Man Overboard Drills.

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This has really got my memory racing! There are the two scenarios. Is the MOB conscious or not?

Assuming that crew is limited to myself and my wife, we just hope the MOB is conscious. In this case, the Markus safety ladder (EN-Safety ladder) is a really great help. The unconscious situation is one we have yet to get to grips with if we are boating on our own.

One thing is certain. MOB is a full-on emergency and one where a distress call is vital. Modern DSC radios make it easier.
 
Keep in mind that the MOB function on electronics will only take you back to where you pushed the button. Practice, practice, practice! Lose anything overboard on my boat and we will do a man overboard drill. My crew was shocked to see me go back for a little cooler that fell off the aft deck on my last boat in the Houston Ship Channel around midnight. We retrieved it after a J turn and some instructions to the crew, and saved it from being run over by a tow. It wasn't that close, but if would have been a person we would have saved their life. This is good practice because it happens with no warning.
 
The handheld VHF would probably be best. It allows you to vector the boat back to you (assuming those on the boat are either paying attention to crew whereabouts or listening to VHF to begin with).

VHF will also broadcast to other vessels that may be able to help and you can vector them too.

A PLB would be great ...IF the vessel you fell off of didn't know you fell off. I would hope the vessel you are on is keeping better track of the crew and track line (even approximate is OK if you have a VHF and are still conscious) because that info would be almost the same as the PLB as long as it is timely.
 
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Do you bring the boat upwind to shield the casualty to shield them?Consider that bringing the boat upwind runs the risk of the boat being blown down and over the victim if there is much wind or current. It might be the best course of action said:
[*]How to stop overshooting the casualty when coming alongside!
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Having a life ring with an attached line allows you to only get close enough to throw the ring, avoiding the danger of running over the MOB. Once you throw the ring and the MOB grabs it, you can slowly tow them to the boat. Beware though that it will be easy to pull the ring out of their hands due to a loss of strength from cold water. It would be best if they could pull the ring over their shoulders and get towed backwards. Life slings are great too, but must be towed to the victim as it can't be thrown. This takes practice and time. On our training trawler, we have several different retrieval apparatus's and practice with all of them. In my experience, having something to throw (rescue throw bags are great too) makes boat handling and fine positioning far less critical, and easier for those with less skill in handling a big boat. Remember, every second counts. Devise a plan and try it out several times to fine tune it.


  • How not to run the casualty over!
If you have another person to act as a spotter it will be a great help.





Finally, getting the casualty to follow your instructions and hopefully stop them panicking means you need to inspire confidence which in turn means you need to know exactly what you are going to do to get them on board. Being in a cold sea is not nice in any way shape or form.

These are all great ideas.....................Arctic Traveller
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Hi Arctic Traveller. The bit that always causes me concern is if the MOB is unconscious and there's only you left on board. What then?
 
greatpapabear said:
Hi Arctic Traveller. The bit that always causes me concern is if the MOB is unconscious and there's only you left on board. What then?
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FIRST THING, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, this is________ located at _______ (give your Lat / Lon) We have a man overboard who is unconscious and I am the only other person aboard. The Coast Guard will start asking a bunch of questions, but I'd cut it short and tell them you have to go and rescue the MOB, then leave the radio, remembering that every second counts, just make sure they have your correct location, and it helps if you can also give a geographic reference like "were about half a mile due West of Cape Caution". It helps other boats in the area to quickly determine if they are in a position to respond without having to plot coordinates on a chart.

Next you need to get a hold of the person somehow, and that will require some precision boat handling to bring the person alongside without running them over. Once they are within reach of a boat hook or perhaps a grappling hook and line (a bouy retrieval heaving line perhaps) you could hook them and pull them to the boat. (How you get them aboard will differ for each boat, but as you know, it will be really hard. The "Arm strong" method may work, but it's damn near impossible to drag even a 150lb person aboard by hand. Your best defense will be to practice this in advance and have some form of mechanical advantage. We have a 4 to 1 block and tackle with eyestraps at the stern. We also have a method to use the crane, which is our first choice. Hopefully your Mayday call will bring additional boaters to the scene to help out.

