55% of responding Hunter owners say their spouses (or S.O.) could circle back to save them in an MOB situation, according to last week's Quick Quiz. While more than one reader suggested the real issue is, WOULD your spouse (rather than COULD your spouse) save you, the fact that 45% could not raises potentially serious safety concerns. Have you practiced MOB drills with a whole crew, or just you and your spouse? Has your significant other learned to sail, either from you or any formal source? And finaly, has anyone actually experienced a spousal rescue at sea? If so, tell us how you fell for your spouse!
- Status
Our story
Back in 91 when we had our Cat.30 my daughter went overboard. She had came up out of the cabin. She was almost 12 at the time. She was standing at the back of the boat when a wave came up. She fell against the swim ladder and over she went. Now this story goes into what you should not do. The wife and friend were at the mast taking down the main. I had just started the engine. I saw here go into the water. I jumped in after her without taking the engine out of gear. As I went overboard (I am not a strong swimmer) I thought to my self you dumb shit (sorry but thats what I said to my self). It was in May and I had all my cloths on plus a jacket. She was no where to be seen. After a few sec she poped to the surface. I swam over to her and got her. Lets see there was a boat in this story somewhere. Also we were off of Everett in Puget Sound which is very cold. I looked around for the boat and the wife was turning it around but she forgot to speed the boat up. Once they got back to me they threw a horseshoe to us and we got the daughter back into the boat. A small fishing boat saw it happen and came over and asked if we needed help. The total time she was in the water was only 2 minutes and I don't think she would of made it much longer. I didn't feel the cold at all as I was all pumped up. Now the story gets really good. The friend on the boat was really affected by all this. At the time he sailed alot alone on his 27 footer. He worte it up for the Cat. 30 club newsletter that came out ever month. About a year later I opened up my Catalina Mainsheet which is a mag put out by Catalina. Its a great mag (hint Hunter) and we were in it. Who ever wrote the story for the Mainsheet had jazzed it up a bit. The seas went from being calm to 4 foot. The had done a drawing which had me screaming (I was to busy saving my life to scream). Some people said I should of never gotten into the water but I don't think the daughter would of been able to get back in to the boat. A couple years later I would bring it up to her that I saved her life (teenager years). When sailing I always have a lifejacket on. In fact the one time I didn't was when this happened. Sorry for being so long.
Back in 91 when we had our Cat.30 my daughter went overboard. She had came up out of the cabin. She was almost 12 at the time. She was standing at the back of the boat when a wave came up. She fell against the swim ladder and over she went. Now this story goes into what you should not do. The wife and friend were at the mast taking down the main. I had just started the engine. I saw here go into the water. I jumped in after her without taking the engine out of gear. As I went overboard (I am not a strong swimmer) I thought to my self you dumb shit (sorry but thats what I said to my self). It was in May and I had all my cloths on plus a jacket. She was no where to be seen. After a few sec she poped to the surface. I swam over to her and got her. Lets see there was a boat in this story somewhere. Also we were off of Everett in Puget Sound which is very cold. I looked around for the boat and the wife was turning it around but she forgot to speed the boat up. Once they got back to me they threw a horseshoe to us and we got the daughter back into the boat. A small fishing boat saw it happen and came over and asked if we needed help. The total time she was in the water was only 2 minutes and I don't think she would of made it much longer. I didn't feel the cold at all as I was all pumped up. Now the story gets really good. The friend on the boat was really affected by all this. At the time he sailed alot alone on his 27 footer. He worte it up for the Cat. 30 club newsletter that came out ever month. About a year later I opened up my Catalina Mainsheet which is a mag put out by Catalina. Its a great mag (hint Hunter) and we were in it. Who ever wrote the story for the Mainsheet had jazzed it up a bit. The seas went from being calm to 4 foot. The had done a drawing which had me screaming (I was to busy saving my life to scream). Some people said I should of never gotten into the water but I don't think the daughter would of been able to get back in to the boat. A couple years later I would bring it up to her that I saved her life (teenager years). When sailing I always have a lifejacket on. In fact the one time I didn't was when this happened. Sorry for being so long.
But Would They?
So 55% are capable of circling back, but how many would merely see this unfortunate incident as an opportunity to "lighten the load?"
So 55% are capable of circling back, but how many would merely see this unfortunate incident as an opportunity to "lighten the load?"
Mine would...
My spouse would definitely just keep on going, unless of course the boat needed cleaning or something needed to be fixed. MC
My spouse would definitely just keep on going, unless of course the boat needed cleaning or something needed to be fixed. MC
they don't want to practice MOB
Neither my wife nor my racing crew is willing to practice MOB with the lifelsling so that they could recover me. They all know that I could recover them if they fell in. Since I have to beg for crew and treat them like royalty I can't insist.
