Girl Overboard !

[Eleven]

Indded it does. The cheap version is a bucket and a white fender with four foot of rope between. Easier to see than a water logged person (the white/yellow fender), won't blow away downwind (the bucket), and a sling for exhausted swimmer to be hauled out (the rope).

[msponer]

Originally Posted by gjordan

One clearly marked emergency pull cord and a life ring,strobe light and pole with a flag on the top, that would all go into the water with one pull of the emergency cord.

How do you rig the pull cord to make everything drop in the water? I haven't seen that before-- our last system was one of throwing individual pieces in the water that were tied together.

[bobconnie]

Like others have said ! good weather,we use terthers and jack lines when we come on deck ! bad weather we hook up before leaving the hatch, we use them at all times and require all guests to do the same ! Never lost anybody yet ! and we don't use a plotter so its really important and much better then trying to find someone in the dark !! we also have the old fashion MPOB Pole and have never had to use it yet but it's there and we test it once a week at sea or in port. better to be safe then sorry!! just our 2 cents Bob and Connie

[Ozbullwinkle]

Originally Posted by gjordan

I just read through this thread and the one one MOB systems and unless I missed it, I havent seen a single reference to the old fashioned Man Overboard Pole that used to be required on almost all racing boats and was usually standard equipment on cruisers. One clearly marked emergency pull cord and a life ring,strobe light and pole with a flag on the top, that would all go into the water with one pull of the emergency cord. The person in the water has something to swim to(if not injured) and the boat has a much better chance of seeing the flag or light than of seeing a persons head. Cruisers almost always had them mounted to a life line rather than up the backstay, because of windvanes or davits. With fiber optics, I would think that a strobe could be at the top of the pole for much better visibility. Unless you have a large crew, you wont have a person able to keep pointing at the person in the water, and there is a lot of work to get a boat turned around under sail or even dropping sail and motoring. The high tech stuff on the MOB thread sounds very good but I think that the basic MOB pole is still needed. ___Grant.

This is still a requirement for Ocean Racing of Cat 2 & above. The system that we use, which is very effective, is that we have a length of plastic pipe capped at one end tied to the top lifeline with the open end facing aft. The MOB bouy and flag is folded in half inside the pipe with a rope coming out of the open end which is attached to a horseshoe float and the emergency light. To deploy all you do is pull the rope coming out of the pipe and the MOB buoy is immediately deployed & the flag snaps upright and you just need to flip the horseshoe float & light out of their adjacent cradles and out they go as well.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by gjordan

I just read through this thread and the one one MOB systems and unless I missed it, I havent seen a single reference to the old fashioned Man Overboard Pole that used to be required on almost all racing boats and was usually standard equipment on cruisers. One clearly marked emergency pull cord and a life ring,strobe light and pole with a flag on the top, that would all go into the water with one pull of the emergency cord. The person in the water has something to swim to(if not injured) and the boat has a much better chance of seeing the flag or light than of seeing a persons head. Cruisers almost always had them mounted to a life line rather than up the backstay, because of windvanes or davits. With fiber optics, I would think that a strobe could be at the top of the pole for much better visibility. Unless you have a large crew, you wont have a person able to keep pointing at the person in the water, and there is a lot of work to get a boat turned around under sail or even dropping sail and motoring. The high tech stuff on the MOB thread sounds very good but I think that the basic MOB pole is still needed. ___Grant.

You need to put this in the, Scary Stuff Thread,

[Kettlewell]

I have a traditional man overboard pole with a flag at the top, a life ring connected by a line, and a floating strobe light with a big battery in it. It is designed to be released quickly, but my standing orders are to jettison every floating object handy if somebody goes overboard: cockpit cushions, spare lifejackets, you name it. I also instruct any new guests that they must assume if they fall overboard they are dead--period. Yes, I will make every effort to retrieve them, but the assumption must be that falling overboard is a death sentence. Then I go on to tell them how we intend not to let that happen: lifelines, rules for when and who may leave the cockpit, etc. Except during the day in good weather nobody leaves the cockpit (very large, and mostly sheltered by a pilothouse) except for me without my permission and myself being notified, even if I am asleep. It sounds harsh, but I have sailed extensively offshore with two young children and we did not want to have any dramas.

I should add that children and women are mostly cooperative and want to learn how to do things the right way. The most likely to fall overboard and the least cooperative are macho males.