Should you still be alone with no help nearby, jumping into the water will a really bad idea as now you have compounded the problem, but it will be hard to resist the urge to do what ever you can to rescue a loved one. If you do decide conditions are conducive to jumping in and you see no other choice, at a minimum you need to have on a PFD with a line attached and the other end attached to the boat. Better yet would be a survival suit if you boat in cold water. (you do have them for all aboard don't you? You should be able to get in it in less than 60 seconds). Before you enter the water though, you better have a plan for getting back out, and the motors should be off. Climbing aboard in a survival suit will be damn near impossible, but in cold water, with out one, your going to be the second victim. You might rig that 4 to 1 in advance and leave the hook and bitter end in the water to grab when you get back. How you hook up to it needs to be determined in advance. My survival suit has a built in harness, as does my inflatable PFD. We also have a Lifesling that can easily be connected to the 4 to 1 to lift someone. However you do it make sure you try it out in advance...............Arctic Traveller
 
When operating commercial boats, I instructed my crew routinely in MOB drills, as well as fire drills, and abandon ship drills. On the passenger vessels I operated we did those same drills during our USCG inspection process. Out of habit, I've done the same on my own boat whenever we have a group of guests/passengers who are aboard for the first time. On MOB drills, I introduce guests to an object (usually a PFD or fender) called "Mr. Man Overboard." Then I explain the steps (1) yell "Man Overboard." (2) Throw the Type IV PFD as close to the victim as possible. (3) Capt. appoints a spotter to constantly keep vicitim in sight while pointing at them. (4) Have crew standby with PFD and line in case they need to enter the water to assist victim. (5) Maneuver vessel to pick up victim as appropriate to sea conditions and vessel type. Not the most fun stuff to practice, but essential.
 
Arctic Traveller said:
As was mentioned, getting someone aboard can be incredibly difficult, and having a mechanical method to assist is critical, but also consider that folks are far more likely to fall overboard in less than ideal conditions. Trying to bring someone back aboard using the swim step can be deadly in any kind of seaway. As you get them close to the swimstep, it's likely it will be heaving up and down a lot. Should it come down on someones head, it's likely it will cause severe injuries.
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Certainly that would be a concern. A survey of my marina shows that none of the boats have anything other than a swim ladder to get a person on board from the water and some don't even have that. Boats aren't required by law to have any means of bringing a person from the water on board.

Really, it's a matter of risk management. There's a big difference between putt putting up and down the AICW and boating in the open ocean off the coast of Alaska, both in the risk of going overboard and in the difficulty of getting back onboard.

I plan on giving this possibility more thought and discussing it with my wife. Also, I'll have a few practice drills with her circling back for a fender or something similar.

It's a great topic but the needs will be different for each of us, depending on our typical boating.
 
Arctic Traveler's point about swim step banging down in MOB during recovery is a very good one. Coming along side to pick up means having the lifting rig on that side. We have a gate in bulwark on one side only, where I will install the attach point for the block & tackle. Using the roll of the boat will help get MOB on board again.

VHF when I go over the side. Mostly think I could alert my crew/wife that I am over the side. I know ch 16 will be tuned in the pilot house. When I declare Mayday on my hand held, others in the area will know the situation. I think this will get better response than from rescue control at satellite central(PLB). If I have my wits about me, I think I could talk her into coming back for me. I mean the "360 turn and the come out of gear before you get too close" part.
 
Most boats lie beam to the seas when you go dead in the water. When attempting a pickup...usually the center of the swim platform isn't all that bad as compared to the side. Most trawlers will be rolling badly and much more likely to whack someone if you are picking up to leeward and may drift over them.
 
