Are your topsides climbable?

Good thoughts. Maybe a drogue on the tender? Or, how about a massive sea-anchor, launched electrically from the yacht, as soon as her singlehanded skipper falls o/b? Then at least the vessel won't drift much faster than the swimmer can go. Or...a handset (waterproof) in the swimmer's pocket, so he or she can steer the yacht back towards himself, Wii-style?!! Hmm...

Thanks Lenten. Please contribute more often! Plenty of nuts on this forum, we need your good sense.
 
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Dan,

Stuff the electronics - they are a disaster waiting to happen, besides being eyewateringly expensive. Tie a bit of rope round your waist with a snap clip on the other end. Keep it clipped on when you are not using both hands to hold on.

If you really want to buy something, a harness & lifeline to stop you going over the side are 10x better than any lifejacket - you don't even get wet. You can even use it when climbing aboard if you clip on before you leave the dink.

Simple is always best, less to go wrong, less to spend on.
 
Searush, I'm inspired! Heartened, gladdened and encouraged, and not only because it's Friday night. A few months ago, you and I disagreed massively about lifejackets. But, today, we can agree, at least as much...it is indeed, much better simply not to need one!
 
I had a similar experience a year ago which i posted on the forum at the time. SWMBO was on board and i was in the inflatable tender sorting out the stern lines to our pile mooring. The painter pulled tight and because i was leaning over the stern, the inflatable tipped over spilling me out. Luckily i had my life jacket on which auto inflated but i could hardly reach the gunwhale and there was no way i could pull myself up. SWMBO was in a panic and i was getting very tired, at this point i didn't have the strength left for a swim so i got her to tow me with the tender to a near by pontoon. Now bearing in mind she doesn't know how to row this took a long time going round in circles but she eventually made it. I tried various boarding ladders on the back of moored boats but none of them would reach low enough for me to step on. Eventually a passing boat came to the rescue and it took 3 people and all my remaining strength to pull me onto the pontoon. In all i had been in the water for over an hour and i was extermely tired. SWMBO broke down and cried, not a pretty sight, and i regretted having put her through that, i still shudder to think of the possible consequences even now. Luckily it hasn't put her off sailing (she was new to it at the time) and we always wear our lifejackets now when in the tender. I posted at the time to see if i could get a solution to the problem of getting back onboard but nothing suitable for my boat was suggested, i have a small transom with a transom hung rudder so space is limited. The things i learnt were ,
the ladder must reach at least 4ft below the water line,
always wear a life jacket when transfering to and from the boat or when in the tender
Have some sort of system to help whoever is onboard to assist the casualty up the ladder
SWMBO is a bigger and better person than i ever thought, bless her

There really ought to be a recovery system on the market, either a proper long folding ladder or something similar
In the true tradition of PBO, i think we should all put our heads together and pool our ideas so we can come up with something that we can all install and use. I had thought about putting steps on the side of the rudder all the way down, streamlined of course, they must reach far enough down to be of use. The rudder is ideal as it is solid and straight up and down, compared to the hull which allows your feet to shoot under and putting all the weight onto your arms.
I still haven't fitted anything and i still haven't come up with the perfect solution but this thread has made me think again, after all its only a matter of time before one of us has a fatal mishap, all for the want of a suitable rcovery ladder
 
Hard to think of a more effective way to wake us up to what can happen, than hearing tales like Bower15's. The scarifying part is how the deadly stuff often seems to happen only a few yards from total safety and security.

Perhaps there's an answer, in old-fashioned rope-work (if necessary with some reasonably-priced high-tech hardware thrown in).

Maybe a length of line with a hook that can catch round a bulwark or pontoon, with a step in it, which can itself be raised by degrees as the user climbs? Sounds rather SBS, but I expect steeplejacks and rock-climbers could think of a wearable, packageable solution that could be applied by any swimmer and which would either keep the swimmer's head above water till rescue comes, or allow him to rescue himself.

Searush, I'm almost insulted if you don't recall... you and I argued about lifejackets and seatbelts, a few months back. As a newcomer to the forum, I felt unaccountably shat-upon (there were various playground bullies putting the boot in), but as you'll have observed, it hasn't stopped me. I hope you have a drink, there? Here's to you! :D:)
 
For those contemplating swimming after a departing yacht:

The Olympic record for 400m freestyle is about 3 minutes 41 seconds.

That equates to an average speed of 3.5 knots!
(Finely honed athlete in high tech swimming suit, warm, calm water)

I know from swimming off boats moored in a running tide that I struggle to maintain 2 knots for more than a few seconds.
(Lardy bloke in shorts, calm water)

Clip on :D

Andy
 
A thought for those mentioning that the danger of going overboard lurks in the gentlest looking places; a marina near my mooring is a lovely little place, a real sun-trap, and quite small scale.