[s/v Beth]

I would add one more exercise to MOB drill..We attach a small strobe to a old life jacket and do drills while underway at night. It is a sobering experience for the crew. Make sure everyone is already on deck for the first one, and expect to go through a few strobes/lifejackets before you can do it in realistic conditions :-) (really!)

[Kettlewell]

Maybe it is obvious, but I tape a set of MOB instructions up next to the GPS, which is right next to the helm along with the VHF emergency instructions, which are right next to the radio. Periodically, when I am sailing I practice the key stroke sequence on the GPS--I think it is helpful.

[boatman61]

Everyone's working on the assumption that you'll see the MOB...
but the funny thing is they usually go over when no ones watching and are not missed till the next watch comes up....
the cocky crew member who thinks he need not wake the skipper or anyone else to do a sail change... look how clever I was...
Or a pee of the stern... look no hands OPPPPssssss
Now how would you go about retrieving them....
no MOB point on your GPS to tell you where to go...
all that gadgetry and MOB stuff useless...
lets face it... delivery folk can rarely afford the fancy locater beacons...
even if one carried one the boat likely won't have anything to catch the signal....
Now what ya gonna do....

[kjames]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Everyone's working on the assumption that you'll see the MOB...
but the funny thing is they usually go over when no ones watching and are not missed till the next watch comes up....
the cocky crew member who thinks he need not wake the skipper or anyone else to do a sail change... look how clever I was...
Or a pee of the stern... look no hands OPPPPssssss
Now how would you go about retrieving them....
no MOB point on your GPS to tell you where to go...
all that gadgetry and MOB stuff useless...
lets face it... delivery folk can rarely afford the fancy locater beacons...
even if one carried one the boat likely won't have anything to catch the signal....
Now what ya gonna do....

What about a PLB attached to the person on watch?

[Mr B]

Thats why you wear a harness any time you go on deck, If your single handed,

No ones going to come looking for you if you go over the side,

[gjordan]

I am glad to see that MOB poles are still in use. My basic rule was to always wear a harness unless we were in an anchorage getting ready to drop the anchor. That rule was modified when doing day charters since you cant scare the paying customers. The only reason I still have a wife is the safety harness rule! When crossing from Cabo San Lucas to Mazatlan in the mid 70s on a very pleasant night we took a knock down and almost washed my wife overboard. She was stopped by the safety harness and the life lines. Everything was washed out from under the dodger and out of the cockpit. She ended up with bruises on her back side that matched the perfect outline of the 2 cockpit winches. We hove too for the rest of the night, and I discovered in the morning that the reason that my bunk felt bad was because my cushion (and myself) had gone against the hull side, and a bunch of sh@@ had gone under the cushion when the boat went level again. Was it scary!!!! Hell Yes, but it didnt stop our cruising but it did make me a big believer in safety harnesses , even on pleasant nights.___Grant.

[boatman61]

LOL.... I said a) crew... its a delivery... and b) no PLB's.... boat has no reciever...
lets see how many more evasive posts we get...

[Ozbullwinkle]

Originally Posted by boatman61

LOL.... I said a) crew... its a delivery... and b) no PLB's.... boat has no reciever...
lets see how many more evasive posts we get...

The main thing is to take care not to go over the side in the first place. Yes easier said than done but what I mean by this is to make sure that your harness tether is not long enough to allow you to go over the side in the first place.

As you would be well aware anyone who goes over the side while single handing and is attached to the tether while the boat is sailing along has very little chance of getting back on board unassisted.

As no one wears their harness and tether at all times I always wear my Personal GPS equipped EPIRB (not talking about the onboard MOB systems) on my belt whenever sailing as you never know when the unexpected might happen. After all it will do you no good in your sailbag and I know a couple of boats which have lost their keels without warning and the crew have ended up in the water.

If you activate your Personal EPIRB even when well offshore the emergency authorities can alert all other shipping in the area and with your GPS co ordinates constantly being transmitted at least you have a better than average chance of survival.

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

I would add one more exercise to MOB drill..We attach a small strobe to a old life jacket and do drills while underway at night. It is a sobering experience for the crew. Make sure everyone is already on deck for the first one, and expect to go through a few strobes/lifejackets before you can do it in realistic conditions :-) (really!)

Noted ..the night exercise is agood idea!