MOB solo self rescue

[skkeith]

Is there a system to use the personal AIS MOB broadcasters to make your boat come and pick you up if you are solo? If not why not?

[Snore]

Next time you go sailing, throw a PFD in the water and sail back to it. Then you will understand why electronics are not an option.

[skkeith]

Personally I have drowned many a hat in impromptu MOB drills, but then again I thought with wind instrumentation auto pilot software actually worked...? Wouldn't this increase your chance of survival if your boat were continually trying to run you down at least?

[KeelMe]

If you're sailing solo and you end up off the boat, it is your own fault.

Why should anyone go to the trouble of creating a system that allows people to make poor decisions?

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Snore

Next time you go sailing, throw a PFD in the water and sail back to it. Then you will understand why electronics are not an option.

I've heard a number of people claim they carry their AP remote and would use that. I wonder if they have tried your exercise, using nothing but the AP.

[atoll]

leave a couple of 200lb fishing lines out the back ,if you are lucky the hook will catch you and if the boat is going slow enough you can pull yourself back onboard........

[skkeith]

Originally Posted by KeelMe

If you're sailing solo and you end up off the boat, it is your own fault.

Why should anyone go to the trouble of creating a system that allows people to make poor decisions?

I think the idea is similar to EPRB: gives you something to play with while freezing to death.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by atoll

leave a couple of 200lb fishing lines out the back ,if you are lucky the hook will catch you and if the boat is going slow enough you can pull yourself back onboard........

OWWWWWEEEEEEE!!!!! That ought learn ya!

[gamayun]

I tell anyone who sails with me that I have only 2 rules: Rule #1 - stay on the boat; Rule #2 - never violate rule #1.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by Snore

Next time you go sailing, throw a PFD in the water and sail back to it. Then you will understand why electronics are not an option.

Sorry, but this is just old-fashioned thinking. Nobody is asking the boat to execute a classic figure-8 retrieval pattern, under sail.
Who said the boat would have to "sail" back to you? You DO know that cars can drive themselves these days, right? (disclaimer- as a software/hardware engineer, I don't trust autonomous vehicles)
Understand that there are engineer/tinkerers who happen to be sailors. This is the group that will have the solution for which the OP was searching. Some of us have even tested such home-grown systems.

(I think the niche market for such an elaborate system is a bit too small, but a good friend of mine is a solo sailor, so I persist.)

There are a few hurdles we've toyed with:
1. Automatically sense that the Captain is MOB. (easy. check.)
2. Automatically douse the sails. (tricky. not yet ideal. not generic.)
3. Automatically start the engine, engage prop. (a bit difficult. not generic.)
4. Automatically find the MOB like a trusty St Bernard. (easy. check.)
5. Automatically bump the bow gently into the MOB. (easy. check.)
6. Automatically haul the MOB aboard. (nope. hoping you are conscious when your boat comes back for you like a trusty Australian Shepherd?)
7. Warm up the retrieved MOB. (blanket+rum. check.)

[gamayun]

Come on guys, you need to think outside the box. Cyan almost had it.

The boat does not need to come back to the MOB. Instead there could be a "drone" device on the hull that would detach, motor its way to the MOB, hook up the person somehow and tow them back to the boat, which maybe was put into a hove-to state by the drone when it detached. It would be simple to have a device attached to a PFD that would "talk" to the drone if the skipper was more than 100 feet from the boat. To ensure this doesn't happen at the dock, it would be put in "discovery mode" only when the vessel goes to sea. Et voila...

But seriously, how many people go overboard and are not retrieved? What would be the market for such a gadget as well as one that would need to be serviced every few years for a lot of money (think life rafts, but with batteries and sensitive electronics....).

[cyan]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Come on guys, you need to think outside the box. Cyan almost had it.

The boat does not need to come back to the MOB. Instead there could be a "drone" device on the hull that would detach, motor its way to the MOB, hook up the person somehow and tow them back to the boat, which maybe was put into a hove-to state by the drone when it detached. It would be simple to have a device attached to a PFD that would "talk" to the drone if the skipper was more than 100 feet from the boat. To ensure this doesn't happen at the dock, it would be put in "discovery mode" only when the vessel goes to sea. Et voila...

But seriously, how many people go overboard and are not retrieved? What would be the market for such a gadget as well as one that would need to be serviced every few years for a lot of money (think life rafts, but with batteries and sensitive electronics....).

That's an interesting concept...
I've only focused on the mothership coming back to the MOB. The small market size is indeed a consideration, and the solution may be expensive/cumbersome for most.
My tinkering started when a drunken crew once went MOB. The outcome was good, but the question stuck in my head- why doesn't this fancy boat simply go back and find the dorks that fall off said fancy boat??

[Dave_S]

What about towing the tender. If the software detects MOB cut the tender loose, that could happen in less than a second. Stop or slow the boat. shouldn't be more than a few hundred meters away.

Face it, if your unconscious and in the water your screwed.




Ha ha false alarms would be a PITA

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by atoll

leave a couple of 200lb fishing lines out the back ,if you are lucky the hook will catch you and if the boat is going slow enough you can pull yourself back onboard........

I always think about that when trolling. In fact, it's a good way to focus your attention on staying on the boat!

[thinwater]

Name some ways to stop a boat. Think outside the box.


Pretend you are holding on to the "last chance line" people write about. But the boat is still going 7 knots and there is no way you are going to pull yourself up. You could trip the autopilot, but the sails are balanced, so that doesn't help. Perhaps the line put the helm over; the boat tacked and then settled onto a close reach at 5-6 knots (tested it--that is what my boat does).


What would you be wishing for? Picture yourself being dragged through the water. There are probably several answers. I tested one, but I can think of others.


PS. I'm not sure dropping the tender will help that much if the boat is going at 5-6 knots. By the time you catch it, you'll have a LOT of ground to close. Besides, it probably flipped when dropping off the davits.