to the jackline and double the second around the boom, so that you can use both hands to attend to whatever.

As JohnA says, when you're alone, be a chicken. Strap yourself in and crawl. That's what so great about single-handing; there's no-one to guffaw at the absence of heroics (provided you don't tell)...

Originally Posted by Zednotzee

Handheld vhf is a good idea too.

Also a personal epirb. One of those toys saved a bloke when the keel snapped and the boat went turtle way offshore in NSW.

[steve_hendry]

I don't have much useful to add. I occasionally go to Gene Gammon's Irwinyachts.com site which has a brokerage page to check on asking prices for Irwin 39/40s (they're very similar boats). Wampeter had been for sale for a year or so.

[Bergovoy]

i thought that if Iwere tethered to the boat and went over board while under sail with the auto tiller thing, that it would be called TROLLING.. and with my luck I would get a fined for fishing without a license...

hehehe

[four winds]

I need a proper tether. When standing on the cabin top the lifelines look practically useless to me. I could see flying over them without a chance of engaging their purpose.

I wear my PFD and have a handheld vhf with gps clipped on my person. So far I've just been using a spare line to tie off like a tether to my PFD buckles. Maybe that's not a good idea.

It doesn't seem "scary" to me but it sure does keep ones senses peaked at times.

Offshore sailing is new to me, so I'm trying to be safe and have fun.

[CarlF]

Very sad. I hope it wasn't something like checking the exhaust. One of my true fears is that I will die feeling like an idiot. Sebastian Junger did research as part of the Perfect Storm of people brought back from near death drowning experiences. A frequently reported "last thought" before losing consciousness was that it was the "last, greatest act of stupidity in their life".

When single handing, short, multiple tethers are good. As is a 50ft dragged floating line. As is a boarding ladder that can be deployed from the water. Even then, the odds are grim once over the lifelines.

Carl

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by nv5l

Here's what it looked like after it was found:
Attachment 23483

So the engine was not in gear, and how about the sails ... set or not? If not it would make me wonder??