Solo overboard

[Daveinet]

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 still plan to install a remote control inside my autopilot. The transmitter is water proof, and I always thought if I fell off, I could theoretically turn the boat. It would be more likely to just make it stop so it doesn't sail away, rather than make it sail back toward you.

Having experienced our first MOB or actually it was a WOB, the biggest mistake we had was not having any lines on the back of the boat. Normally we have lines coiled up tied the cleats, which can easily be thrown in to rescue someone. SO along those lines, if you were sailing alone, you could always just drag a line out the back of your boat. assuming the conditions were moderate, you'd likely be able to grab it before the boat got away. Of course in heavy conditions, you want to be tied in.

 

[agprice22]

If you turn the boat around with some gizmo or app, how will you get aboard, and how will you NOT run yourself over trying to reboard a moving boat as it approaches bow on? I think the app better have throttle controls, and this presumes you are motoring. If sailing, by the time you pull up the app and instruct the autopilot to heave-to, since you cannot tack the sails, the boat will be hundreds of yards away. Unless you get a lucky current... you will chase your boat til you fatigue, and drown.
Do autopilots have deadman switches?
Just some ideas...

 

[MccNeo]

I routinely sail with an inflatable pfd, with a whistle and waterproof VHF attached even when others are aboard. I also noticed the Coast Guard has approved a waist-worn inflatable PFD. I'm looking to purchase one soon.

When I sail single handed or with non-sailors, I will toss a 100 foot line with about five knots off the stern and drag it to have some chance of staying with the boat should I go over.

I also have a fold-down ladder attached to the stern. The folding portion is equipped with a line about 10 feet long that is rigged to secure the folding ladder in the up position but easily reachable by a swimmer. The slightest pull on the line from in the water will allow the ladder to fold down for access back into the boat. Just don't get hit on the head.

A number of local sailors here say they have had to climb the skeg of their outboard to re-enter the boat. I would not want to experience that in a large body of water especially with a lot of waves or chaotic seas.

 

[kimelmore]

I do keep a knotted line trailing the boat that if things really went to hell I could pull myself up onto the swim step. But as far as that is concerned. I am just way cautious about STAYING ON THE BOAT.

 

[JTulls]

I've heard a lot of solo around the world sailors don't wear lifejackets so that in the event they go overboard, the misery of watching your boat sail away ends sooner. Not sure that's true for everyone though.

Stay tethered in, wear a PLB, and carry a waterproof VHF (the last ones really only helpful if you're close to shore). Someone mentioned earlier in the thread that solo sailor MOBs happen in benign conditions -- I'd add to that, that many seem to happen right as you come on deck or unclip to go down below.

One question/though on jack lines: For those that use them, how do you run them? I've been on boats that run them over everything, so you never have to unclip going bow to stern. On other boats, the jack lines are buried under other things so you have to unclip every so often (I think that's a good example of when you want the double clip, so you're never detached from the baot)

 

[jssailem]

Rule NUMBER ONE: Stay on the boat.
When I sail with friends, wife, or solo, jack lines bow to stern, inside lifelines. Clip tether on when in cockpit, wear life jacket, wear floatable VHF with DSC, carry a knife, whistle and light in pocket of life vest, and go forward only when necessary on windward side. All rigging at mast for main on port side.

Like the line off the stern, wonder if trailing the dinghy would work the same. Have life sling ready to go on the stern. Instruct wife and any crew every time we go out on MOB procedures. Never loose sight of MOB in water. Throw life sling out. Turn boat to circle MOB in water, transmit DSC emergency signal. Stop boat and retrieve wet sailor.
Not a perfect plan but that's why there is rule #1.

 

[Benny17441]

Many solo sailors trail a line in the water behind the boat with the idea that if they fall overboard they could swim to the line and pull themselves back to the boat. The physical effort required to do so would be enormous. The other thing is being able to get back up into the boat; unless you lowered the ladder or the boat has a swim platform it could be real difficult.

 

[dziedzicmj]

The chances of you finding the line you drag behind the boat and catching it are slim (you have very little time to do that unless the line is very long (if you drag a 100 ft line at 5 kt, you have about 15 s to grab it (if my math is correct)). And even if you caught it, try puling yourself back to the boat.

Staying on the boat is primary. Unless, as Jackdaw said you are sailing on a warm and not overly large lake.

And make sure that if you use jacklines they would keep you on the boat. I think it was the US Navy that did a number of test on that and very quickly found that if you go overboard (i.e. off the deck and into the water) getting back, even with the help of quite experienced crew is at best difficult.

Marek

 

[Kings Gambit]

Jack lines and tethers are principally to keep you from washing overboard from boarding seas. So, if in the cockpit, or entering it, in rough conditions, sailing alone, you should be tethered on one short enough to keep you in the boat if hit by a rouge wave coming over your beam, etc. Otherwise, just going forward in mild conditions to do some routine thing where you're going to (or should) be holding on already, I don't see the utility much. If you do get pitched over from a loss of balance with the boat underway at anything over a knot or two, you'll likely drown, tethered or not, if solo sailing w/o a jacket on. Having a trailing line would be irrelevant. In that circumstance (of being pitched over in mild conditions), the best course would be to have on a PFD w/o tether and a DSC/VHF or PLB in possession, and await rescue.

 

[Gunni]

Yes, try it, drag a line behind your boat with someone competent at the helm. Grab hold and go in. Unless you are very very very physically fit you will have a hard time pulling yourself back to a boat making just 4 knots. We do this with the kids in the summer and you have to stall the boat to bring them back aboard. Stay. On. The. Boat.

