Lifesling Rescue This Weekend

[Foswick]

You don't often see this caught on video. Over the weekend, a couple of sailors went overboard and were rescued in Puget Sound. I don't know the details (other than what is written in the article), but many of us carry the Lifesling. So, it's kind of nice to see it put into action in a real emergency. These folks did a good job in less-than-ideal conditions. Well done, lads!

I will say, if you've never practiced with the Lifesling, don't be fooled by this video into thinking it is always this easy. This situation had several things going for it. First, the skipper had obviously taken some time to familiarize with how the Lifesling works before actually having to use it - fair play skipper! Second, both victims were conscious. It is a very different situation, if that isn't the case. Third, the rescue boat had plenty of crew. If only the skipper or even the skipper and one crew member remains on board, there is a LOT of work. Fourth, the open transom was a huge benefit. Getting hypothermic victims over even modest freeboard is really difficult. And finally, conditions were not as bad as they often are when an actual rescue is necessary. It looks like they got a little relief from the waves at just the right time.

We were out that day, but a bit farther north. It got pretty rough where we were, and it looks like they got as much of the same. Not that waves were that high (about 3-4 feet for the most part), but they were packed really close together. We spent our day beating upwind against them for hours and really took a pounding. So, no criticism to the overboard crew - it was bouncy! I'm completely speculating that was the reason for the MOB, but judging from our conditions, that seems about right.

I am confused about the maneuver of the Absolutely toward the end of the video. I want to avoid armchair skippering because a) I wasn't there and b) the video only tells a sliver of the story. But, it looks like it was in the wrong place at the wrong time - in no position to be of any help and only limiting the maneuverability of the Lodos, as well as being unnecessarily close to the line in the water. No harm done, as it happens, and to reiterate, I wasn't there - so this isn't criticism - just commentary on what appears in the video.

Was anyone here in that race or know anyone who was there?

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...e-overboard-sailors-rescued-from-puget-sound/

 

[BarryL]

Wow.

Great video. Well done by the skipper.

Note that in addition to the LifeSling, there was a MOM-8 or Dan Bouy type device as well. One crew was holding onto the MOM. You can see that one of the people in the water let go of the life sling and swam back to the person holding the MOM. Then the boat did a successful recovery but the lifesling was never used, just the line from the boat to the sling.

You can also see how an open transom can aid in crew recovery. Two people at the stern can lift the crew overboard and pull them into the cockpit.

Again, well done by all.

I *think* Absolutely was just standing by in case additional help was needed.

Thanks for finding and sharing,
Barry

 

[jssailem]

Wow. That video confirms what I heard at a skippers' meeting on Wednesday evening in Everett.

I was told that the Ferry captain positioned the ferry to create a downwind slick to calm the water where the people were in the water. Getting the two crew members out of the water was more complicated than the crew onboard imagined.

Life slings are a simple tool that has proven successful again, rescuing crew in the water. It is a tool that you need to maintain. I've seen them on boat sterns with a layer of mold growing. The line used is usually Yellow Twisted Polypropylene Rope. It's a great tool as it is light and floats. It is also easily damaged by UV exposure. While the 30 m of line in the life sling bag may still be viable, the 1.5 m line running out the bottom of the bag and tied to the stern of the boat is likely rotten from UV exposure. Some are stuck on the stern pulpit, and no one bothered to attach a line to the float or the ship.

I would encourage all sailors to test their equipment this spring. Toss the life sling in the water and see how it tows. Practice making a circle with your boat, drawing the life sling up to a floating buoy.

Let it dry out after use before stuffing everything back into the vinyl bag. This will prevent the creation of a mold farm.

 

[thinwater]

Wow. That video confirms what I heard at a skippers' meeting on Wednesday evening in Everett.

I was told that the Ferry captain positioned the ferry to create a downwind slick to calm the water where the people were in the water. Getting the two crew members out of the water was more complicated than the crew onboard imagined.

Life slings are a simple tool that has proven successful again, rescuing crew in the water. It is a tool that you need to maintain. I've seen them on boat sterns with a layer of mold growing. The line used is usually Yellow Twisted Polypropylene Rope. It's a great tool as it is light and floats. It is also easily damaged by UV exposure. While the 30 m of line in the life sling bag may still be viable, the 1.5 m line running out the bottom of the bag and tied to the stern of the boat is likely rotten from UV exposure. Some are stuck on the stern pulpit, and no one bothered to attach a line to the float or the ship.

I would encourage all sailors to test their equipment this spring. Toss the life sling in the water and see how it tows. Practice making a circle with your boat, drawing the life sling up to a floating buoy.