Neither my wife nor my racing crew is willing to practice MOB with the lifelsling so that they could recover me. They all know that I could recover them if they fell in. Since I have to beg for crew and treat them like royalty I can't insist.
MOB For Real..
..while returning from Catalina Island today, there was a very distressed crew issuing a call for assistance when the skipper fell overboard. This was a sail boat under motor power with all sails down about one nm. from the harbor in open ocean. Fortunately, there were other crew aboard who took a towed dinghy back to the MOB. Even so, the total was about ten minutes, in what has to be ideal conditions. Something to think about. RD
..while returning from Catalina Island today, there was a very distressed crew issuing a call for assistance when the skipper fell overboard. This was a sail boat under motor power with all sails down about one nm. from the harbor in open ocean. Fortunately, there were other crew aboard who took a towed dinghy back to the MOB. Even so, the total was about ten minutes, in what has to be ideal conditions. Something to think about. RD
Ignorance is Bliss (or Death)
This last weekend I volunteered as a "victim" in a man overboard (MOB) seminar (targeted to Lifesling TM owners). It was a VERY enlightening experience. I’ll try to keep this short, but still get the point across. I’m in reasonably good shape, 6’4”, 180 pounds. The day was nice, 70 degrees, water temp of 59 degrees, wind at 10 to 15, flat water, I was wearing a dry suit. After 20 minutes in the water, my hands started to loose strength, and, even with the dry suit and polar fleece underneath, I started to become cold. Without some way to CLIMB back on board (open transom, ladder, etc.), I would have eventually been a goner. A cold swimmer with wet clothing on has about zero chance of being able to pull him or her self up over the gunwale and back on board. The Lifesling TM (I have no financial interest in this device) seems like a good way to get a MOB back on board (especially when it is a smaller person trying to get a larger person back on the boat). It really does take training and practice to learn how to use, though. Also, circling back to pickup a life cushion on a nice day (as a MOB exercise) is a FAR cry from actually getting someone back on board when it’s blowing 30, with 5 foot seas and 55 degree water. This whole subject is really something to give serious thought to.
This last weekend I volunteered as a "victim" in a man overboard (MOB) seminar (targeted to Lifesling TM owners). It was a VERY enlightening experience. I’ll try to keep this short, but still get the point across. I’m in reasonably good shape, 6’4”, 180 pounds. The day was nice, 70 degrees, water temp of 59 degrees, wind at 10 to 15, flat water, I was wearing a dry suit. After 20 minutes in the water, my hands started to loose strength, and, even with the dry suit and polar fleece underneath, I started to become cold. Without some way to CLIMB back on board (open transom, ladder, etc.), I would have eventually been a goner. A cold swimmer with wet clothing on has about zero chance of being able to pull him or her self up over the gunwale and back on board. The Lifesling TM (I have no financial interest in this device) seems like a good way to get a MOB back on board (especially when it is a smaller person trying to get a larger person back on the boat). It really does take training and practice to learn how to use, though. Also, circling back to pickup a life cushion on a nice day (as a MOB exercise) is a FAR cry from actually getting someone back on board when it’s blowing 30, with 5 foot seas and 55 degree water. This whole subject is really something to give serious thought to.
MOB Cold water survival
My CCG literature is on the boat so I can't confirm details right now, but I think the statement is that in cold water (45 degress F or so) you only have about 15 minutes of life. This brings the need for efficient MOB technique into focus. A true story -- One blustery day in spring on Lake Ontario I was out sailing with some friends and we saw some guys sailing Laser dinghies. One went over, and obviously wasn't skilled for the conditions because he couldn't get his boat righted again. I could see that he had on a wet suit, so I didn't get too concerned until he gave up. I overestimated the value of the wet suit. By the time we rescued him, he had been in the water about 20 minutes. He was *totally* helpless and incoherent from hypothermia. Fortunately, this happened right in front of his yacht club, and someone came out in an outboard dinghy, took him back in and put him in a warm shower. Probably saved his life. One more thing, for single handed (solo) sailors; I'm usually in this category -- Some people say that they trail a line behind the boat to give themselves a fighting chance if they go overboard alone. Good idea, but simple arithmetic tells you that at 6 knots a boat is travelling at 10 feet per second. If it takes 1/2 sec to fall and hit the water, 2-3 sec to get back up to the surface, 1-2 seconds to get yourself oriented and turned toward the boat, and 5 seconds to swim to the boat's centerline, then you're going to need a 85 to 100 foot line to have any chance at all of catching the end. Play with these numbers any way you like -- it's not a pretty picture. Trailing a little 50 foot line is about as effective as trying to keep dry with an umbella in Floyd!