Very good point. The stern of a rolling boat would be the axis and pretty stable Another place to attach the hoist.
 
xfedex said:
If I have my wits about me, ....
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And therein lies the problem. From everything I've read, been told, and learned in class, most people who go into the water unexpectedly don't have anything resembling a wit about them. And the colder the water, the more helpless a person immediately is. Someone who goes over in the Gulf or Southern California may have a good chance of having the presence of mind to use a radio. I bet if I threw someone in the water up here when they were least expecting it, even if they had a VHF attached to their belt, 99 percent of them would not use it.

From what I have heard of boating accidents in Lake Washington, the people who fall or are thrown in by the boat's action don't even call for help. They just disappear.

Witness OFB's experience in his marina. The person he was pulling out of the water could not even speak while he was doing it.

If you want to alert people on board that you've gone over the only sure way that I can think of is to wear a transmitter that automatically begins broadcasting when immersed in water to a receiver on the boat. I have not looked into anything like this but I've got to believe they exist.
 
there were (probably still are) some nifty MOB systems to alert the boat and even home in on for a limited range...but a PLB isn't that type of device...not self activating and needs to be held above the water vertically.
 
There are MOB devices that will shut down the engine if you go in the water. Marketed mostly to people who fish alone in smaller boats or offshore. They can have multiple transmitters so the whole crew can wear them.
 
Where do you stow your life ring?

My newly purchased GB36 has it back near the mast. I or my wife would have to leave either helm to toss it. I plan to move it to the side of the flybridge just above the lower helm door so it is in easy reach from both helms. I have used throw bags in the past for easy and tangle free throwing (also protects the line from the sun). Also, it is not recommended to have a heavy water light attached unless you are cruising after dark. It affects the toss and can hurt or worse. The horse collar is good for lifting and is good for a backup if you throw the ring and line all at once as your nearest floating object.

A good drill is to fill a pair of coveralls with two life jackets filling the arms and legs. It doesn't give you the weight of a real person, though. Another is to throw over a cantaloupe. It's about the size of a human head and that's all you're probably going to see if someone is in the water. (also biodegradable if you can't find it.) A weighted balloon would be fine too.
 
One ring is on the aft deck, one is on the fly bridge, and a Lifesling is on the Starboard side of the pilothouse.
 
Our hard cased lifesling is on the aft deck. I need to pull it out after all these years and make sure it is serviceable.

Another related question: Is your PFD auto-inflate when you get wet?
 
Keep in mind except in calm weather the swim platform will be playing "whack a mole" with whoever is in the water.
Steve W
 
I realy have done some thinking again once more about my MOB recovery options.

My go to on the water system is the 12 foot livingston. Its always in the water beside or behind the oldfishboat.

From that platform even the Admiral all 100 lbs of her, can manage a recovery of most from the water. Roll the MOB into das boat is easiest compared to trying to pull them in over the gunnel.

I can go on about the options using this system. But I have recovered alot of folk from the water over the years. Karma ? Could be from the time I was the MOB and rescued after being way too long in the water in April. They could hear me miles away , could not see me but found me eventualy. Saved my sorry ass.

Life ring on the back deck or slung on the side of the cabin I have. But you make a choice. Toss with rope attached in hopes you get it there and the MOB can hold on. That you dont foul the running gear on it. Or toss with out rope so the MOB has something to float with specialy if there is no PFD involved. But end up loosing sight.

Ladder or harnes ? on one occassion I got in the water to assist the person to use a boarding device. That can be one tough call to make.

If you fall over board try to remember to make a ton of noise !!!!!!!! What ever that takes how ever you manage that. I still believe there is sound reasons for wearing or having a whistle with you while on or around the water.

Realy is a scary subject with no one answer fits all.

Random thoughts, again.
 
Steve said:
Keep in mind except in calm weather the swim platform will be playing "whack a mole" with whoever is in the water.
Steve W
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So are all parts of the boat...

If you cut the engine/go to neutral, usually the boat will turn broadside to the wind/waves and the roll axis is the center of the swim platform...probably the least amount of motion.

At least it is on many of the boats I've had to pull people out of the water into.
 