Let it dry out after use before stuffing everything back into the vinyl bag. This will prevent the creation of a mold farm.

Good points on maintenance.

• The top is often not fully closed because the Velcro is gone (UV damamge). Either replace or replace with different quick-release mechanism (I sewed on a series of loops made from tubular webbing, with a pin down the center you pulled, like a hing pin. There was tiny red flag (stiff webbing) on the pull end to make it obvious.
• They are often packed wrong. Many mount them without opening, only to find that the rope is coiled in the factory way and will not deploy. Pull it out, test it, and then re-pack, following the instructions (flake, do not coil, the sling is on top).
• Make sure every inch or the yellow line is covered with webbing. Replace the webbing every ~ 5 years (it gets UV holes) and cut off the last few feet and retie (the rope is damaged through the webbing).

You also might add a clip and short lanyard to the sling. It is virtually impossible to get inside the sling in rough conditions with an inflated PFD. Try it. So people try to hold on and it slips away. With a slip and short tether they can clip it to their harness. In the video, the one sailor intentionally let go to aid of his mate. I get it, boats around, anyone would do the same. Clearly the one sailor was in some trouble and was limp when hauled aboard.

 

[MFD]

SNIP
You also might add a clip and short lanyard to the sling. It is virtually impossible to get inside the sling in rough conditions with an inflated PFD. Try it. So people try to hold on and it slips away. With a slip and short tether they can clip it to their harness. In the video, the one sailor intentionally let go to aid of his mate.
SNIP

Good idea.

 

[FastOlson]

Misc Lifesling thoughts:
When the stock (cheap) floating hollow polly line was visibly compromised by UV, I replaced it with a better quality floating line.

Samson 461016112020 | Fisheries Supply

Save More on Your Samson #461016112020 1/4IN YEL MFP FLOATLINE RED ID (1200) at Fisheries Supply. Excellent Customer Service, Ready to Ship. Marine Supplies Since 1928!

www.fisheriessupply.com

We also remove the whole LifeSling and MOB Pole assembly and store it at home, November thru March. We do not choose to sail the boat in the freezing season, and admittedly opinions on this DO vary.
Given the cost and hassle to replace/repair the bag, I have chosen to watch for a decent price on a complete new one and replace it about once a decade. Our ForeSpar MOB pole/float seems well built/engineered and is doing fine.
I have a sewn tubular shape UV-protectant cover over the folded flag at top and that cover is tethered to the boat with some light line. When the Horse Shoe is tossed overboard, along with the pole, the flag cover stays behind to be reeled in.

That point about finding a way to attach the LS to my harness/PFD does indeed give me pause for thought.
I wear a hydro-inflate PFD offshore when up on deck. Hmmmm...

 

[dLj]

there's a good discussion on Sailinganarchy about this:

https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/threads/possession-point-rescue-thoughts.250160/

dj

 

[Foswick]

We have not found the sling difficult to get into. Around here, I would be reluctant to rely on any solution that required any use of my fingers. It doesn't take long in the water before that's a non-starter. We have considered tying a carabiner into the rope a few feet from the end. This would give some possible options. First, if the victim is conscious and has manual dexterity, they can possibly clip in directly. Or, possibly wrap the last few feet of line under the arms and clip to the sling - creating a non-collapsible loop, which might be easier then getting the sling over an inflated vest.

We haven't done this because we haven't gotten around to testing it, but it seems like a reasonable thing to do create some options. At minimum it gives crew another option or two when it comes time to pull you out of the water.

I have worked on coming up with a better MOB solution. The unfortunate reality is that all practical solutions depends on the victim being conscious and capable of a certain degree of self aid. There are a few solutions that can work with an unconscious victim, but they are either not practical for smaller recreational vessels, only work in very ideal circumstances, or both.

What we have found is that the most useful strategy (for an unconscious victim) is having a generous loop of floating line attached to the crew's harness. This requires getting close enough to hook that loop with a boat hook. Not ideal, but when the person is unconscious, your options shrink dramatically.

 

[thinwater]

Wow. That video confirms what I heard at a skippers' meeting on Wednesday evening in Everett.

I was told that the Ferry captain positioned the ferry to create a downwind slick to calm the water where the people were in the water. Getting the two crew members out of the water was more complicated than the crew onboard imagined.

