Dinghy to shore drowning

[Chrusty 1]

Good call.

I was once at Towan beach, between Falmouth & Portscatho, swimming & larking around in moderate surf with my then fiancee and her family, with a tractor inner tube as a float.

A chap started calling " Over here, over here ! " but we didn't catch on immediately he was actually calling ' help my mate ! '

Said chum was a long way out beyond the surf, and unconscious; fiancee and her Dad, both strong swimmers, went off like torpedos leaving me to drag the float through the surf, I think adrenalin was the only way I got through.

They saved the bloke and held him afloat, then we all floated back on the inner tube; I have always thought that the waves washing Fiona's top down was the main reason he perked up to consciousness !

I'll lay odds that he wasn't the only thing that perked up that day?

 

[noelex]

I have always thought that the waves washing Fiona's top down was the main reason he perked up to consciousness !

It is important to practice resuscitation techniques, that's one I am not familiar with, so I will endeavour to get some practical experience in the near future.
I would also conclude that if Fiona had been wearing a LJ your frend may never have recovered.Dangerous things those LJ

 

[Seajet]

 

[Ben Dockrell 22]

A number of posts covered using an led or light, looking in "The Handbook Of Survival At Sea" they recommend "A Strobe Light".

 

[Sailfree]

A number of posts covered using an led or light, looking in "The Handbook Of Survival At Sea" they recommend "A Strobe Light".

I bought a waterproof stobe light for our LJ's from a dive shop after I read that they can be spotted from 12 mls in a helicopter in good visibility.

 

[webcraft]

.
Night time on Mojomo on the transat the person on watch at night carried a strobe and a personal AIS transponder. Useful kit if you can afford it, but I would still say the lifejacket comes first. (Or second after the harness).

I can't see many people carrying that sort of gear for a dinghy trip though.

- W

 

[Ben Dockrell 22]

I bought a waterproof stobe light for our LJ's from a dive shop after I read that they can be spotted from 12 mls in a helicopter in good visibility.

Hello Sailfree

May i ask the price you paid and if you recall the store you bought from ?

No worries if not

 

[Sailfree]

Can't remember the price but think it was circa £15. Bought it from Andark Diving. I am sure most Dive shops would sell them - surfacing diver long way from dive boat!

 

[Seajet]

Hello Sailfree

May i ask the price you paid and if you recall the store you bought from ?

No worries if not

Ben,

try googling Force 4 or Marine Superstore, I have no connection but both have given me excellent service.

I tape 'chem-lights ' onto the lifejacket oral inflation tubes as a backup; a good lifebuoy with a light and reflective tape is essential, as is a danbuoy with reflective tape and a light if in any significant waves; if trying to deal with a person overboard at night, one needs all the help going !

The radio locator jobs seem handy, but as I usually only sail with one crew I couldn't leave the helm; on my exam the examiner knew this, so made me do the MOB bit on my own, fair enough I thought...

 

[Sailfree]

Ben,

try googling Force 4 or Marine Superstore, I have no connection but both have given me excellent service.

I think the ones sold by dive shops have the power to be seen at a distance from a helicopter. Would not be certain of the visibility range for ones bought in chandlers.

 

[graham]

I have to admit to rarely wearing a LJ in the tender.Should do I know.

I would say that the dodgiest part of the operation is trasnsferring from yacht to tender and visa versa.

What I do have is a pull down ladder to get back aboard the yacht should I ever need to. Hypothermia is more likely to kill than drowning, it is very nearly impossible to climb aboard a yacht from the water unassisted and you will soon be hypothermic/exhausted after a few failed attempts.

A LJ will make it much more difficult to get back aboard.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

A LJ will make it much more difficult to get back aboard.

Why?
I'm not saying you are wrong, just that I don't see why an LJ would make it diffiult.

 

[Kukri]

Some very small rigid pram dinghies are death traps because it is impossible to re-board them after a capsize without swamping them again. I would not recommend anything smaller than 7ft 6ins, for this reason.

I experimented with capsizing and reboarding our 9ft stem dinghy tender off a sheltered beach on a warm day at slack water - most educational and everyone should try it.

I also tried re-boarding via the bobstay - (boat is gaff cutter) - not a hope. Very sobering.

 

[Lakesailor]

I also tried re-boarding via the bobstay - (boat is gaff cutter) - not a hope. Very sobering.

That's interesting. I'd have thought it would be do-able.

Mind you.
I rescued a tired and capsized canoeist one day. Although my boarding ladder had the bottom rung in the water it took a hell of of a lot of heaving and hoeing to get him aboard.

 

[Kukri]

The problem is that the bobstay eye in the stemhead is at the waterline, not below it, so you can't get a foot on it. With the sort of upper body strength that I possessed as a teenager,or even as a thirtysomething, I could have swarmed up the bobstay it - not so easy now!

 

[graham]

Why?
I'm not saying you are wrong, just that I don't see why an LJ would make it diffiult.

It catches on everything and makes clambering aboard almost impossible.

 

[EuanMcKenzie]

best thing I ever did was build a decent set of boarding steps from plywood so kids can safely climb on board and swimmers can get out of the water. They were a copy of the style used on most junks in Hong Kong.

It frustrates me that people on here will argue for the sake of arguing. I was brought up in Hong Kong - we swam to the beach

I now sail on West coast we use lifejackets in tender because the water is cold. You will not have a sensible debate on this if you do not acknowledge other peoples rational comments

 

[Seajet]

I found myself overboard wearing a 175 Newton LJ last year; I agree it makes swimming or clambering into a dinghy very difficult indeed; I know it goes against all survival instincts, but there is the occasion when partially deflating the LJ by inserting the cap end of the oral inflation tube into it, will help.

For this reason, dinghy sailors wear buoyancy aids; they help keep one warm and take knocks like 'body armour' too, but they won't support someone who has been knocked out by a boom, and don't have spume visors or lights.

I suppose my conclusion would be a training course in a swimming pool, but I virtually have to arm wrestle my 88 year old Dad to make him wear a LJ in the tender, the suggestion of a course in a pool would get a very curt two-word answer !

I do think it's a generation thing though, and the trick would be getting say a girlfriend to treat it seriously without being scared off sailing.

It's difficult enough already, when asking an attractive lady " would you like to come for a sail ? " she'll be thinking of Duran Duran videos and sunbathing in a bikini while sipping G & T's, so once one starts offering waterproofs and harnesses, lifejackets, their eyes tend to glaze over...

 

[Rigger Mortice]

It catches on everything and makes clambering aboard almost impossible.

It probably depends on the boat. I can't imagine that it would be much of a problem with the arrangements which I have on mine....though I've never put it to the test. Maybe I should.

However, I doubt that that is a valid reason for not wearing an LJ. If it helps save you so that you are still able to get back to the boat you could always remove or, preferably, deflate it.

I can see that it would make it very difficult indeed to clamber into an inflatable but the same comments about removal/deflation still apply.

 

[Ben Dockrell 22]

"It's difficult enough already, when asking an attractive lady " would you like to come for a sail ? " she'll be thinking of Duran Duran videos and sunbathing in a bikini while sipping G & T's, so once one starts offering waterproofs and harnesses, lifejackets, their eyes tend to glaze over..."



Might be an idea to wait till you leave the marina / port.