I plan to do some more solo sailing mostly because i know no one else that sails besides my family, question is has any of you sailors ever gone over board while solo and have to watch your boat sail away or know someone who has!
Solo overboard
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Plan on not falling off. It's pretty much a death sentence. The only time it's not just when fate intervenes and you're very clever. Or on a small lake filled with warm water.
A few years ago, French sailing star Florence Arthaud fell off her Vendee boat during a pee off the transom ... she had her mobile phone with her in a lifeproof case. She called her mom in Paris and she organized the rescue.
A few years ago, French sailing star Florence Arthaud fell off her Vendee boat during a pee off the transom ... she had her mobile phone with her in a lifeproof case. She called her mom in Paris and she organized the rescue.
Wow lucky and smart, yes my plan is to stay aboard but you never know especially going forward, just pulling anchor once i was nearly over, no real harm there but that started my thinking
A PLB would be a safer bet than the cell phone. But as you say, just don't fall off in the first place.
Yep. I have an inreach SE that I use for the same purpose. But do I have it with me 100% of the time of the boat? Nope.
Stay on the boat
Personal locator beacon. It's essentially a mini-EPIRB. (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon)
Staying on is one thing but have you thought about how you would get back on if you fell off? Even if you fell off at anchor and the boat is not moving, it can be really hard to get back on without a boarding ladder. My most recent boat and my previous boat both had swim ladders that I can/could reach from the water. Do you have a permanent mounted swim ladder? If not, can you climb onto your O.B. from the water? Or rig a knotted line on a stanchion that can be reached from the water?
This would be my suggestion. Electronics are great but a jack-line will keep you on the boat. Not falling off is always best.
Question: has anyone here that's recommended Jack lines ever use them on a routine basis and in the real world ocean conditions?
The reason I'm asking is because in practice they are very difficult to use, and people typically only use them in rough conditions. Most MOBs of solo sailors happen in benign conditions when you're least likely to be clipped him. It's very hard to be religious to be clipped in.
And even if you do, half the time you fall over and get drowned dragging alongside the boat.
I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from using them, because I do use them. Just to note that they're not a panacea.
The reason I'm asking is because in practice they are very difficult to use, and people typically only use them in rough conditions. Most MOBs of solo sailors happen in benign conditions when you're least likely to be clipped him. It's very hard to be religious to be clipped in.
And even if you do, half the time you fall over and get drowned dragging alongside the boat.
I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from using them, because I do use them. Just to note that they're not a panacea.
Along these lines it occurs to me that it would be a cool thing if you had a gizmo clipped to you that would send a signal to the autopilot to turn the boat around if you fell overboard. Does that exist? I realize that turning around a sailboat is not as simple as just turning the wheel but you get the general idea.
I did install a swim ladder so as long as i can grab the boat i can get back on, i see a jackline as working if its short, as jackdaw said i would not wanna drag but what do you do while going forward, whatever "many options there"
Now there is an idea for an app. Detects you are no longer within one boat length of the receiver. Detects your last known position when the signal stopped responding. Turns the boat around and heads back to the last known position. Then does a heave-to and waits. Cool.
Yes, I use and recommend a double tether, it makes it much easier to move around shrouds as you go forward. I also run my jacklines high (on a shroud hook) so that if you fall, you are likely to come up short before you tumble over the lifelines and leave the boat. Always wear a a non-folding knife too so I can cut my self off the tether. Q: Is that InReach device IP7 waterproof?
You don't say anything about the size and temperature of the water you will be sailing in. I frequently single hand on San Francisco Bay and
1 Make a point of doing all preps that would take me out of the cockpit before going out into open waters. Ditto on return.
2 Have a boarding ladder that can be lowered from in the water.
3 Hang a whistle around my neck - it is dirt cheap and can be heard way further away than your voice. Also have a waterproof VHF radio attached to my lifejacket
4 Always wear a lifejacket
5 Pick the conditions.
6 If something tangles, sticks or comes loose etc just let it be until you get to a safer place to deal with it. Along with that make everything orderly before you leave.
One time we heard over the radio someone reporting an empty fishing boat anchored off of Richmond. We sailed by it and saw it then followed the outgoing tide to the Emeryville area where we saw a helicopter hovering and a body being pulled out of the water - that was pretty chilling. If you do anchor in a current maybe trailing a line with a float on the end is a god idea.
An issue I think/worry about constantly. And not even when solo: a) Despite my wife participating a lot over the last 10 years since I bought the boat, and that she loves being on the boat particularly in high wind conditions, she has a block about understanding sailing mechanics and procedures.. No matter how I have tried to explain/teach. (And seriously its not just me instructing. She would flunk any formal sailing lesson program.) 2) Most friends sail with me too infrequently to be taught and then remember from outing to outing. Think of being a charter captain. He/she can explain the emergency rescue process to the once-only-never-to-be-seen-again-tourist-guest. But really can the passengers sail the boat if the charter captain say looses consciousness for some reason? Even for a few minutes?
