Seajet
...
I've had a rather busy weekend, I had a call on Sunday morning from my next door neighbour, who I converted to an Anderson and club member quite a few years ago.
He was on his mooring, and called me " there's an Anderson here sinking ! ".
I worked out which it would be, so called the owner with the news then grabbed a few things I thought may be useful and set off.
The boat had only just been launched last Thursday; it looked as if he'd forgotten a seacock or something, but when we got to her it became clear she had been holed by the mooring.
We got the outboard out of its' locker underwater and took it ashore to rinse out like mad with the plug out, then crashed out on my boat.
I had been sure there was a sleeping bag aboard as well as the duvet I use in the forepeak, but there wasn’t so I had a cold night with no sleep.
Whatever, after over 41 years without getting close to going overboard, I managed it on Bank holiday Monday !
I must have put a foot wrong, maybe because the painter was tied upwards and tight the tender pivoted around it, but anyway as I stepped into the dinghy it went over on top of me extremely quickly.
This could have been quite traumatic in itself, but I am used to being in the water with racing dinghies & sails etc on top of me.
I have only just started wearing a harness / lifejacket in the dinghy, so this auto-inflated, handy but a bit of an encumbrance.
I have various MOB ideas on my boat.
The guardrails at the cockpit are on pelican hooks, which were already detached.
The lower mainsheet block is held to the traveller by a large snap-shackle, and the topping lift is dyneema, to allow using the boom as a crane.
My chum ( whose boat was on the bottom nearby ) was still in the cockpit, so I was able to instruct him to pass me the snapshackle & mainsheet; hooking it on gave a feeling of security as waves were washing over me and I couldn’t have held on for that long.
Now the interesting bit; despite this, the Anderson’s low freeboard aft and my chum pulling me from the cockpit, it was a real struggle to get me back in.
I have a folding step on the transom near water level which has worked when swimming, but with the weight of my wet clothes it was a non-starter.
If I’d been alone my only hope would have been to swim to shore ( avoiding the soft mud ) a fair distance, in waves and significant tide.
I might quite easily have died, off the sheltered mooring in a few feet of water – take note please !
The life jacket would have made swimming quite hard, that and the fact I collected quite a few scrapes and bruises makes me think a buoyancy aid, easier to swim in and with it's protective 'body armour' effect may be better; but one would lose the very important harness eye.
If this had been offshore, maybe the waves and the boat heeling might have made getting back in easier, but I’d sooner not try it.
The only solution I can think of is one of those rigid alloy boarding ladders which hooks over the coamings; I have a flexible plastic one but it’s useless, one’s feet shoot away under the boat.
To cover initial boarding this ladder would have to be carried to and fro in the dinghy, but they’re very light.
We then had the fun of recovering the sunken Anderson, which turned out to be a club effort in the best traditions.
Two rescue boats were used, a heavy traditional job with a big slow revving diesel, and a 10’ job with a 10hp outboard.
As the Anderson’s bow was just underwater despite the 4 large buoyancy bags ( I’d hoped to fit a tent groundsheet as a fothering mat over the hole but time & tide prevented this ) she was towed by the stern by the large rescue boat, the small one trailing and helping to steer.
The tow was not easy !
I and another member were kept busy tailing the bridle of the tow line side to side on the quarters while the helmsman really had his work cut out, doing a good job.
The tow kept trying to shoot off to one side, with a lot of inertia of course; getting through the road bridge then the moored boats with a cross tide was ‘interesting’.
Anyway we got her to the hoist where she was slowly lifted as she drained, and eventually onto her cradle.
The damage is bad; about halfway between keel and waterline, an area a good 2’ square is cracked through, with a hole clear through in the centre.
So please take note all, I’ve always been a great fan of staying on one’s boat overnight on her mooring now and again, and especially when just launched; don’t take moorings done by someone else for granted.
