Suddenly Singlehanded

[gamayun]

Good article on how VHF with DSC can work for recoveries...
https://www.surfski.info/latest-news...vhf-radio.html

[Mr B]

Very interesting thread, Lots of good ideas.

My new lady is a rank novice to boats and Im in the process of giving her a crash course in driving the boat first up,
Whether to save me, MOB, or save herself, If Im dead or injured and or immobilised,

When we leave Melbourne, All our sailing will be offshore, Some places, Hundreds of miles from no where,
Yes, She can hit the EPIRB, and get the cavalry to save her,
But this is not about getting saved,

Its to make her a proficient sailor in her own right, Motoring and sailing,

Im a firm believer in not going overboard in the first place,
Comes from being single handed in all my voyages,
I have firm rules on being tethered in at all times on deck,
And not being able to go over the side, Ever,

Chucking heaps of floaties over for the MOB to hang onto is a good idea, and to make the area easier to find when the boat has been turned around,
I have floating cushions in the cockpit as seats, , I will tie a light onto them, another great idea I didnt think off,

Even more so having some thing that sticks up high out of the water and with a light on it,
Getting her to drive the boat back to where I am, using the GPS and MOB button,
These will be the first things I will teach her,

Stop the boat in the MOB position and just wait and look around for the flotsam,
Then cruise slowly over to where the flotsam is, and then wait there,
I will be close to it in the water,

Then slide the boat along beside me in the water, Not over me as the prop will get me,
Im in a Cat, Central drive leg,
Put the motor into Neutral as she comes alongside me,

I can grab the rail on the rear steps, and climb back on that way, The bottom step is only a foot out of the water, Using the rudder to step on, Either side,
The steering wheel side has a drop down ladder into the water,

The Genoa can flap and bang all it likes, Forget about it, Cut the rope if you have too,
If its still driving the boat,
The winch is right beside the cockpit,
I will place a very Sharp knife next to it in future, A good Idea I didnt think off,

My Boom is lashed down permanently as I dont use the mainsail, , Thats a bonus as she wont have to worry about it,

Making sure she dont fall over board trying to rescue me, Get your harness on and tether it,

Being a Nurse and in Management, she is very easy to teach, And learns fast,
Mechanically, she is a total Dud and admits it,
Thats my department, And she has seen what I can do, So leaves it to me,
She still helps me tho, Even tho she has no idea on what Im doing,
But we still get a good laugh out of it all,

Very much food for thought,

Cheers, Brian,

[Jammer]

I can't believe there are still boats out there without boarding ladders. Adding one was the first thing I did with my previous sailboat when I got it. The boat I have now has a well thought out one installed by the factory.


In my situation I believe the best thing my wife could do in the unlikely event that I am overboard is call for help on 16 and either heave to or keep the boat pointed in a more or less safe direction. She prefers not to learn to sail but is helpful around the boat in other ways and enjoys our outings.


I am not about to insist that she learn skills that do not interest her as that will just turn her off to the whole experience. I agree with the posts upthread that successful recovery of a POB on a boat that was double handed is more aspirational than realistic. There are so many other safety practices that matter more.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Jammer

I can't believe there are still boats out there without boarding ladders. Adding one was the first thing I did with my previous sailboat when I got it. The boat I have now has a well thought out one installed by the factory.

In Canada, a "rebording device" (such as a ladder) is REQUIRED when minimum freeboard (the vertical height that a person must climb to reboard the boat from the water) is over 0.5 m (1’8”).

Is this not the case elsewhere?

[Jammer]

I believe in the USA it's a recently added requirement for new boats at the time of manufacture.


Too, there are a lot of people who can't climb over a 0.5m gunwale.

[requiem]

VHF with DSC
Very nifty, but also rather bulky, which means a lower chance of having it on you. The author of the article gamayun linked also mentions the problem of water in the microphone, that's good to be aware of. I like the idea of the AIS beacons such as the OceanSignal MOB1. These do require that you have your boat electronics set up to receive and display the information.

