Film "Adrift".

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Flicked onto this briefly last night but was unable to watch it so I do not know how the film ended up athough I understand that all 6 died in the true story ths is based upon. A grim tale and a good reminder of the difficulty getting back onboard a boat without a boarding ladder.

I was musing how they could have got someone back onboard. A human pyramid in the water-the bottom ones would have to hold breath but would that work? Inserting fingers into a skin fitting and using that as a ladder-ouch. Tying several bikini tops to form a lassoo line?
What would really work in that situation?
 
Swimming in the Med, even from a relatively big boat, I always used to be able to bob up and grab the toe-rail. I can't then haul myself any higher, but I like to think I could provide some assistance to somebody more nimble. I can imagine two people hanging from one hand each, with their free hands linked to make a step for someone to stand on and scramble aboard. Somewhat similar to the techniques for getting a team over the high wall on a military assault course, which I used to love doing in the Cadets.

A former work colleague of mine once found himself in exactly this situation while delivering a racing boat back to base with two others. He was the first to jump over, assumed someone else would lower the ladder, then found them both in the water next to him. A very scary moment, he said, but they managed to help each other back on board fairly swiftly.

Pete
 
I bought a pull-up (chin-up) bar last year to train for such an eventuality. When I first bought it I could only manage three pull-ups, and it was a real struggle; now I'm up to 2 sets of 20, so feeling pretty confident.
 
Trundlebug said:
A rather good argument for fitting, or having a bathing platform.
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True - with Kindred Spirit's counter stern and demountable midships ladder, I was always very careful to rig the ladder as soon as the thought of going swimming emerged (although in extremis I probably could have climbed up via the bowsprit and bobstay). With Ariam's platform stern, I can pull the ladder down from the water if necessary, so this preparation is not so essential.

It's interesting to note that fold-down transoms with clip-on ladders are becoming increasingly common on new boats as a way to get maximum usable boat in a given length (stern platform length not charged for when folded up in a marina). So we're returning to a world in which it's crucial to rig the bathing ladder before you jump in.

Pete
 
I have a Mastep plastic flexible boarding ladder on the transom, folded with a breakable elastic tie and a light line to pull it down, not luxury but it does the job of getting me back on when swimming or if I went MOB.

NB boarding ladders of any kind should be locked or removed when the boat is ashore in winter, to avoid the wrong type of boarders.
 
Since I've got roughly 18 inches of freeboard at the shrouds I'm fairly confident about being able to haul myself back onboard.

Not that I go swimming off the boat anyway. The water around the UK is never, ever warm enough for that.
 
Woodlouse said:
Since I've got roughly 18 inches of freeboard at the shrouds I'm fairly confident about being able to haul myself back onboard.

Not that I go swimming off the boat anyway. The water around the UK is never, ever warm enough for that.
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Come on, 19 degrees C is fine :P
 
Bloke in work was talking about the film, I didn't see it.
We think the solution, having a knife, is to make a hole in the boat and wait for it to sink to a level you can get in easily....
 
Woodlouse said:
Not that I go swimming off the boat anyway. The water around the UK is never, ever warm enough for that.
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We've been swimming off the boat in Studland bay in October for the last 2 years. Admittedly not for very long and certainly in part because it had been cold and raining all "summer"...

Oh and the OP might consider putting "spoiler alert" into the title of similar threads in future...
 
lw395 said:
We think the solution, having a knife, is to make a hole in the boat and wait for it to sink to a level you can get in easily....
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Good luck! Did you see the trouble they had making a hole in the Crash Test Boat in order to practice fixing it? They had a bloke belting it with a sledgehammer with no effect whatsoever, a club hammer and chisel, and a big lump of random steel from the yard. They ended up having to cut almost all the way through with an angle grinder, and even then he struggled to break through with the hammer. Someone in the water with a knife has no chance.

Pete
 
I saw it as well and could not make out what happened in the end.Did she get back to the boat with him?Would she have dived in knowing her child was on board? Would she have got on board and got to sleep without looking for him? Perhaps it was some thing i missed.
 
laika said:
We've been swimming off the boat in Studland bay in October for the last 2 years. Admittedly not for very long and certainly in part because it had been cold and raining all "summer"...

Oh and the OP might consider putting "spoiler alert" into the title of similar threads in future...
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There is no spoiling of anything - it was clear the post was about the film Adrift.Iif you did not want to join in the discussion about the film you just had to not open the thread!
 
ahabdonal said:
There is no spoiling of anything - it was clear the post was about the film Adrift.Iif you did not want to join in the discussion about the film you just had to not open the thread!
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Aside from the fact that my comment was actually intended to be humorous (which tends not to work with this audience) it's entirely possible to review, recommend or discuss a work without revealing the ending. Often people will post about the realism of the boaty content, suggest a particular boaty feature of it is interesting or just say that it's a fine boating story worth watching/reading. Such threads are useful if you weren't aware of said work.

Woodlouse said:
To be honest he didn't write any spoilers. He was asking how it ended.
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Technically correct, although he did say what happened in the events the movie was based on. Although not a slam-dunk, your money would be on that happening in the movie too.

In future I'll try and remember to put <mockoutrage> markup tags around any comment intended as such
 
Getting back on a boat. Extremely difficult if there is no ladder or similar. I used to teach sailing to kids on 10ft dinghies. Some kids had difficulties pressing themselves up and over the gunwhale even with the boat half full of water after a capsize. I told them to go home and practice press ups on the kitchen table side. Certainly at my present level of fitness and weight I would be hopeless. The only saving grace might be that in a big sea you might get a helpful boost from a wave. And of course in real life you might have more adrenalin boost to heave yourself over the gunwhale. Not likely to be succesful unless there was a transom mounted rudder or bow sprit with a bobstay.
So yes you do need to have some sort of recovery plan for getting from water back into boat.
I have a step mounted on the low part of the transom. From this stainless steel rungs can be lowered down intob the water. I can heavee myself up enopugh to grab the stern rail and so with feet in the rungs and arms pulling I can get myself aboard. In fact I do it often in the summer after swimming from shore. Easier than launching the dinghy. olewill
 
ahabdonal said:
Flicked onto this briefly last night but was unable to watch it ....

.....What would really work in that situation?
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I remember channel hopping one night and coming across this film, fairly early on but they were in the water wondering what to do.
It seemed very typical Hollywood, where every reasonable chance was squandered, leaving them even fewer options.

I don't necessarily know what I'd do for sure, but one thing I do know is that hysterical screaming and in-fighting wouldn't really be the answer.
From the few minutes I did see, that of course was exactly what they did because it was Hollywood. So I too found it unwatchable and turned over.
Another good film idea turned into drivel
 
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