Polyiso almost killed me

[Comogene]

Just on the news up here in New England. Man fishing on a stone jetty, dropped his cellphone in a depression between the rocks. He went into the space head first to retrieve the phone and could not get out. The Fire Department spent two hours and "gallons" of olive oil to get him out. He was the sent to the hospital for hypothermia.

What a waste of olive oil!

Gene

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by Comogene

Just on the news up here in New England. Man fishing on a stone jetty, dropped his cellphone in a depression between the rocks. He went into the space head first to retrieve the phone and could not get out. The Fire Department spent two hours and "gallons" of olive oil to get him out. He was the sent to the hospital for hypothermia.

What a waste of olive oil!

Gene

Glad they didn't come across me stuck in my freezer .

Regards

[SSgtPitt]

At 6'1" and 200lbs and shoulders wider than average I always have the Admiral standing by. I've only been stuck for short periods but it gets scary quick. You reach that "tipping" point when you're headfirst into the cockpit locker and someone needs to grab your butt and haul you back out.

[ColdEH]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I came close in Sri Lanka--crawled into a cockpit locker to do some work, and the hatch fell and latched me in on a really hot day. The space was about 6 ft long, 3 ft wide and 14 inches high. Lost my voice calling for help, but finally felt an abalone iron I could use to pry and break the latch.

Holly crap , this seems to more dangerous then I thought . Looks like lots of boaters find themselves in this predicament .

Regards


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[admiralslater]

It is shocking a thread that starts out as humorous, quickly becomes unpleasantly really. "There but for".
I will certainly be aware of this next time I need to get in a locker

[foothillsailor]

I was worried about getting stuck inside a cockpit lazarette if the lid accidentally closed and latched ---which is why I 'reversed' all the latches on the lazarette lids so that the long arm was on the bottom sides hanging down rather than hanging down from the lid top where it could have accidentally slid over the other piece and latched shut.

Still there have been times when my mate had to grab my belt and pull me back and out of a lazarette that I was bent over and into and that was too deep for my arms to reach bottom ---other than that mostly a question of not panicking and slowly extricating yourself --- I guess I got used to it from my teenage years working under british sport cars jacked up on cinder blocks (which I now know was very very dangerous) where I had to be careful in turning my head or I would scrape my nose on the underside

[bumpman]

Almost had the same thing as Don Radcliffe. I'm not a big person so I got in the locker of my Triton to work on the engine. Once in I suddenly realized that the locker hatch could close and latch shut and quickly scooted out. I then taped and tied open the hatch cover before going back in. A close one. Reminded me that when on a boat wherever it is, prepare for the worse so that the best will take of itself.

[Fiveslide]

I removed the latch on the engine hatch of a cat I was working on, just so I didn't get locked in. While I was waiting on parts a hurricane passed and blew the hatch open, washed the engine down real good. Had the injectors out, with rags stuffed in the holes, but it still could not have been good for that little yanmar.



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[billgewater]

Many years ago when my boat was on the hard I had a backpacker helping with repairs etc. He decided he could actually get under the main engine and proceeded to slide down. Halfway down he said he was in trouble and asked me to pull off his T (sweat) shirt. I was petrified. I pulled off his T shirt and he then continued down. I had visions of opening up the hull side or lifting the engine out. Repairs finished, he wormed his way out.
Turned out his usual job was working on sewerage system repairs and clearly he did not suffer from claustrophobia.

[Sambama]

It's only funny when Winnie the Pooh does it.

[Bulawayo]

Years ago, I was reading about Tania Aebi's hop around the world when it was serialised in Cruising World. She mentioned about seeing a boat she knew which was behaving erratically. Subsequantly turned out that the single hander was at the top of the mast and somehow bashed his head and died at the mast head trapped in the bosuns chair.
Too scary and it does come to mind when doing some activities. I shall look at my refrigeration in a different light from now on.

Originally Posted by typhoon

Holly crap , this seems to more dangerous then I thought . Looks like lots of boaters find themselves in this predicament .

Regards


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[Old Swampy]

Maybe one should file a spelunking plan.

[Old Swampy]

Maybe one should file a spelunking plan

[bongo]

Several years ago I was installing a bob-stay tang backing plate in the anchor locker. I got my head in, then I got one arm in, then I got my other arm in. So now I'm stuck in a hole that is barely bigger than my waist, (6'3" & 250#), and my cell phone is outside the hole in my pants pocket, and I couldn't reach it. I got out, just barely, by not panicking. I got a friend who was maybe 5'6" and 140# to complete the job. He was easily able to do the job.

[gamayun]

These are things I often think about, especially the cockpit locker closing while at sea while I'm singlehanding. Probably the biggest lessons learned are to think ahead of the possibilities (I LOVE the idea of turning the latch around) and not panicking. It also brought back memories of when a friend and I were younger (but old enough to know better) and were exploring some spring-fed holes in a river in Florida. He squeezed into one that was really tight just holding a single side-mount bottle with a regulator (easier to push it ahead in tight places). I was watching from the canoe. He later said there was just enough room to turn around and head back out. Good thing, too, that it didn't open up because he was taking the last couple of breaths from the tank as he was coming out.