Man Overboard Pole

[Larry Jackel]

In planning a coastal trip from NJ to MaineI was advised to get a man overboard pole.It looks like standard poles are meant to mounton either a backstay or in hole near the transom.Neither of the mounting options will work on myh340. Any suggestions?

 

[Jon Bastien]

Create a hole?

Hi Larry, Perhaps you can rig a mounting that will attach to a stern rail or a lifeline stanchion- A piece of PVC pipe attached to the vertical pipe on one of the rails ought to hold a Man Overboard pole, and not require any permanent holes in your boat. The PVC can be capped on the bottom, to keep the pole from falling out unintentionally, and the pipe could be fastened to the boat using clamps or removable mounts. Just a thought...--Jon BastienH25 'Adagio'

 

[Les Blackwell]

I've tested and made overboard poles

Some years ago I made overboard poles for boats in our yacht club. We took large fishing pole blanks, poured BB shot into them and sealed the bottom. In flat waters they worked well but in waves, when they leaned over, the BB shot would run to the tip. So we re-did them by putting a plug in the blank and re-sealing them after the shot. They worked OKTesting them against other commercial top poles, they stood up almost as well. But even good ones (Forespar appears to make the best ones) were hard to see in bad weather which is when you would probably use them.Ones with lights on the top are much better to see. I haven't tested the new MOM8 inflateables; they are expensive.More to the point, the problem you are trying to solve is finding someone who has fallen overboard. Today I would recommend hitting your MOB button on your GPS. It would also calculate for drift. Everyone ought to wear at night a strob which is much easier to see. By the way, it is very hard to see a pole and flag even if it is white at night.After being out in fifty-five ktn winds and 8 to 10 foot swells, I think a pole is useless. I want my crew to have SOSuspenders (or equal), strob lights, and loud whistles. If I were rich, all would have hand held water proof VHF radios. The MOB can see the ship easier than you can see the MOB.By the way, you can get pole holders that clamp on your stern rail from West Marine and Defender. I suspect other boating sources have them as well.Good Luck.

 

[Larry Jackel]

Thanks Jon and Les

Thanks Jon and Les for your helpfulcomments.Larry

 

[Tony Wilcox]

M.O.B. Support

I had the same problem on my 376. I tried using plastic tube clamped to bimini support, but clamps compressed the tube too much. I now have a short piece of S.S. tube clamped on, the flag cover is secured to the bimini frame as well. You should be able to do the same using stern rail upright or possibly a stantion. I had a small piece welded across the bottom of the S.S. tube to stop pole from falling right throughTony Wilcox

 

[George Fletcher]

A hole for the pole.

I have a 450 and it also doe snot have a backstay for attachment of a MOB.I used a fishing pole holder that clamps to the rail. I attached a piece of small diameter line and a 16" piece of PVC with a cap to cover the "Flag".The pole holder has no bottom so the MOB float acts as a "stop" and the PVC keeps the flag furled and out of the sun.When deploying the pole one only needs to remove the PVC cover on the flag and then toss the pole.No holes drilled and it works like a charm.