my boat is sailing away...

[Mike Banks]

Trolling yourself astern of a sailing vessel would have to be a damn fool thing to do. Apart from getting a cramp or losing one's grip--one could also get chomped by any number of cartiliginous critters. If I want to cool off I beach her and have a swim or throw a bucketful of water over myself.

There was a case a while back where three men disappeared from a catamaran, which was found sailing with torn jib, mainsail set, engine running but in neutral and a meal prepared on the galley table. One could not swim, one swam poorly and one was a good swimmer. The boat had recently been purchased.

How they all finished up in the drink watching the boat sail away from them is conjecture--none of them had much experience if any--but I wondered if they blamed one another as they floated about a few miles from land in tigershark waters.

[rebel heart]

I've towed a couple of people in the water under sail; it's not that dangerous as long as you have some other people onboard who know what they're doing and you have the weather on your side.

I would *never* step foot off my boat alone without making sure she was secured, whether by mooring lines, anchor, of a liferaft as I kiss her goodbye.

Also, there was a new-ish Hunter sail by itself off San Diego about four years ago. The general theory was the singlehanded sailor took a pee off the back, got bumped by a wave, and in he went.

[senormechanico]

Mythbusters recently had a show where they went to South Africa. They towed a seal outline made from wetsuit material behind a power boat to see if sharks would bite. It only took about 5 seconds to find out!

YouTube - MythBusters: Are Sharks afraid of Dolphin?

When I watched this clip on youtube, the sound was way off from the video.
It's still very convincing, even if the sound doesn't match. Just watch what happens as soon as the flat fake seal hits the water.

Steve B.