Attaching things to PFDs
Often there's a small loop of the bladder fabric designed for attaching things, but the other option is to use the inflation tube. (I believe a device like the MOB1 includes a bracket designed for that.)

Hitting the MOB button
Some require holding the button for a short time; make sure you've actually tested this in your drills.

Reciprocal courses
Reciprocal courses come to mind if someone went over and you have no idea where; there's little other practical option unless they have some form of beacon attached. I agree with the priority on stopping the boat / staying near the person.

Hauling someone up
To me this is the most neglected part. Everyone practices hooking fenders out of the water, but not so much rigging a hauling system. If you have some lifting tackle, how quickly is the person able to retrieve and rig it? Friction reduces the efficiency; can they actually lift you, particularly when soaked? At least for MOBs in nice conditions (i.e. you hadn't been tethered) a ladder still works well. The important part is to have something you've practiced and doesn't require a great deal of faffing about.

[Don C L]

So I don't have one of these but it looks like the best of all worlds to me:
https://www.landfallnavigation.com/m...BoCZxEQAvD_BwE
In my own case I figure that if I am the one going over I'll be on my own so I do also have a PLB in the pocket. I do have a floating handheld VHF but it is bulky to carry and if you are in the water you don't get much line-of-sight connection to anyone!

[requiem]

On recovery techniques:

Strangely enough I haven't gotten around to really testing the crash-tack and heave-to method; I've always ended up using versions like the quick stop.

The two can be rather similar. After you've thrown flotation, hit the MOB button, etc, crash tack and haul in the main. You can continue into a hove-to state, or do a bit more. This article raises some cautions about the crash tack and heaving-to approach. It also assumes the person remaining on board can heave to effectively and isn't going to get caught up in trying to make it work.

For the "do a bit more" option, you can circle the MOB at this point. With the jib backed and the main centered, you can steer to keep the MOB on your beam and simply turn circles all day. If the plan is to call the Coast Guard and direct them in, this keeps you on station. If the plan is to recover them, the moment the boom comes across you can simply turn straight for them and loose the sheets as you approach. (This, of course, is the "quick stop" method.)

An interesting variation on this is to simply pirouette the boat as described here. The only difference is that here, the wheel is locked hard over after the crash tack and hauling in the main. The end result is similar to the above, except that you're more free to leave the wheel to attend to the engine, radio, etc. I only just ran across it when doing my quick "did I miss anything check" when typing this. Both of these approaches at least keep you near the person and buy some time to get calm and plan the next steps.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by contrail

Just heave to, as quickly as possible, and stop the boat.

I agree. Can't recall the number of times I've retrieved hats this way, when singlehanding.


When you do this, it is NOT complicated and when still hove to can actually maneuver back to the object in the water without dealing with the sails.


Requires a few practice drills, use a fender with some floating line on it so it's easy to recover with a boat hook.

[Don C L]

I am not sure how well some of those techniques will work in more blustery conditions and with different boats. I'd like to see a thread of videos of MOB practice in different boats in more extreme conditions It really helps to practice these in really windy and choppy conditions. I usually tend to think in worst case scenarios, like running downwind with more sail area up than could handle tacking back up. Will a reef be necessary if you had to turn around all of a sudden? Or an accidental gybe, even if there is a preventer on, might knock someone over. The person remaining would have to be able to collect themselves and the boat and not lose sight of the MOB in that situation, and hopefully immediately toss over whatever MOB equipment is onboard. It's a challenge even for an experienced crew on a racing boat.

[goboatingnow]

Again , it’s your wife left on board , maybe she hasn’t the knowledge or strength to heave to , equally that s awkward downwind


My view , if wind forward of the beam , just round up and sheet everything in , start the engine

Down wind is more tricky as a panic can cause a gybe . Quite frankly I can’t trust a panicked person to round up correctly from having the wind aft of the beam

Again a wife will not retrieve an incapacitated husband from the sea

[requiem]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Again , it’s your wife left on board , maybe she hasn’t the knowledge or strength to heave to , equally that s awkward downwind

...

Again a wife will not retrieve an incapacitated husband from the sea

And I want to know why not!

