Who has fallen off their boat?

[Larryo]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

One trick when in this situation is to straddle the lifelines (i.e. one leg inside, one outside) until you are actually going to step off.

Oh, and the rule when I’m skippering is that anyone can wear a PFD at any time they want to (as well as the usual times when I require them).

Great post.


We don't have to always wear a PDF, but there are times it's not only appropriate, it's a MUST. And Chris, totally agree, if one want's to wear theirs, no issue.



And, if one really pays attention and has situational awareness they understand the risks and can act accordingly. However, if one is new, get to know things conservatively... if in doubt, wear a PDF. And, above all, get training.

[SuW]

Originally Posted by AnglaisInHull

There's a lot of good material for reflection here.

A couple of years ago while walking back to the boat, at dock in a marina late at night, I looked at the dock configuration and started thinking about how far I would have to swim to get to land if I fell in right there. I'm now likely to wear a pfd on dock if there's no one else around.

And going through locks - in my view that's the most dangerous place on a canal - you're out playing on deck and there's no place to walk ashore if you fall in. But hardly anybody wears a pfd in locks.

Yes, definitely wear lifejackets in a lock.

In the St. Lawrence Seaway and Welland Canal they won't let you through the locks unless every person on deck is wearing one.

We wear inflatable harnesses at all times on deck when away from the dock.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

...

As far as depth of swim ladders...18" is doable for a young healthy individual who is not shocked or hypothermic. If you aren't in tip top shape or you injured yourself on the way down or it simply takes you a few minutes and go hypothermic...a deeper 3-4 step dive style ladder is worlds better. (Keep in mind just because you can climb it...can all your guests?)

As far as doing pull ups...even back in my 20's when I played multiple sports and could run a 6 min mile, I couldn't do a pull up if my life depended on it.

Good observation. I have always extended ladders deeper.


Body types vary. A 6 min. mile would have always been impossible for me, and I was a bike racer, and still ride fast. But from 10-60 I could always do 20 pull-ups and get up a ladder with a rung at water level. But I can pull the ladder right down on every boat I have owned (or rather I make it that way!).

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

...

As far as depth of swim ladders...18" is doable for a young healthy individual who is not shocked or hypothermic. If you aren't in tip top shape or you injured yourself on the way down or it simply takes you a few minutes and go hypothermic...a deeper 3-4 step dive style ladder is worlds better. (Keep in mind just because you can climb it...can all your guests?)

As far as doing pull ups...even back in my 20's when I played multiple sports and could run a 6 min mile, I couldn't do a pull up if my life depended on it.

Good observation. I have always extended ladders deeper.


Body types vary. A 6 min. mile would have always been impossible for me, and I was a bike racer, and still ride fast. But from 10-60 I could always do 20 pull-ups and get up a ladder with a rung at water level. But I can pull the ladder right down on every boat I have owned (or rather I make it that way!).


(Just for fun, I challenge kids that sail with us to board over the front cross beam, no ladder. I'll show them, and then they grunt and fail.)

[NNBill]

One thing we used to do when we where swimming anchored in an area that had a strong current, is tie a fender to the end of a dock line and trail it off the stern of the boat. Even with a PFD on, if you got tired and found yourself drifting further away from the boat, just grab the safety line. Then either you could pull yourself back to the boat, or someone on the boat could pull you back.

Just a thought when anchored in a high current area.

[ScottRhodes13]

I didn't fall in, but learned a couple lessons once. I was new to boating, and puttering around in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I noticed a bottle floating in the water, so moving at idle speed, leaned over the gunwale to pick it up. As I did so, my first thought was "I bet this is how people fall overboard." My second thought was "Eww, this bottle is full of urine!"
So now, I never leave the helm when in gear, and am very careful what I pull out of the water.

[PerfectPirate]

Originally Posted by sailorladd

I sailed many many thousands of miles and only "fell" off my boat once while I was at anchor lol, when I MIGHT have had a few.... but I never sailed, with or without crew, without towing a fairly long ski line with a little float at the end, incase anyone fell off accidently, and on top of that I usually had a fishing line trolling aft as well...so if you missed the ski line .....

This is not the first time that I have heard someone suggest that the "solution" for falling overboard is to be trailing a line with a buoy on the end. Think again. Similarly, Canadian Safety Regulations require a ring lifebuoy and a 50-foot heaving line, for which most people tie one end to the lifebuoy and tether the other end to their boat. Again a bad idea. You may succeed in putting the buoy into the hands of someone who has just fallen overboard, but a boat moving at 5 knots will run through 50 feet of line in 6 seconds, at which point the buoy will be yanked out of their grip, further increasing their panic and distress.

As for the trailing line, I once challenged my daughters, both very fit and excellent swimmers, to see how long they could hang on to a trailing lifering behind the boat. At 1 knot, they could manage quite well. At 1-1/2 knots, it got a lot more difficult. By the time the speed went past 2 knots, their grip was no longer adequate to hang on. And that was without any injury, hypothermia or drag from clothing. I encourage anyone who thinks that they can hang on, or even pull themselves back up to a moving boat, to try this experiment for themselves. It is an eye-opener. Plus, a trailing line, even a floating one, is always in danger of entangling your propeller, or even fouling your rudder. That said, when we heave-to and go for a swim overboard, I always trail a line with a buoy in case of drift from wind or current. It is amazing how fast a boat with no sails up can still travel.

