Fun story (thanks god!)

[ChileanJK]

My family are my wife and four girls (I know, its a hard life) the first one 19 yo, the second is 14 yo and twins of 6 yo, so the other day my wife wanted to go to a near marina for lunch, so we set sails and headed to the marina (it's a one hour trip) we were doing 3 to 4 knots, lake was calm, one of the twin girls was playing cards in the table, the bigger daugther was helping me sail, and the other twin was with the middle sister on the bow getting sun and playing with the water. When we where halfway I hear a crying sound coming from the water as we pass by, the twin that was playing in the bow had gone overboard, and was crying, her sister didn't tell anything even when she let her hand go and fell overboard, I wasn't worried, she was using her life vest, (nobody can go to sail with me without wearing a lifevest ) and she is a good swimer, water temp was 25C (77 F) , my wife was worried and the other twin wanted to jump to save her sister, the older sister was joking abou the fact that no one see the kid going overboard, so I have to calm down the crew and turn around to rescue my little sunshine! while turning she was yelling "I'm not going to survive!!, I'm not going to survive!!" with that every one calm down and start LOL! she was like 5 min on the water! take her out of the water and was calm and smiling about her adventure.

So I will have to move up the priority of the stanchions and lifeline of the boat.

Just a fun summer story to let you chill with you winter weather up there

 

[njlarry]

Alls well that ends well. Good thing the water temperature wasn't too cold. We always put pfds on kids full-time and on adults going on deck. Glad to hear all is well.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Great MOB drill. Did you make your other daughter practice her part and keep a finger pointed at her sister?
Good story. Sounds like a beautiful family with a little mischief thrown in.

What would they all have done if you had just let the sheets go and jumped in too? Could they have brought her around and picked you up?

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[ChileanJK]

After that I realize I didn't train the girls, including my wife, for the situations we could face on the water, like the one you describe, what happen if I was the one going overboard. first line in the to do list.

 

[RoyS]

I tell my wife that if I go over the side, just try to save herself. I am more likely to survive than she is.

 

[Jacktar]

I am in the CG Auxiliary and one of the questions I ask during our courtesy boat inspections of safety items besides does anyone not on the boat know where you are when you go out is, does anyone besides the skipper know how to operate the boat if you go overboard or are incapacitated. Answer in about half the cases is no to both. Something to work on guys!

 

[Will Gilmore]

Answer in about half the cases is no to both.

Much better percentage than I would have thought.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Leeward Rail]

Great learning opportunity, in so many ways, in optimum conditions.

"I'm not going to survive!!, I'm not going to survive!!"

hehe.

I once took a friend out on our 16ft Invitation (similar to a Laser)

I received a similiar reaction when, I warned him, then intentionally dumped the boat.
By the end of the day, after multiple recoveries, confidence in the boat/lifejackets, and our safety, was there.
Power boat owners in the area were not so sure. One nice couple pulled up in their boat to see if we were ok, and were surprised to see us laughing.

I've done that a few times with different friends who wanted to learn.
After a similar session, my best buddy, ended up buying a boat, and taking formal keelboat training.

When I have guests aboard a keelboat, I usually do some training for MOB (or capsize recovery in a dinghy) .
"Pickup the floating cushion" can be a fun game for new crew.
It's not only increases safety, but instills confidence.
Better to learn in optimum conditions, than have a serious problem when things go bad.

 

[Milton.Audas]

Happy it worked out, and on a lake. Open water can often be a different story. Sobering. Good to practice, often. In teaching my (then) 10 y.o. daughter who sails with me I would throw an old orange life vest overboard and she would helm back to it. Safer than throwing a crew member over the side (if were me i'm not sure they would come back (sic). At least in calm conditions she can gybe over and come up nicely. thankfully we have never had that situation for real. I usually don't wear one when wife is aboard, but I always wear an inflatable PFD when sailing alone or when only with my daughter.