Life slings are a simple tool that has proven successful again, rescuing crew in the water. It is a tool that you need to maintain. I've seen them on boat sterns with a layer of mold growing. The line used is usually Yellow Twisted Polypropylene Rope. It's a great tool as it is light and floats. It is also easily damaged by UV exposure. While the 30 m of line in the life sling bag may still be viable, the 1.5 m line running out the bottom of the bag and tied to the stern of the boat is likely rotten from UV exposure. Some are stuck on the stern pulpit, and no one bothered to attach a line to the float or the ship.

I would encourage all sailors to test their equipment this spring. Toss the life sling in the water and see how it tows. Practice making a circle with your boat, drawing the life sling up to a floating buoy.

Let it dry out after use before stuffing everything back into the vinyl bag. This will prevent the creation of a mold farm.

Good points on maintenance.

• The top is often not fully closed because the Velcro is gone (UV damamge). Either replace or replace with different quick-release mechanism (I sewed on a series of loops made from tubular webbing, with a pin down the center you pulled, like a hing pin. There was tiny red flag (stiff webbing) on the pull end to make it obvious.
• They are often packed wrong. Many mount them without opening, only to find that the rope is coiled in the factory way and will not deploy. Pull it out, test it, and then re-pack, following the instructions (flake, do not coil, the sling is on top).
• Make sure every inch or the yellow line is covered with webbing. Replace the webbing every ~ 5 years (it gets UV holes) and cut off the last few feet and retie (the rope is damaged through the webbing).

You also might add a clip and short lanyard to the sling. It is virtually impossible to get inside the sling in rough conditions with an inflated PFD. Try it. So people try to hold on and it slips away. With a slip and short tether they can clip it to their harness. In the video, the one sailor clearly let go intentionally to go the aid of his mate. I get it, boats around, anyone would do the same. Clearly, the sailor in red was in trouble and was limp when hauled aboard.

 

[dLj]

I feel each boat has to make a system that works for the specific boat. I have a gantry located on my stern that can be used to pull someone on board, conscious or unconscious. I don't have a sugar scoop stern. Those certainly make it easier to get people back on. But none are easy, especially if unconscious.

I'm certainly going to reevaluate my current setup and run some tests.

dj

 

[Foswick]

LifeSling, in general, gets a little unfair criticism when these things come up. (It has been rightly pointed out that the LifeSling was probably not the most useful tool in this particular rescue.) I have to always push back against that criticism, though. The point of the LifeSling is not to be the best possible system for all conditions. It is just meant to be the most foolproof. The idea is that a lot of MOB situations involve just two people on board, and the more skilled person just went over the gunwale.

---

The mistake most folks make when deciding how to hoist a victim (conscious or not) is that they incorrectly assume that safety dictates it is better to hoist the victim away from the boat. So, they use a davit or boom to hold the hoisting mechanism away from the boat. And, if they are conscientious, they practice this system at least once, and it seems to work pretty well people don't typically practice this sort of thing when conditions are rough.

The problem is that this gets pretty chaotic/dangerous when the boat is rocking and the victim is swinging. It is much better to slide them just barely over the rail, rather than to try to lift them up and over the lifeline. Conveniently, it is MUCH simpler to rig this sort of recovery than to try to effect an overhead rescue with a halyard.

 

[PaulK]

Many long-distance races require boats to practice MOB procedures. We practice.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Some good tips above. Another thing I thought of (implemented in mine) is to tie a loop in the retrieval line positioned about 5 feet above deck level measured when the floating sling is in the water next to your boat. This allows you to clip a halyard to the line to assist in hauling up the MOB.
PS - That video made me want to cheer. Nice to see some good news

 

[thinwater]

Bear in mind that the MOB happened, in large part, because they were racing in strong conditions. Yes, they are safety0concious, but the incident itself was self-inflicted and they need to OWN that. They intentionally took on this excess risk and it turned out OK.

We don't know the details, but I would bet lunch they were doing something with head sails, or something else race-specific (something we would do differently cruising). I'm also sure someone will chime in about how safe racers are. True ... ish.

 

[Foswick]

Bear in mind that the MOB happened, in large part, because they were racing in strong conditions.

I'm not sure what the point of this is. Anytime a boating accident occurs, it is self-inflicted. No one is forcing us to go out on the water. There is risk involved. If we are responsible, we take measures to recognize and mitigate the risk. The measures we take should be proportionate to the risk. These sailors were taking increased risks, but also took increased measures.

I don't think anyone would claim that these two people were walking along, nowwhere near the water, minding their own business, when suddenly they were cast into the water and had to be rescued. They chose to race, made one or more mistakes at the wrong time, and had to rely on the measures that were put in place for just such a situation. Not sure what the problem is.