Wrong place and should be under the humor section but it is keeping with the topic

Newfie calls on the VHF
Man overboard by'e, me wife

This is the Canadian Coast Guard - may I have your location?

Newfie - ere by'e

CCG - can you be more specific sir

Newfie- lardtundern jes's by'e - I'm not in da pacific I'm in the Alantic ya hask me were I was and hi said i was ere, are ya dat stun, now get ere me wife is overbord.

CCG - sir can you please slow down and give is your location

Newfie - fk by'e, I ain't movin, ya kummin or not

CCG - sorry sir we meant you were talking too fast and wanted to understand what you were saying so please talk slower so sir tell us what you see and give us your coordinates

Newfie - I......sees.......me.....dog, .....me.....flashlight.....and.....me.....tools.....but.....no.....cords.

CCG - are you near you favorite fishing ground sir or near a special spot?

Newfie - nope, i'm nowhere close to hanyting.

CCG - sir unless you tell us your location we can't help you

Newfie - alls wrong is yer as stun as me arse, let me talk to someone else.

CCG - okay sir we have another Newfoundlander here we will ask him to talk to you.

CCG - weresyahat by'e got arin

Newfie - narin, at da cove and me wife fell over by'e, not stun I no.

CCG - yas by'e da women ain't built like dai use to be, ya still see er bobin

Newfie - nope not bobin anymore, she just got on me boat

CCG - some glad by'e she made it

Newfie - ( ladies voice ) me skipper is hoverboard, don't bother by'e, hif he can't swim ome to bad.

Sent from my iPhone using Trawler
 
Marin said:
And therein lies the problem. From everything I've read, been told, and learned in class, most people who go into the water unexpectedly don't have anything resembling a wit about them. And the colder the water, the more helpless a person immediately is. Someone who goes over in the Gulf or Southern California may have a good chance of having the presence of mind to use a radio. I bet if I threw someone in the water up here when they were least expecting it, even if they had a VHF attached to their belt, 99 percent of them would not use it.
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Marin, I've had some first hand experience in cold water and I would disagree with your statement.

Several years ago I got a line caught in both props while we were out on the Columbia at night. It was October, the water temp was 53° and the air temp about 60°. I dropped the anchor, then had no choice but to go under the boat to cut the lines out of the props. I had no mask and snorkel, no fins, no wetsuit, nothing.

I stuck a flashlight (Maglite D-Cell light) between my legs and had a steak knife in my teeth. I got beneath the swim platform, fill my lungs with air then dive below the boat and start cutting. I had just enough light from the flashlight to see where the props and shafts were, but not much more, and it took repeated dives to cut the line loos from both props and both shafts.

I was in the water 35 minutes before I got all the lines cut off, then was able to get back on the boat, start the engines, raise the anchor, and drive it back to the slip.

I'm a pretty big guy (6'1", 240#) but by most charts I've seen I should either have been dead or near-dead after that much time in the water at 53°.

I think a lot of whether or not a person survives an unintended swim has to do with his mindset. Like many situations where it's an extreme emergency or where there is an injury involved, if the victim's mindset is that he will survive the situation, he will do it. Conversely, if a person believes he's going to die just because he fell in the cold water, he probably will.

To answer XFEDEX's question.....mine is an automatic inflatable and I have a strobe light attached to it at the collar. If I go overboard at night I want people to see where I am.
 
GFC said:
Marin, I've had some first hand experience in cold water and I would disagree with your statement.
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It wasn't my statement, it was the statement and opinion of the University of Washington's School of Medicine's then-leading-expert on hypothermia and the psychology of victims who go in the water. If you want to challenge his opinion you'll have to talk to him.:)

Your experience is the exception, not the norm, and you went into the water deliberately and mentally prepared to do so. Not really relevant to a person, particularly an older person, who suddenly finds him or herself in extremely cold water totally unprepared both physically and mentally. Unless these people are retrieved very quickly their chances of survival are slim to none as is demonstrated around here a number of times each year.
 
xfedex said:
Another related question: Is your PFD auto-inflate when you get wet?
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No, they auto-inflate when they sense the slight increase in pressure when they go underwater. Our old ones inflate when the trigger dissolves in water.
 