On a final, sadder note, here in our two local harbours we have lost three experienced single-handers in the past year, two of them in the past three weeks. They were not using tethers and jacklines, and the one whose body was eventually found was not wearing a PFD. Presumably the other two were not wearing them either, as their bodies have never turned up. My crew and I have become much more diligent about wearing PFD's, even in mild conditions. Also, hypothermia can be quick and deceptive in its onset, even at the peak of summer. I have been robbed of the strength needed to climb my boarding ladder by a mid-July swim in Lake Ontario.

[Shaneesprit]

Someone went Man overboard last weekend, in the estuary, his wife called Mayday x3 gave the boat name but not the location, everything scrambled and the guy was picked out of the water by the local RNLI - not sure how they found the location (I think she gave location by a buoy name later) which is pretty good knowledge
but pressing the DSC button on the VHF and a flare would of been the best choice.

I always drill into my wife the DSC button.

Last time I fell off, I was a small child, hooked the mooring rather than the pickup buoy - since then I have learned not to hold on to the boat hook if it’s going to pull me in, I had to let it go last year when picking up the mooring and was unable to hold the boat against the wind and current.

[rickwest]

I jumped overboard to clear my props and was sweep away in a strong current 45 miles later and several nautical mile I was resused by Malaysian fishermen.
This happened in the waters between Indonesia and Malaysia 150 NM south if GeorgeTown.. the current is extreme did not realize it until it was too late.
I was in full scube gear swimming against a current is difficuilt.

[Lindsaymcm]

Originally Posted by Cllewellyn

He had to relieve himself so slowed the vessel down to idle and stepped onto the swim platform, slipped and fell int the water. At idle speed he couldn't catch up to his boat so it just kept going, with no other boats in the area.

I never leave the cockpit without putting the engine in neutral.

[skipperpete]

The hard stand is a fairly lethal place to fall off a boat. On the marina where I kept my boat we had 4 serious accidental departures from the deck and one fatality. The guy that died had a habit of peeing off the stern of his boat in the marina and the first fall was into the water so not too bad but some time later he hauled out for bottom paint and fell off the stern , probably late at night. His body was found on the concrete in the early dawn. Alcohol and epilepsy were rumored to be likely factors in his demise. All of the other accidents resulted in compound fractures and in one case a dreadful infection at the fracture required a long hospitalisation and reconstructive surgery.

[barnakiel]

It happens. Stay tethered.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

The hard stand is a fairly lethal place to fall off a boat. On the marina where I kept my boat we had 4 serious accidental departures from the deck and one fatality. The guy that died had a habit of peeing off the stern of his boat in the marina and the first fall was into the water so not too bad but some time later he hauled out for bottom paint and fell off the stern , probably late at night. His body was found on the concrete in the early dawn. Alcohol and epilepsy were rumored to be likely factors in his demise. All of the other accidents resulted in compound fractures and in one case a dreadful infection at the fracture required a long hospitalisation and reconstructive surgery.

NEVER pee directly off the boat - whether in the water or on the hard (which is pretty disgusting and smelly for everyone in the yard). I use a large liquid laundry detergent bottle (it has a necessarily large opening ) in the safety of the cockpit and then dump it immediately over the side or later depending on the circumstances - or into a local toilet if on the hard.

[Saltyblood]

I haven't fallen overboard, but I have found myself in the water several times.

Once I was in a crew shell that flipped. Okay, the memories are coming back, I've been flipped numerous times in crew shells. The most memorable time was a dark early morning on the Long Island Sound in February. We had to crack a skin of ice to pull the shell in that morning. I was in good shape at that time and could do a couple of dozen pull-ups. Even so, as soon as I hit that frigid water I felt paralyzed and weighed down by my sweats. It was all I could do to pull myself across the overturned shell and hang on. I was also on the varsity swim team at the time and swam several miles every day, so I was strong and comfortable in the water. I felt completely immobilized. Luckily the coach's launch was nearby, so we were quickly whisked back to the boathouse.

Another notable time in the water was lake sailing my catamaran in a warm Southern lake. It was a typical still afternoon, and the breeze had died down. I jumped in to cool down while my friend stayed on the cat. We suddenly got a little puff of wind, and the cat started moving again. I swam over to climb back onboard. Even though we were going one knot or so, it was all I could do to hold onto the rear crossbar until we headed up into the wind. My body had an incredible amount of drag.

Regarding ladder length, I agree longer is better. I was returning to the boat after a dive off Florida, and a 2-4 foot chop had picked up while we were underwater. Getting back on the boat while the boat moved up and down above me was a bit of a challenge. You had to time grabbing and climbing the ladder with the dropping and rising of the stern. It didn't help that the lower ladder section would fold up when the stern came down. It would have been much easier if the ladder locked in place when folded down. Then again, if it fell down inadvertently while under way it would be a big auxiliary rudder.

Falling overboard while under way might be a combination of the above: cold water, several knots speed, and a bobbing stern swim ladder. Definitely something to avoid.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by chrisr

ditto (although when solo i don't wear harness or pdf...who's gunna rescue me ?)



cheers,

Well a harness should keep you on the boat