MOB solo self rescue

[thomm225]

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?

Totally ridiculous statement....

A better statement would be use a tether if possible so you cannot fall overboard....

[picklesandjesse]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I am most likely the odd one out..
No harness, no lifejacket, no mob device.. I am solo..
No negative thoughts..
No lectures.. Purleez..

I admit to being the same so now there are 2 of us.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I admit to not having read the whole thread.
Way back when I rode Jet Ski’s if you fell off, it would roll slightly to one side and just circle, you would swim up to it and climb back aboard.
Newer ones that are really boats I think have a kill switch on a lanyard.
Why not a kill switch that along with killing the engine, causes the rudder to go hard over?
That if you trailed a significantly long enough floating line ought to give you a chance, and doesn’t require much sophistication.
Rudder held hard over, my boats not sailing anywhere, I assume most won’t?

Please don't take this the wrong way. It is not directed at you.



Have you tried it? Why not, since it is a simple test? Or just put the tiller over and see what the boat does; obviously it depends on the boat, the set of the sails, and the course, but it may not stop at all, and anything more than 3 knots will be too much to pull yourself in. On my last boat if I was sailing up wind it would tack, and then stay on a broad reach at >5 knots, no help at all. I tried it. If I was broad reaching it would come up but not tack, and head off on a beam reach at 4 knots. Not much help. You can't tack from a broad reach on many boats. My current boat does similar tricks.


I recall advice in sail magazine that such a line 30 feet long would help. If your boat is the least bit fast, that gives you 3 seconds to fall in, surface, breath, figure out which direction the boat it, swim back to the center line, and grab the line with both hands... in weather gear">foul weather gear. I've tried this, and could not average better than 75 feet, in daylight, in warm water, when I dove in on purpose. I think you better figure on 150 feet.



Your boat may very well stop, BUT TEST IT before presuming. I've yet to read of anyone testing such theories.

[cyan]

Originally Posted by thinwater

I've yet to read of anyone testing such theories.

Many of us don’t speak of such tests, and there are good reasons for it. I’ve tested roll/pitch stabilizers, radical sail designs, and yes, MOB systems among other outside-the-box concepts. These were my (and partners) designs, not something on the market. There are compelling reasons for some of us to avoid public disclosure. This silence should not be confused with a lack of success.

[WingRyder]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Even those who go into space are tethered when they are on the deck of the vessel. It's not rocket science. Err. Oh nevermind.

Not necessarily:
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos...re-id136491630

[eemahoney]

I am not sure about solo sailing, I am too old for that, but my wife and I sail double handed a lot, and overnight many times which means one is asleep while the other is on deck.

I have said more than once, I have a knife to cut the jackline rather than try to stay afloat at 6 knots. So just the other day I was in a discussion about the following on this subject with another elder sailor who also plays with marine electronics. What we need is the following.



When the person on deck goes overboard, they need to have a AIS PLB, to be found.
Their need to be a MOB waypoint set.
The engine if in use need to stop.
A very loud alarm needs to sound.
Autopilot needs to switch from course to wind point and head into the wind..

All of that should be doable with todays electronics, it will awaken sleeping or otherwise off watch crew. Slow the vessel and put it in a stall giving off watch crew less distance between the MOB and the boat.

For Solo, I would make sure the MOB has a 406 PLB, and that the Vessel EPIRB is activated.

[ozdigennaro]

All of that is doable. And DYI could manage it. The interface to the engine and steering would be the challenge. How do we detect MOB? distance between person and on-board receiver? We don't want to rely on a button-press.

[hodgmo]

"So, while you are hanging at the end of that last chance line, what will you wish for? Actually, it's really, really simple. You want the boat to stop. So what do you wish you had in your pocket?" Thinwater

A parachute sea anchor/drogue that I could attach to the last-chance line and deploy while being dragged along. But, assuming I could do that, could a device that fit in my pocket be adequate?

[a64pilot]

I have tried putting my wheel hard over once, Sails back wind and she got tied in irons, at least that once.
Maybe the wind speed was just right, or maybe it was because I’m full keel and my boat doesn’t turn nearly as fast as a fin keel.

Either way on mine it’s sort of irrelevant as I don’t know a simple way for a line to pull the wheel hard over, and I’m unlikely to be Solo, at least for now anyway.