My fortune is that all my sailing is on Central San Francisco Bay. The Coast Guard has several search and rescue bases always less than 5 miles away. Plus the San Francisco and Sausalito and Tiburon Police departments have their own rescue crews. Add recreational and commercial traffic on the Bay, and help usually will arrive in only minutes. Winds can be gnarly and extreme. But chop and waves inside the bay are usually manageable. Water is cold, but at about 60-63F, I should be ok for at least 30-45 minutes.
My solo MOB practice is:
1) I wear a bicycle helmet. Minimizes the chance of a concussion/blackout if I do make a mistake and encounter the boom or if I hit my head on something if balance is lost. Regarding the boom, I have the cut clew of my mainsail high enough that the boom is safely above my standing-in-the-cockpit head height. Same with the #1 and #2 reef point clews.
2) I have a battery powered water resistant VHF attached to my life vest which is always worn. Set on Channel 16. If I do find myself in the water watching my boat sail away, my expectation/hope is that I will be able to radio something like "I just fell of my boat. It is sailing away. I am in the water about half way the distance between Angel Island and Alcatraz. No wet suit. Emergency! Please help!" Wind Boarders and Kite Surfers use this method frequently when they get in trouble and the current is pulling them out to sea. The bay ferries and sight seeing boats frequently stop to rescue these folks, and also kyakers.
3) All movement forward outside of the cockpit is done extremely carefully and in a crouching position with one hand on the boat at all times. Only after I set the auto-pilot and observe that it is maintaining the course. I only venture out on the windward/high side. Never on the lee/low side. If something needs to be attended to on the lee side, I first tack to "turn it" into the windward/high side.
4) Hope that overboard never happens!
My fortune is that all my sailing is on Central San Francisco Bay. The Coast Guard has several search and rescue bases always less than 5 miles away. Plus the San Francisco and Sausalito and Tiburon Police departments have their own rescue crews. Add recreational and commercial traffic on the Bay, and help usually will arrive in only minutes. Winds can be gnarly and extreme. But chop and waves inside the bay are usually manageable. Water is cold, but at about 60-63F, I should be ok for at least 30-45 minutes.
My solo MOB practice is:
1) I wear a bicycle helmet. Minimizes the chance of a concussion/blackout if I do make a mistake and encounter the boom or if I hit my head on something if balance is lost. Regarding the boom, I have the cut clew of my mainsail high enough that the boom is safely above my standing-in-the-cockpit head height. Same with the #1 and #2 reef point clews.
2) I have a battery powered water resistant VHF attached to my life vest which is always worn. Set on Channel 16. If I do find myself in the water watching my boat sail away, my expectation/hope is that I will be able to radio something like "I just fell of my boat. It is sailing away. I am in the water about half way the distance between Angel Island and Alcatraz. No wet suit. Emergency! Please help!" Wind Boarders and Kite Surfers use this method frequently when they get in trouble and the current is pulling them out to sea. The bay ferries and sight seeing boats frequently stop to rescue these folks, and also kyakers.
3) All movement forward outside of the cockpit is done extremely carefully and in a crouching position with one hand on the boat at all times. Only after I set the auto-pilot and observe that it is maintaining the course. I only venture out on the windward/high side. Never on the lee/low side. If something needs to be attended to on the lee side, I first tack to "turn it" into the windward/high side.
4) Hope that overboard never happens!
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I have a PLB. However, rescue would be some time coming. The distress signal has to be communicated through multiple departments.
A small VHF is much faster. Picture. Just keep it in your life jacket pocket, or cargo pants pocket. Rescue personnel have equipment to home in on your signal. Much less cost than PLB to buy. Good out to a few miles so change to PLB offshore.
Good emergency device when staying on the boat was apparently not an option :-D
A small VHF is much faster. Picture. Just keep it in your life jacket pocket, or cargo pants pocket. Rescue personnel have equipment to home in on your signal. Much less cost than PLB to buy. Good out to a few miles so change to PLB offshore.
Good emergency device when staying on the boat was apparently not an option :-D
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I knew a guy in Florida that rigged a line from his fuel cutoff to a fender that he dragged about 50 feet behind his boat. This was for his gulf crossings. It sounds cool but I am not sure if he ever used it or even tested it. You could only do something like that when there is nothing else around.
Well, yes. And, I worry a lot about them. I have more often nearly fallen tangling on the jack line, tripping on it, or coming up short than without. Yes, I rig them and use them but find them a danger.
As far as overboard self-rescue, I think that's a dream. (Same if a lot of our spouses are with us. At least mine.) Unless you are becalmed or anchored. Better to keep some communications aboard to hail someone. Still, odds against you.
No easy answer here but to make every effort to stay aboard.