man overboard drill - a good idea?

Yesterday was just about a perfect sailing day as I have had all season in the Chesapeake Bay. WNW winds steady at 10-12 with sustained gusts to 15. Point the boat towards the horizon, jump out on the wire and just reach for miles and miles grinning from ear to ear. Miles offshore and on the umpteenth routine tack I moved to the opposite side of the boat on my knees, rotated the tiller around the block and as I went to sit on the tramp I rocked back ever so slightly, lost my balance and went head over heels over the port side rail - tiller in hand. The boat, now 200 lbs lighter, accelerated wildly jerking the hotstick from my hand and popping the port rudder. In over two decades of beach cat sailing I have never fallen off a boat, at least one that was upright in the water.

My primary crew is a very nice fifty something lady. She loves to sail but is perfectly content to crew only. For the last two seasons though I have forced her to take the helm and made her tack and gybe unassisted. She was somewhat alarmed after setting the jib and turning around to see me bobbing in the waves getting smaller and smaller. She tried to tack but stalled the boat as she didn't notice right away the port rudder up. She locked it down, managed to turn the boat around and, to my horror, headed the boat upwind of me. She went around me with a gybe but was twenty or so feet away and moving at 5-10 knots. There was no way I could swim close enough and really no way to grab an accelerating cat. She tacked again and, as she approached, I was waving wildly and pointing downwind while tracing a big semi-circle in the air with my finger. When she got into earshot she yelled "what should I do". I shouted back for her to stay downwind and turn upwind as she got closer. She cried out "say when!". When she got below me and directly downwind I shouted "now!". She pushed the tiller and the boat slowly rounded up and stopped with me between the bows. Bravo!

As I sat on the beach later I reflected on how many times over the years that I have given "sailboat rides" or went out with otherwise totally inexperienced crew and how the results might have been drastically different for everyone involved. I feel like an idiot, not for falling off the boat, but for not ever discussing a man overboard situation. For anyone that regularly sails with less experienced crew I would strongly recommend throwing a float in the water and seeing if your crew can get back to it. Your life (and your crew) might depend on it!

Yeah....I know, a better idea is to stay on the boat.

I hope you were wearing your wet suit.I practiced an unannounced man overboard drill one windy night on Lake Erie.My crew Chris(brother in law) didn't like the high winds and lightening and would quit complaining so I told his to put his shoes and be careful once he got to shore.He looked puzzled at me and I knocked him in the drink.We were approaching the shoreline but still at least half mile off shore.Suddenly he wanted back on the boat and was willing to help out, instead of bitching.
It is always better to assist and be helpful.Practicing a man overboard exercise is all part of being a better sailor.Unannounced is not advised but we still laugh about all the time.Chris is always helpful on my boat and doesn't miss a change to be involved with what the day or night brings............Bill 404

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Bill 404 21SE

I took my little boy sailing this weekend. He is 3 years old (just had his birthday in late Sept). I have always wondered what would happen if he fell off the boat - would he be able to flip himself over and float with his head up or like a bummy face down (dont preach to me about life jackets - we wear them!) while I sailed back to pick him up? How long would it take me to sail back to him? And other such questions as these.

I have taught him to tuck his legs under the hiking straps. Should I tether him to the boat with the painter or some other line?

Anyways, he took a toy with him and he managed to drop it in the water - it floated. After a minute or two, he told me we left his toy behind. I tacked upwind and over to the toy and scooped it out of the water. I had him throw it over several times so I could practice going back to pick it up - the toy became our "man overboard". Anyways, what I found out is that if my son fell overboard while going dead downwind AND was floating face down in his jacket, I can tack back upwind and over to him pretty quickly - quickly enough that he would not drown I believe. I am sure he would be freaked out however if he fell out.

However, at this point, I am concentrating on PREVENTING him from falling off. He only gets to sail on light wind days, he sits with legs tucked under the hiking straps. However, I wonder if I should tie him to the boat with say 20 feet of line?

Sounds like you're taking a lot of risk with your kid if you don't know what would happen to him if he falls overboard. Seems to me you could easily figure out whether he is able to handle himself in the water by putting him in his life jacket and having him swim around in a pool in a CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT. Does his lifejacket have flotation behind his head to keep him face up while in the water- it should.

I started sailing on Hobies at the same age as your son and I can guarantee you that when we went out, there were two adults on the boat -my father to sail the boat, and my mother to make sure I was safe.

And no, I would not tie a rope to him. Seems to me that dragging a three year old behind a moving Hobie is about the fastest way to drown him.

sm

More importantly (and my point for posting this event) is what would HE do if YOU fell off the boat?

Like I said, he only gets to sail when it is a light wind day. Often his mother goes along too - when she goes along, we can risk more wind.

However, you present a good question. Maybe we should work on that.

