"News f2s" wrote in message
...
"Capt. JG" wrote in message
Very important in cold water, when speed is vital. Not so important in
warm water when you've got time to experiment a bit. My way:
Actually, accuracy in getting the boat next to the MOB and getting the
boat stopped is more important than speed. It's better to slow things
down and get it right, unless you're talking about arctic waters. In 55
degree water, the person will be a live quite a long time.. many hours.
However, they'll be unable to help themselves in 20 minutes or so. The
most important thing to have happen is for the person to have a PFD,
since this will extend their survival time.
By 'speed' I meant 'short time to recover MOB'. I thought that shorthand
was obvious since I was referring to the cold water problem . . . sorry if
it confused you.
You said "important in cold water." What I'm saying is that accept in arctic
conditions, speed shouldn't be considered during a recovery. You should
block it out of your mind as best as you can. Sure, shorter is better than
longer, but even if it takes 30 minutes and you do it right, that's better
than several passes of doing it wrong and saving 10 minutes. You're much
more likely to injure the person in the water or the someone on the boat or
the boat itself.
Ladders on the stern are not a good way to recover someone, due to
wave/boat slam. The boat is a lot more stable on the beam, with less
chance of getting hit by the boat, the prop, etc.
I guess you haven't tried this. Almost always, the boat will be making a
small headway, so you'll be heaving your man in from astern. Set the boat
up beam to the sea to minimise pitching. Even if it's pitching, a deep
enough ladder (3 steps in the water) prevents him from going under the
stern. And once he's got a pair of hands on the ladder sides, he can
control his position in all but the most extreme conditions. A beam ladder
has to be positioned by someone, which is a delay, the man has to be
pulled forward (past that prop?), and the vessel pointed head to sea. And
very few beam ladders (unless they're specially designed) go deep enough
into the water to useful to a swimmer. Rope ladders, sometimes suggested,
slide around the bilge and are very difficult to get your foot into.
You've probably tried using the flexible steps to get into a life raft -
b** useless.
Actually, we have. The boat should not be making "small headway," rather it
should be completely stopped. Small headway is how fast exactly? 1 kt? Even
at that speed you'll be hard-pressed. You're talking about someone who at
best is totally freaked from having been in the water. They're not going to
be doing anything except scrambling to get back on, and that assumes they
can actually do something useful. Most MOBs don't fall off in benign
conditions. 10 foot seas with lots of chop and whitecaps are pretty extreme
if you have someone in the water.
Pulled forward?? You need to stop the boat between the waves/wind and the
person ON THE BEAM. If your boat is set up properly, deploying a beam ladder
(which I don't think is a good idea either) takes a matter of seconds to
deploy. Instead of a ladder, use the rest of the boat's equipment to recover
the person. As soon as you attach them to the boat, you have plenty of time.
but why not just rig something with the tools available on the boat...
you have winches, halyards... use them.
Because it takes time, rehearsal and at least two on deck. You'll need one
person to stabilise the boat's motion and hold it's heading. One more to
rig the gear - and that'll take time, especialy if the MOB is chilling
down and becoming clumsy at assisting you. OK, now he's attached. Next,
you've got to lift him . . . now, at this stage the helm can usually move
in to assist, and you'll need him.
No, it doesn't take excessive time. Yes, it takes practice! You can and I
have done all of this by myself. You don't need anyone to "stabilize" the
boat.
Here are the basic steps:
0) Calm down and help whoever remains on the boat to do the same (panic
kills faster than cold water)
1) return to the MOB (several methods - note that using the Lifesling, you
can't drag the person around)
2) position the boat abeam of the MOB with the MOB on the leeward side (this
protects the person and makes it easier to recover them)
3) stop all forward motion of the boat (anything less than this will make it
very difficult to recover the MOB)
4) attach the MOB to the boat (now they can't go anywhere)
5) drop all sails and secure the boom (you don't want jib sheets and booms
whipping around and you don't want the possibility of sailing away)
6) recover the MOB (use a winch, etc. to make it easier on everyone)
I've tried this (in the Med, nice and warm) with several variations.
Halyard with four part tackle attached. Barrel sling. All methods ended up
needing three on deck. Negotiating the lifelines was always an issue. Best
to cut those free so the deck edge is clear, and there's not so far to
lift the man (or woman - sorry if I'm not being PC here!)
You're just wrong or not doing this right. ONE person can do this, but yes
you have to practice.
3. When they can't climb in, send someone down to drag 'em in.
Down? You should almost never put a second person in the water if that's
what you mean.
Bad idea in most cases.
I meant, send someone down ito the dinghy to drag him in. It's much easier
to get him on board from a dinghy, even if incapacitated. So, you're going
to leave him in the water and rig halyards etc instead? Maybe OK in warmer
water, but a right chill off otherwise. But of course, with only two
aboard, deciding to go down into the dinghy means putting two at risk
versus one (in cold water) certainly lost.
The dink is going to be, at best, highly unstable. Putting someone in the
dink is going to be tricky and dangerous except in the most benign
conditions, as you pretty much said.
A. It's foolish to go to sea in a boat which can't be boarded from the
water by a fit person.
Even a couple of feet of freeboard will prevent most people from climbing
on by themselves.
Precisely my point. All craft should be fitted with a ladder which can
easily be set up from within the water. Even at anchor. Swimming ashore
after falling in is not always an option. Even some marinas don't have
ladders to get you out of the water . . . in fact, ladders cope with the
majority of MOB events.
Your point doesn't quite cut it. You need to use the boat to help you
recover someone. A boarding ladder should be available when you go swimming,
but it isn't good enough for an MOB recovery. Learn and practice the proper
recovery methods for an MOB. That's what is going to save someone's life....
not getting a nice boarding ladder for the stern.
--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com