I’m relying on our AIS SART beacons, however in the weather that is likely to put me overboard, I’m not so sure that especially on a dark night I’d be recovered.
I’ve long thought that if you go overboard in real bad weather at night, you just as dead as if you fell out of an airplane without a parachute, just may take longer is all. A PLB and a life vest will give the family something to bury.

[Bill_Giles]

There are systems which sound an alarm if the device carrier falls overboard. It should not be too difficult to shut down the engine, if under power, or, if under sail, to hove too. At least you would then have a boat stopped not too far away.

Maybe use a PLB?

[stimpsonjcat]

Originally Posted by hodgmo

"So, while you are hanging at the end of that last chance line, what will you wish for? Actually, it's really, really simple. You want the boat to stop. So what do you wish you had in your pocket?" Thinwater

A parachute sea anchor/drogue that I could attach to the last-chance line and deploy while being dragged along. But, assuming I could do that, could a device that fit in my pocket be adequate?

Total n00b here, but the drogue deployment does sound simple. How many would you need to stop a full sail boat? Could you deploy it from near the bow to force the boat to turn? If big enough and offset with lines from fore and aft, could it force/hold a hove to condition?

Maybe in connection with the AP going into the wind it would be enough to 'stop' the boat?

And of course once near the boat the drogue line is a lifeline.

Another thought is a simple electronic winch dragging a 100 yard line with eyelets. Rig it with a pull loose knot tied to the winch switch and the winch would tail in as soon as someone grabbed hold of the line.

[hellosailor]

In ee's scenario, one MOB one below deck, at night? I'm not sure all those complications are needed or even a real advantage. Consider:
Yes, I want any props to be stopped if I'm in the water. If you've never seen the Coasties bringing someone back to an ambulance after they've been hit by a prop, if you've never seen the damage a prop can do, you may really need to look into it. I don't want props running if there's even a four-zeros percent chance they can reach me. But shutting the typical inboard diesel either means adding a solenoid, or tapping into the fuel cut-off, or something else that adds another way to have a system fail and kill the engine as well. It might be simpler to leave the engine alone--since in theory the MOB Klaxon is going to have someone on deck in less than thirty seconds anyway. KISS.
On needing an AIS? At night? I don't think so. Unless the weather is really nasty or the sea state really wild, a simple light, a strobe, is going to be readily visible. Again, for this scenario, KISS.
Autopilot? Course changes? Sail changes? Outright "No!". If you kill the engine and the sails (and I want that engine killed to kill the prop) then how can you possibly do a fast turn and come back toward the MOB? You can't, you may be in irons or you may very likely be drifting downwind, away from the MOB and needing more time to get the sails back up. I'm not at all sure there's any benefit to trusting the fates, and the systems, to do all of those things and have them done reliably, to the MOB's advantage.
Yes, if the MOB was wearing a radio beacon of any kind, and the boat had any Tesla "valet" system on board, the boat could come to papa. Yeah, sure. And maybe not drift down on the MOB and run them over. But as long as there's a second crew on board, now pumped with adrenalin and saying "Someone shut that *ing Klaxon!"...
I'm not at all sure that all the other complications, which certainly could benefit a solo sailor, would be worth the complications.

This is why naval sailors play poker and shoot craps. Someone goes overboard, the first question is "Did he owe anyone money?" Inevitably, he did and does, so there's a real good reason to get 'em back on board in a hurry.

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by hodgmo

"So, while you are hanging at the end of that last chance line, what will you wish for? Actually, it's really, really simple. You want the boat to stop. So what do you wish you had in your pocket?" Thinwater

A parachute sea anchor/drogue that I could attach to the last-chance line and deploy while being dragged along. But, assuming I could do that, could a device that fit in my pocket be adequate?

This was similar to my thought. A proximity device that, when it exceeded its limit, would trigger a small cannon-like device to fire a good length line with a sea anchor or drogue aft, maybe with an attached small float/flag. This would quickly slow the boat (but I confess I don't know how much) and provide the MOB a line to grab. As for false alarms, easy to solve, just reach over and cut the line.

[Wolfhound]

Why not tow a 100 yard polypropylene line astern when offshore solo?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Wolfhound

Why not tow a 100 yard polypropylene line astern when offshore solo?

why not have a knee board strapped to your back as well.. could do some surfing.
Try some of these ideas out when you have crew on board.. try it with speedo's on first.. then again with normal sailing gear.