 

[kimelmore]

An elderly gentleman fell off his sailboat a couple of years ago while sailing to Catalina solo. He was trailing his dingy behind the boat that was on autopilot. He managed to snag the tow line and after a great struggle managed to pull himself into the dingy. It took what I recall was a several hour struggle to pull himself and the dingy up to the boat and then climb aboard using the swim ladder. He was hypothermic but managed to call the coast guard who found him and took care of him from there. A remarkable story of survival for sure. And there are plenty of stories of boats found with no one aboard like the Catalina 30 that was found adrift off the coast of Hawaii a couple of years ago. Just try to stay aboard is my advice and yes I single hand often but always always keep one hand on the boat.

 

[Daveinet]

The chances of you finding the line you drag behind the boat and catching it are slim (you have very little time to do that unless the line is very long (if you drag a 100 ft line at 5 kt, you have about 15 s to grab it (if my math is correct)). And even if you caught it, try puling yourself back to the boat.
...Marek

When my daughter got knocked off by the boom earlier this year, I would have had plenty of time to throw her a line if I had had one. While 15 seconds seems short, count it out on your watch, its a pretty long time. Assuming you had a life jacket on, once you pull yourself close to the boat, you can tie yourself off, so you can rest while you drag along in the water.

 

[capta]

Underway, my lifelines demarcate the edge of a nine hundred foot cliff. No joke!
There are all kinds of tales of people who have survived falling overboard, but they are a fraction compared to those who didn't survive.
One can rely on all kinds of items to save one's life or just take responsibility for it up front and don't fall overboard. Period. Sh*t does NOT have to happen.

 

[Brian D]

100' of line? If your boat is moving at 6nm/hr, that means you are moving at 36,456ft/hr. You then would have less than 15 seconds to regroup and grab that line. Beause 6nm/hr is 607ft/min. Good luck!

 

[JohnShannon]

surprised nobody mentioned AIS SART this is a transmitter that puts you as a MOB with your lat and long on all AIS equipped chart plotters or radios within a few miles.

http://shop.sailboatowners.com/cat.php?11449

As to the PLB, notification is quick. When I bought mine there was a test mode I fired it off and got an email within seconds with my position.

 

[Joe]

Buy a harness and a tether today. And always were them when you single hand or go out with an inexperienced sailor. You can find or install strategic anchor points. A folding pad eye in the cockpit floor for instance. Or clipping to the up wind shroud... or to the spinnaker pole ring etc. .. plan it out.
At the very least, you should teach all your guests how to stop the boat if something happens.... besides MOB you could have a heart attack or get whacked in the head by the boom.... there's all kind of stuff... So... show you guests how to stop and how to call for help... With the new DSC technology it's easy as pushing a button and talking in to the mike.... I tell my guest... to stop the boat.. release the sheets and steer into the wind if you can... but a least release the jibsheet and the mainsheet... then go to the radio, push the red button, and respond to whoever comes on. Stay Calm.

Minimize your time going forward when the boat is under way... for pulling up the anchor, launching the dinghy.... those type of times the boat is not moving... However ... changing headsails is probably the only time you absolutely must go to the fore deck... so... always sail with the smaller headsail when single handing, thus eliminating the need to reef. There you go. Rig a jib down haul so you can drop the sail from the safety of the cockpit...where you have led your jib halyards.

If you do have to go forward.... and you are the least bit unsure.... DON"T WALK... either crawl on your hands and knees or skooch on your butt.... still clipped on of course.

When I take my boat out.... the first think I do after backing out of the slip is clip on...

The only line I have trailing is the lanyard that pulls down my folding ladder... It hang just above water level.. but I can still deploy the ladder without it. The biggest problem is GETTING TO THE LADDER...
So, stay attached to the boat.

 

[PGIJon]

My understanding is that most male sailors that fall overboard do so with their fly open. My suggestion is to never stand near the water with your fly open...... especially if you are sailing solo. -Jon

 

[DannyS]

Several years ago I participated in a 100 mile solo challenge/race. It was a preparatory race for the much longer Solo Trans-Superior Race on Lake Superior. It was an overnight race and in rough conditions so I took precautions very seriously. One of the suggested preparations was to run two sets of jacklines, one inboard as you normally would and another stretched tight outboard from the bow cleats, under the rubrail to the stern of the boat where we had to have a ladder of some sort to get back aboard. We were required to have a double tether as well. The idea being that if you are clipped on to the inboard jackline and get launched over or through the lifelines, chances of pulling yourself back up are slim. But, with the double tether, you could theoretically, clip on to the outboard lifeline, release or cut (knife attached to vest also a requirement) the first tether and basically zipline to the back of the boat to the awaiting ladder. I have a swim platform and ladder there so I it is a viable option. Never tested in real life however. The photo is at the tail end of the race, sailing in the fog as the conditions eased. Note the strobe, and handheld VHF attached to my vest. Knife is barely visible, also tethered to my vest along with a whistle. My vest is a whitewater kayaking vest with a nice pocket on the front to hold everything.

 

[Jackdaw]

nice hat!

 

[DougM]

Always, its best not to fall overboard. Sailing in cold Great Lakes water doesn't provide much time before becoming hypothermic. Even if you are not sailing solo, your crew may not be able to turn the boat around and find you on the way back ( assuming they know what to do).