My CCG literature is on the boat so I can't confirm details right now, but I think the statement is that in cold water (45 degress F or so) you only have about 15 minutes of life. This brings the need for efficient MOB technique into focus. A true story -- One blustery day in spring on Lake Ontario I was out sailing with some friends and we saw some guys sailing Laser dinghies. One went over, and obviously wasn't skilled for the conditions because he couldn't get his boat righted again. I could see that he had on a wet suit, so I didn't get too concerned until he gave up. I overestimated the value of the wet suit. By the time we rescued him, he had been in the water about 20 minutes. He was *totally* helpless and incoherent from hypothermia. Fortunately, this happened right in front of his yacht club, and someone came out in an outboard dinghy, took him back in and put him in a warm shower. Probably saved his life. One more thing, for single handed (solo) sailors; I'm usually in this category -- Some people say that they trail a line behind the boat to give themselves a fighting chance if they go overboard alone. Good idea, but simple arithmetic tells you that at 6 knots a boat is travelling at 10 feet per second. If it takes 1/2 sec to fall and hit the water, 2-3 sec to get back up to the surface, 1-2 seconds to get yourself oriented and turned toward the boat, and 5 seconds to swim to the boat's centerline, then you're going to need a 85 to 100 foot line to have any chance at all of catching the end. Play with these numbers any way you like -- it's not a pretty picture. Trailing a little 50 foot line is about as effective as trying to keep dry with an umbella in Floyd!
Repeated offers for MOB practice declined
I crew on a number of boats, both for racing and cruising, and did a 5.5 day trip down the Chesapeake Bay with a buddy on a Hunter 35.5, with that nice swim platform that I *highly* recommend. No MOB though. I have come close to becoming a MOB a number of times in racing on different boats, and have volunteered getting in my wet suit and playing the victim for a MOB practice, but have been declined repeatedly (just takes too much time from people's busy schedules?!) Now what I don't get is this bit about people getting so cold in their dry suits in 45° water within 20 minutes. I dive fairly regularly (offshore and in cold water spring fed quarries) in a *wet suit* in water that's 45° or less for longer than 30 minutes without much of a problem (and with diving, the less you exercise, the longer your air will last, so that's what we try to do). Or are we talking about climbing back on board without that swim platform, up the side and over/under the safety lines, in that dry suit or wet suit? I'd be hurting to pull that off even in 80° water! Boats should have a swim ladder available (the majority do), but practice with a sling (commercial or homemade) and using the boom as a crane should definately be done. But hypothermia should not be discounted under any conditions! I dive in summer in the Bahamas wearing a heavy dive skin, as I dive four times a day for almost an hour each, even though the water is 80°; and diving off North Carolina with the water in the 70's I'll add my 1/4" neoprene wet suit jacket--though that's to spend hours in the water. I got certified in a heated pool, and bought a dive skin for the class at the suggestion of the instructor, and was thankful for that as I watched other guys' lips turn blue and shivering within an hour in the 80° pool. While I took a thermometer for the week long dive trip, I didn't think about doing an experiment by taking people's temperatures after extensive diving in that warm water, as I've seen people drop out of late afternoon dives due to being too cold. Water sucks the heat out of your body 25 times faster than air, so keep that in mind.
I crew on a number of boats, both for racing and cruising, and did a 5.5 day trip down the Chesapeake Bay with a buddy on a Hunter 35.5, with that nice swim platform that I *highly* recommend. No MOB though. I have come close to becoming a MOB a number of times in racing on different boats, and have volunteered getting in my wet suit and playing the victim for a MOB practice, but have been declined repeatedly (just takes too much time from people's busy schedules?!) Now what I don't get is this bit about people getting so cold in their dry suits in 45° water within 20 minutes. I dive fairly regularly (offshore and in cold water spring fed quarries) in a *wet suit* in water that's 45° or less for longer than 30 minutes without much of a problem (and with diving, the less you exercise, the longer your air will last, so that's what we try to do). Or are we talking about climbing back on board without that swim platform, up the side and over/under the safety lines, in that dry suit or wet suit? I'd be hurting to pull that off even in 80° water! Boats should have a swim ladder available (the majority do), but practice with a sling (commercial or homemade) and using the boom as a crane should definately be done. But hypothermia should not be discounted under any conditions! I dive in summer in the Bahamas wearing a heavy dive skin, as I dive four times a day for almost an hour each, even though the water is 80°; and diving off North Carolina with the water in the 70's I'll add my 1/4" neoprene wet suit jacket--though that's to spend hours in the water. I got certified in a heated pool, and bought a dive skin for the class at the suggestion of the instructor, and was thankful for that as I watched other guys' lips turn blue and shivering within an hour in the 80° pool. While I took a thermometer for the week long dive trip, I didn't think about doing an experiment by taking people's temperatures after extensive diving in that warm water, as I've seen people drop out of late afternoon dives due to being too cold. Water sucks the heat out of your body 25 times faster than air, so keep that in mind.
- Status