| Author | Message | |||||
     David Sheriff Board Administrator Username: admin Post Number: 97 Registered: 01-2004 |
This is a great COB discussion and I'm in favor of all the practice in the world to retrieve the COB. In a COB situation, actual recovery is dependent on what the remaining crew do to pick up the person in the water. What the COB can do to stand a better chance of being picked up alive is wear flotation before going overboard, better yet flotation and a harness. Those of you who've sailed with me know that I'm the one wearing the inflatable PFD. I wear it in calm water and I wear it in rough water. I've not tested it in the ocean (I don't believe I'm a good candidate to be a voluntary COB) but I have thrown myself into swimming pools to test that it works and to get comfortable with the process. It works. I've reinforced the worn edges of the outer cover with sail tape. I'm about to retire this one after five years. What horrifies me about Susie's experience is the degree of denial that keeps people from actually wearing PFDs. With the new inflatables, "they get in the way" is not an acceptable objection. The problem is thinking "this happens to other people, I'm careful and it won't happen to me." Perhaps "I'm an excellent swimmer" to boot. Susie probably never expected to go in the water unintentionally. She's careful, knowledgeable, observant and she's a great swimmer. Yet, if this accident had taken place offshore in a good breeze, or if she had been knocked on the head a little harder, or if she was conducting a landlubber charter she might well not be with us today. So how about it skippers and instructors? Can your sense of virility survive wearing an inflatable PFD as an example to your crew? How about stocking the boats with PFD/harnesses instead of the bulky orange things? How about insisting that everyone above deck use them, with obvious sensible exceptions for taking the sun on calm days. Who wants PFD tan lines? How about rigging jacklines and practicing with them before the weather demands them? The first time you go forward in a blow with a harness and jackline is not the time you want to figure out how to get forward of the mast when you are clipped in to the windward line and working on the leeward side of the boat. The VERY FIRST RULE is "Stay on the boat." The second rule is "float if you hit the water." Lets get over whatever cultural /social /macho/ status/ experience/ familiarity/ laziness/ denial/denial/ denial things that keeps us ALL from wearing PFDs. Even though we know we should. Any of us who follow the literature know of the famous sailors who were lost at sea because PFDs were for other people. Denial is really powerful. What gets me over it all is being old enough to not give a shit if I'm the only one on the boat wearing PFD. I frankly don't care if someone think I'm a timid old man for wearing my PFD. I also think my activity profile makes me one of the more likely candidates to go in the water and I swim for shit. Finally, I don't think I can get my grandchildren to wear PFDs if I don't do it. What? do you need to be 60 to be sure enough of who you are that you can be the only one on the boat wearing a PFD and not care if anyone thinks you are overreacting? Good luck getting this far if you can't bring yourself to do it. Finally, PFDs are like life insurance. Yes, you probably will never need it really. But doesn't your family deserve the added protection? I have been around boats almost daily for six years now, both sailing and working at the dock. I have never fallen in the water. I never plan to fall in the water. Still, I wear my PFD when I sail. When I started sailing I promised my wife I'd do everything reasonable to avoid drowning. Harness, PFD and VHF hand held are my part of keeping that promise. Some of you remember my exercise in poor judgment circumnavigating Santa Barbara five years ago where my dinghy got swamped, the engine drowned, and night was closing in. We were on the SW side of SB just off the weeds within sight of Sutil Island. Marc Hughston piloted the boat that rescued me and my buddy and probably saved us from death by hypothermia. I had a PFD on AND I had a hand held VHF radio. That radio made the difference. What will it take to get your commitment to wear PFDs? How about it skippers and instructors? | |||||
| Marc Hughston Moderator Username: hughston Post Number: 560 Registered: 03-2003 |
In light of Susie Campbell's recent experience of being swept overboard by an uncontolled boom, the time seems right for this subject. There has been little discussion on this forum about Crew Overboard recovery techniques, even though all of us familiar with Mark Howe and his methods have practiced it - and in Susie's case, to a very positive result ;-). Not everyone in the sailing world thinks about this subject in the same way, and so I thought I'd share more in hopes of stimulating some discussion. Following are recent magazine excerpts, diagrams I have put together, and a long report detailing observations and results from the 2005 Crew Overboard Rescue Symposium conducted in San Francisco Bay. The consensus on the whole question of Best Practices, from other sailors I respect greatly and what's been published recently, boils down to these issues: 1. Getting back to the victim is the easy part. Getting the victim aboard is the hard part (you won't be extending a boat hook to your spouse in order to hoist him/her on deck). 2. The method you use for returning to your COB is less important than the consistency and reliability of the method you choose. In other words, practice your chosen method until you and your crew can handle it reliably in every condition. 3. Know your boat. Following from the above, different boats handle differently and you must know how to make the boat you are on behave as you want it to in every condition. ********** You should know that I agree with all of these points. You should also know that I have been deeply frustrated at the lack of attention the heave-to method gets with US SAILING. I believe that being able to return to a COB in any condition in 2 minutes or less is a life-saving proposition, and the only method to promise this reliably is the heave-to method. What do you think? Let's go long on practice, short on theory. Any takers? Here is Sailing Magazine's take on the 2005 COB Symposium.
Here are the diagrams I have been using for the classes I teach.
Here is the Final Report from the 2005 COB Rescue Symposium, written up by John Rousmaniere. I was invited to particpate and sadly, could not attend.
| |||||
| Mark Howe Moderator Username: unclemark Post Number: 290 Registered: 08-2003 |
I see no mention of using the jib, doused literally into the water, and used as a sling to lift an injured person out of the water. [We used to demonstrate that on summer cruises. Good excuse to go swimming.] Has anyone been able to get back to a person, while sailing downwind, without releasing the jib sheet? It has never worked for me with wind blowing. I always have to release the jib. Throwing a TypeII pfd does more than mark the spot. It gets the person into a wearable pfd, and perhaps even more important, it gives them an immediate goal to keep them fighting for life as the boat spins back to them. This concept came about after a number of MOB's died even though they had been "rescued". One was a famous sailor, and his friends said they saw him give up before their eyes. [I still have the magazine artical] It is almost impossible to maintain your balance standing on a line that is being "elevatored" up the side of a boat. If you are athletic enough to do that, you don't need it; just climb out. | |||||
| Tony Monti Junior Member Username: tamonti Post Number: 4 Registered: 03-2006 |
Here is the summary of Crew Overboard Tactics
| |||||
| Marc Hughston Moderator Username: hughston Post Number: 557 Registered: 03-2003 |
Tony, please post your material here. Boil it down. What's essential, steps to do it. |
8 COB Recovery
Crew Overboard Summary