The last definite count I heard, a few years ago so sadly almost certainly out of date, was 3 separate fatalities from people going off the pontoons.
 
Searush said:
TQA

That's the one I have on SR, I think mine is a 4 rung & 2 end up below the waterline. Excellent piece of it but pricey. I was lucky to get mine off the For Sale forum.
Click to expand...

I was lucky to get the telescopic ladder much reduced in the annual Budget Marine Grenada sale, it was a $100 US and I snaffled it instantly. The steps I made out of greenheart which is easily available out here.

I got a price for some teak but had to go and lie down aftwards to get over the shock.
 
Thinking about TQA's remarks in respect of teak prices...

...did anyone ever try growing hardwood trees in the UK? Or would I need a three-hundred-foot high greenhouse?
 
Swallow boats put a step on the kick up rudder of the Bayraider. I am considering a clip on step for my double ender's rudder, as I doubt I can enter from the side. Something that lives in the sternsheets and I can reach from the water. The new boat will have a proper fold down one on the transom. The top of the rudder already has a step at water level.
Guy I knew quite well was sailing in a 24ft from Solent to Portugal, after an F7 was blowing out, he was trying to clear a halyard and went over the side, sea was still lumpy. Had the presence of mind to hang onto the rope and managed to climb up the Aires gear. When telling me, it was clear from his voice and expression that he thought he was a gonner. Obvious comment was he should have clipped on. But that was what happened.
As for chasing a drifting boat in windy conditions, forget it. Had a close call trying that, with a duff LJ too. As soon as you deploy the LJ, you are swimming on your back at very low speed. I don't have auto for that reason.
Done the swimming bit alongside the boat too, BUT, one at a time, out of three.
 
Another loony idea. Expect to see it on sale, soon...

How about some sort of pyrotechnic-style device, compact enough to be part of a lifejacket (and attached to it)...not much bulkier than a flare...which fires fifty meters of very light, very strong cable and has some sort of snap-shackle end which'll lock onto shrouds, guardrails, any piece of rope it passes, as the yacht drifts?

A bit 007, perhaps? Or, subject to firearms restrictions? :rolleyes:
 
dancrane said:
How about some sort of pyrotechnic-style device, compact enough to be part of a lifejacket (and attached to it)...not much bulkier than a flare...which fires fifty meters of very light, very strong cable and has some sort of snap-shackle end which'll lock onto shrouds, guardrails, any piece of rope it passes, as the yacht drifts?

A bit 007, perhaps? Or, subject to firearms restrictions? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I reckon you'd pull the remaining crew over the side by their eyeballs.

If we're talkign James Bond solutions, Google have made a car that drives itself, so it's probably only a few years until we get a mini robot ship launches itself and goes to get you if it sees that you've fallen in.

...or a wear a harness.
 
sighmoon said:
I reckon you'd pull the remaining crew over the side by their eyeballs.

If we're talkign James Bond solutions, Google have made a car that drives itself, so it's probably only a few years until we get a mini robot ship launches itself and goes to get you if it sees that you've fallen in.

...or a wear a harness.
Click to expand...

I agree.

However so many people miss the point.

They bang on about lifejackets and criticise me for not wearing one (often)

Yet they put them on when they get to their boat. They would be safer if they took them off when they got to their boat.

What's the problem we're trying to fix? Getting out of the water if we fall into it. For me, a big problem that worries me.

Yet so many of the solutions talk about getting onto a boat at sea. You are very unlikely to fall in at sea. Unlikely on a yacht, especially if you wear a harness if conditions are dodgy and even less likely on a mobo.

Some good ideas posted though that would work in the marina too.......
 
Elessar said:
I agree.

However so many people miss the point.

They bang on about lifejackets and criticise me for not wearing one (often)

Yet they put them on when they get to their boat. They would be safer if they took them off when they got to their boat.

What's the problem we're trying to fix? Getting out of the water if we fall into it. For me, a big problem that worries me.

Yet so many of the solutions talk about getting onto a boat at sea. You are very unlikely to fall in at sea. Unlikely on a yacht, especially if you wear a harness if conditions are dodgy and even less likely on a mobo.

Some good ideas posted though that would work in the marina too.......
Click to expand...

The whole lifejacket thing is a minefield! There are definitely times when you need to be wearing one, but there are other times when you don't.
How many have tried to swim, get back on board a dinghy or climb a ladder with an inflated lifejacket? pretty damn near impossible.
I have safety ladder clipped to toerail & will look at snooks idea of rope pull for boarding ladder, but in the end the best solution is not to go over the side ;)
 
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