And Man Overboard is really not just a theoretical exercise to discuss in the pub – do consider this, how would you have done it, especially if alone ?…
He was on his mooring, and called me " there's an Anderson here sinking ! ".
I worked out which it would be, so called the owner with the news then grabbed a few things I thought may be useful and set off.
The boat had only just been launched last Thursday; it looked as if he'd forgotten a seacock or something, but when we got to her it became clear she had been holed by the mooring.
We got the outboard out of its' locker underwater and took it ashore to rinse out like mad with the plug out, then crashed out on my boat.
I had been sure there was a sleeping bag aboard as well as the duvet I use in the forepeak, but there wasn’t so I had a cold night with no sleep.
Whatever, after over 41 years without getting close to going overboard, I managed it on Bank holiday Monday !
I must have put a foot wrong, maybe because the painter was tied upwards and tight the tender pivoted around it, but anyway as I stepped into the dinghy it went over on top of me extremely quickly.
This could have been quite traumatic in itself, but I am used to being in the water with racing dinghies & sails etc on top of me.
I have only just started wearing a harness / lifejacket in the dinghy, so this auto-inflated, handy but a bit of an encumbrance.
I have various MOB ideas on my boat.
The guardrails at the cockpit are on pelican hooks, which were already detached.
The lower mainsheet block is held to the traveller by a large snap-shackle, and the topping lift is dyneema, to allow using the boom as a crane.
My chum ( whose boat was on the bottom nearby ) was still in the cockpit, so I was able to instruct him to pass me the snapshackle & mainsheet; hooking it on gave a feeling of security as waves were washing over me and I couldn’t have held on for that long.
Now the interesting bit; despite this, the Anderson’s low freeboard aft and my chum pulling me from the cockpit, it was a real struggle to get me back in.
I have a folding step on the transom near water level which has worked when swimming, but with the weight of my wet clothes it was a non-starter.
If I’d been alone my only hope would have been to swim to shore ( avoiding the soft mud ) a fair distance, in waves and significant tide.
I might quite easily have died, off the sheltered mooring in a few feet of water – take note please !
The life jacket would have made swimming quite hard, that and the fact I collected quite a few scrapes and bruises makes me think a buoyancy aid, easier to swim in and with it's protective 'body armour' effect may be better; but one would lose the very important harness eye.
If this had been offshore, maybe the waves and the boat heeling might have made getting back in easier, but I’d sooner not try it.
The only solution I can think of is one of those rigid alloy boarding ladders which hooks over the coamings; I have a flexible plastic one but it’s useless, one’s feet shoot away under the boat.
To cover initial boarding this ladder would have to be carried to and fro in the dinghy, but they’re very light.
We then had the fun of recovering the sunken Anderson, which turned out to be a club effort in the best traditions.
Two rescue boats were used, a heavy traditional job with a big slow revving diesel, and a 10’ job with a 10hp outboard.
As the Anderson’s bow was just underwater despite the 4 large buoyancy bags ( I’d hoped to fit a tent groundsheet as a fothering mat over the hole but time & tide prevented this ) she was towed by the stern by the large rescue boat, the small one trailing and helping to steer.
The tow was not easy !
I and another member were kept busy tailing the bridle of the tow line side to side on the quarters while the helmsman really had his work cut out, doing a good job.
The tow kept trying to shoot off to one side, with a lot of inertia of course; getting through the road bridge then the moored boats with a cross tide was ‘interesting’.
Anyway we got her to the hoist where she was slowly lifted as she drained, and eventually onto her cradle.
The damage is bad; about halfway between keel and waterline, an area a good 2’ square is cracked through, with a hole clear through in the centre.
So please take note all, I’ve always been a great fan of staying on one’s boat overnight on her mooring now and again, and especially when just launched; don’t take moorings done by someone else for granted.
And Man Overboard is really not just a theoretical exercise to discuss in the pub – do consider this, how would you have done it, especially if alone ?…
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