Sailfree
Well-Known Member
I think man overboard situations they can literally be a life saver.
Are 'Sugar Scoops' a con?
- Thread starter LadyInBed
- Start date
I think man overboard situations they can literally be a life saver.
Tranona
Well-Known Member
Not sure that is necessarily the case. The vertical movement in any kind of sea would make it very difficult to get a casualty on board. The received wisdom sems to be that it is better to get the casualty up amidships where the motion is less and a halyard can be used to hoist. This is the method used in the YM article this month on MOBs. However the boat they used was Snook's Sadler which does not have a sugar scoop so would not have been an option anyway.
Would be interested in others' views on the subject.
Sailfree
Well-Known Member
For solo sailors!
prv
Well-Known Member
My view is that it's definitely something to be aware of; I've seen sterns crashing up and down so you definitely wouldn't want to put your head anywhere near them. But on the other hand, I tend to assume that the likelihood of falling overboard is about the same regardless of conditions (when it's rougher, you're more careful), so there will be plenty of times when the stern ladder is perfectly viable and a lot easier than a rope ladder amidships or some kind of hoist.
If nothing else, by far the most common MOB situation seems to be getting in or out of a dinghy, when the boat will be moored or anchored in relative shelter. A stern platform would not only be invaluable for getting out again under those circumstances, but it might help make the accident less likely in the first place.
(It's all academic to me right now, as I have a counter stern which is the least-climbable point on the boat whatever the conditions.)
Pete
RupertW
Well-Known Member
Sugar scoop recovery in almost any situation - basically with even lowish top sides it's very awkward for a crew, especially short handed to haul somebody up amidships and with a modern high topside very much harder again. So sugar scoop plus usual bathing ladder is the high risk but quick way of doing it. High risk because of the motion and risk of injury by propeller, bottom of sugar scoop and bathing ladder.
However if able to get back to the person and attach them amidships, then with engine off could get them back to the stern and - big if - they manage to hold the ladder then it's an easy distance to drag them onto a low flat surface if they can't make it straight up themselves.
The alternative may be safer but as the minutes drag on as you try to get them up but over cut guard wires a metre or more above the water then tiredness of the person in the water and the crew (maybe just one person?) will make that approach less and less likely to succeed.
Hope it never happens except for the unavoidable late nights at anchor after a lot of booze.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
Without the sugar scoop on my Moody 31 Mk II it would be practically impossible to get in or out of a dinghy; the freeboard is far too high (it is a bit of a step up from a pontoon). And I don't think it makes much difference on the Moody to the overall length; the Mk 1 didn't have one, but is exactly the same LOA, as the scoop (less than a foot deep) is done by indenting the transom rather than extending the hull. No effect on internal space.
LadyInBed
Well-Known Member
Yes, that is an advantage I had forgotten about, if it's a pontoon, but if it is stern to a quay, a meter or so above the water!
Lady In Red - Hunkered down in Hennebont
LadyInBed
Well-Known Member
Isn't that what those holes in the bottom corners of the cockpit are for?
Lady In Red - Hunkered down in Hennebont
Tranona
Well-Known Member
Still worth it as crew can stand on the scoop with the warps ready. Most quays are low because there is no (or little) tide to worry about.