Like you said, a controlled enviroment (i.e. slowing walking into warm pool water without any waves) is a lot different than SUDDENLY falling into the cold lake with chop. He can tool around all day in a pool with his vest on. The question is what will he do in the lake?

Dont paint me to be six-pack Joe, whose kids are crying and barely hanging on in a small craft advisory. I am being safe as humanly possible. I am saying that there have been no close calls as long as I have been sailing - I am just pondering what it would be like.

At Sail Sand Point in Seattle see www.sailsandpoint.org, the first exercise in each class is to swim to your life jacket, put it on, then turn over the boat in your class, then right it. Overboard drills are also a good idea, and should be practiced. Once done the fear is gone, making the actual rescue much safer.

Caleb Tarleton

MOB drills are ALWAYS a good idea. Panic is the first reaction of the unknowing so you have to teach them not to panic. Always keep a set of eyes on the last known location of the man overboard. This helps in maneuvering the boat for the pick up.

I've taught many people to sail. And just when they think they are getting comfortable, I'll throw a jacket over the side, make the call, and sit back to watch how they perform (individually and as a team). No one expects a man overboard but they sure better plan for it. It is an immedediate action item. This means you have to respond from memory instead of spending time to think about it.

With advanced crews, I'll intentionally fall in and act unconscious or not knowing how to swim. With any crew, getting back to the man overboard is only half the battle, you still have to get him onboard and treat for any injuries, inhaled water, hypothermia, etc.

It might be different on a lake in Iowa. In that case, take your time, pop a cold one and let them swim to the boat or you'll see them on the next pass. YMMV

3 yrs of age is not too young to be teaching him how to swim. At least in calm waters.

It's somewhat distressing to realize 99.99999 of the gen'l population don't know First Aid or CPR. It's probably the same % of boaters and MOB. I've saved the lives of 2 people because I was there and knew what to do. I'm just a guy, I'm not in the medical profession or a first responder. But we all have this responsibility, especially so when going out on the water.

This is important.

It really is important. Thinking about the sailing I do, and if I fell overboard in the ocean or something, wow. Here I was feeling pretty good that we practiced a capsize and righting event.

The first thing I thought about when this thread appeared was the reality/drama Whale Wars. When they were starting out they had a MOB situation (the dinghy flipped during a launch) and the captain, a supposedly licensed merchant marine sort of guy, had ZERO idea what to do. After about 30 seconds of thinking I managed to reconstruct my MOB training from 20 years ago (large power vessel stuff) but these clowns sat there for 45 minutes unwilling to do anything. With a fully crewed ocean fishing trawler. It was just crazy. Power boats are so easy compared to sailboats for this stuff.

For sailing a cat, I don't think you can cover every situation. If I'm just taking my mom out for a sail and I fall overboard and knock my head on the hull on my way, she won't be able to sail the boat. That's a fact. I don't think I want to let that stop me from sailing, though.

OTOH my wife is still only learning to sail but with some singlehand practice (I guess we have to get to work on that!) she could probably turn the boat around. But she's really light and tacking the boat in heavy air is hard if you can't build enough speed.

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You just brought up another good point. If you fall off a sailboat and think you can swim back to it wearing a life vest....think again. It's almost impossible to make any headway swimming in a vest (just try it!). And, even if the boat stops right away, it will be twenty or thirty yards ahead drifting in the wind and current at about the same pace as you floating or swimming in the water.

Sunvista brings up a good point. Typically a MOB will be aware and fully functional. Yet for all his efforts he won't be able to get any closer to the boat. This is why I always trail a 10 meter line behind the boat on light cats.

Interesting idea to trail a line behind the boat, If you can't swim with the L J on (I find it interesting that I have never tried that after 40yrs of sailing) then you would have to be pretty lucky to just land behind the boat where the line is. I suppose you could take the L J off and then swim over to the line and put the L J back on. I sail mostly solo on a very small lake, If I ever fell off the boat everyone around my lake would all clap and laugh (because everyone knows everone else at my like). Then one of the many motor boat guys would stop and give me a hand. As a side bar, I never took my kids out in any condition where it was possible to capsize the boat.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

In this case my crew stopped the boat right away but it was still at least 200 feet away. I took two or three strokes toward the boat and thought "yeah right" and quit. I was just thrashing water. I also sail in shoes. Swimming in vest AND shoes is almost comical.

I have practiced man overboard drills in a regular sail boat. (Have yet to get a Hobie)

It is an excellent idea to practice.

One suggestion I read in "Catamaran Sailing From Start to Finish" c1982 (which is sure to spawn some discussion here) was to be prepared to yell instructions to the inexperienced crew at the helm that will capsize the boat, so the boat stops and they don't sail out of control and leave you, or run you over in the water.

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