This is still a reminder about good risk management. If your partner doesn't have these skills, then it's probably wise to consider yourself as singlehanded anyway. If carrying too much sail to safely round up, perhaps the boat is over-canvassed for the circumstances. It also means being a bit more conservative when considering the weather.

[Don C L]

All good, but the problem I have with this and other techniques where the main is left up and not sheeted in is that in the focus on the MOB, as you approach, and you are away from the helm, that boom swinging freely can be a real hazard, depending on the boat. There are more than a few ways that recovering a MOB can be hazardous, practice in avoiding those hazards is essential to be included IMO. Once the MOB has a line or hand on the boat, all sails should be doused and boom secured before recovery begins I think.

Also, as to stopping the boat upwind and letting it drift down onto the MOB. Try that first, as the one in the water. The current PFDs that most people use have almost all the flotation up around your upper chest and head so that when you are in the water they don't offer much flotation until you are almost completely submerged. They may keep your belly up and your head won't sink, but every little wavelet washes over your head. That along with a boat coming down on you makes it possible for you to get drawn down under the hull. Even if the boat does not submerge you completely it may be panic-inducing.

My opinions here come from many years as a river guide where I occasionally spent time in the water unintentionally in turbulent conditions and caring for others, occasionally in rescues.

All of the videos I have seen so far leave out some of the most important parts. Getting the boat back to the MOB and securing it safely is crucial of course, but then the videos show just reaching over, or using a boathook to grab a fender or a cushion. To me, once you are at the MOB and they are not injured you need to connect them to the boat by way of a throw line, and not your arm reaching over the side (of a J-24? as in one video.) The chances of stopping the boat right at a MOB are slim, more likely you'll be sliding by and if the MOB does not get hold of a connection to the boat the whole procedure will have to be done over. Once the connection is made, as in with a throw line, time to douse and secure everything and bring out whatever gear you have, like a lifesling, to hoist the MOB onboard. If you are solo, yes, little chance of getting yourself aboard unless you have a folding boarding ladder on the transom that you can reach up and release and fold down. With a low freeboard boat in rough seas and some luck you might get thrown back up on deck by wave action if you have a good grip on the rail or stanchion. If your tether is too long you may end up getting dragged. And towing something that you can grab if you fall overboard when singlehanding... has anyone tried that? If you can pull yourself against a 4 or 5 or 6 knot current and then pull yourself back up aboard, sans ladder, can you please send a video? That I'd like to see.

If the MOB is injured and/or unconscious, then the person on board needs to go in after them of course, to get the MOB secured and in a lifesling, so that person needs to have a ladder secured and ready and they need to have themselves tethered to the boat before they jump in. This is a whole course in itself and a PFD designed for rescuers is perfect for this but who carries those? If the boat is moving at all this is difficult. Even a 2 knot drift, which even a boat that is heaved-to could have, can be tough to deal with. These situations are always easy to panic in. It would be easy for someone to see an injured loved one and just jump in without preparing everything.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by KayZee

Silently, I vowed to take a drink every time someone patronized me by stating it was better to stay on board. Thanks. It's only 13:00 and I'm already blotto....

Actually, pretty funny IMO!


But before you blow of the whole idea, take the next logical step. How does a singlehanded sailor get back aboard after MOB? They don't. As a singlehander the rule is not to fall off. The rule of a solo rock climber, or an ice climber on sketch gear, is not to fall. It sounds corny as hell, but it is a good and practical rule in many circumstances. The Vendee Globe guys live by it.


My wife is not a confident sailor, has some mobility issues, so my MOB plan for me has always been not to fall off. The second plan is for her to stop the boat and call someone. If she throws the Lifesling and some other floating stuff in the water, hopefully I can get to it. That's all there is.



But mostly I singlehand.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by requiem

And I want to know why not!

This is still a reminder about good risk management. If your partner doesn't have these skills, then it's probably wise to consider yourself as singlehanded anyway. If carrying too much sail to safely round up, perhaps the boat is over-canvassed for the circumstances. It also means being a bit more conservative when considering the weather.

Explain to me how a wife maybe in her 50s will extract a man from the water ?