Your comment....
"Your experience is the exception, not the norm, and you went into the water deliberately and mentally prepared to do so. Not really relevant to a person, particularly an older person, who suddenly finds him or herself in extremely cold water totally unprepared both physically and mentally. Unless these people are retrieved very quickly their chances of survival are slim to none as is demonstrated around here a number of times each year. "

My comment....
"I think a lot of whether or not a person survives an unintended swim has to do with his mindset. Like many situations where it's an extreme emergency or where there is an injury involved, if the victim's mindset is that he will survive the situation, he will do it. Conversely, if a person believes he's going to die just because he fell in the cold water, he probably will"

Marin, A person's mindset can be created prior to an emergency happening. I spent many years in law enforcement, much of that time I was training officers on survival techniques. It's been demonstrated many times that an officer who is seriously wounded but had already developed a survival mentality would be much more likely to survive his wounds than an officer who had never even considered it.

I believe the same could hold true for a boater. If he created ahead of time a mindset that he was going to survive falling into cold water that would greatly increase.
 
GFC said:
I believe the same could hold true for a boater. If he created ahead of time a mindset that he was going to survive falling into cold water that would greatly increase.
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i don't argue your theory at all. But I think you will find it does not apply to 99.9999 percent of recreational boaters, or at least powerboaters. They don't think that anything like an MOB will happen to them so they are not going around mentally prepared for it to happen.

Blue water racing sailboat crews are another matter as are (probably) the relatively few powerboat passagemakers who go long distances on the open ocean.

But the typical folks out on the lake or motoring along in coastal waters I daresay are not giving any thought whatsoever to being mentally prepared for a tumble off the boat. Which I suspect is why such a high proportion of them die when they do, at least in the cold water regions.
 
Hi Marin. I love the sound of your boat's name "La Pérouse" - but what does it mean?
 
As a thought, I carry a small cyclst's crash helmet for when I dive over the side of Play d'eau. It has plenty of holes in it top to the air out.
 
greatpapabear said:
Hi Marin. I love the sound of your boat's name "La Pérouse" - but what does it mean?
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It doesn't mean anything. It's a person's name. Jean-Francois de Galaup, compte de Lapérouse . Commonly referred to as Jean-Francois de La Pérouse or simply La Pérouse.

He was a French naval commander in the 1700s who commanded a warship in the French navy in support of the Americans in our revolutionary war. He later commanded a round the world voyage of discovery along the lines of one of his heroes, Captain Cook. He was the first French explorer to visit the Pacific Northwest and SE Alaska.

His two year voyage came to an end in the southwestern Pacific when his two ships were wrecked on a reef. La Pérouse himself was lost when he and a small crew of survivors disappeared when they set sail in a boat built from the wreckage of one his ships to try to get to New Zealand for help.

There is a synopsis of his life and career in Wikipedia if you want more details. I have a two-volume English translation of his journals from this voyage which were prepared and published by the Hakluyt Society. La Pérouse sent his journals back to Paris overland with one of his scientists before leaving the northwestern Pacific for Australia. Fascinating guy.

We picked the name before we ever had a boat to go with it. I am half French. My father was as French as they come. So there were a number of "connections" with the name. My heritage, our being in the Pacific Northwest which La Pérouse visited, and my growing up in Hawaii which La Pérouse alo visited. There are places named after him in the PNW, SE Alaska, Hawaii, the northwestern Pacific, and Australia.

La Pérouse was from Albi in south central France, hence the name of our current dog (he's in the dogs on board thread). We have visited Albi, a smallish, red brick city on the Tarn River, where they have a museum dedicated to La Pérouse with artifacts recovered from the wrecks of his ships, his papers and journals, paintings and other things related to his career and voyages. Albi is also the hometown of Toulouse Lautrec.
 
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