Ian_Rob
Well-known member
I am sure that in the dim and distant past I have seen white horseshoe buoys that have a texture or grained finish rather than a white glossy finish. Am I imaging this?
Horseshoe Buoy
- Thread starter Ian_Rob
- Start date
Sandy
Well-known member
No.
bluerm166
Well-known member
But you can buy covers which may suit you.
pvb
Well-known member
Horseshoe buoys are almost useless, they're a relic of a bygone age. There are better solutions today.
Ian_Rob
Well-known member
Well, I have read this, including one or two threads in this forum but not much substantive fact. What solutions do you think are better? I would have thought that there is value in having something buoyant that one can swim too and which is flagged but....?
I like the idea of the JonBuoy that can support the casualty out of the water but they are 20 x the price.
pvb
Well-known member
JonBuoy, Lifesling, etc, seem infinitely preferable. Have you tried throwing a horseshoe buoy with any accuracy?
Ian_Rob
Well-known member
I am aware that the difficulty of throwing a horseshoe buoy is often cited as a reason for not using them but it seems to me that problems of placing the particular bit of rescue equipment in proximity to the casualty, in a position they can make use of it, is applicable to the alternatives as well.
Ningaloo
Well-known member
Hmm, another outdated piece of equipment (like traditional flares) that we are required to carry on larger vessels.
WoodyP
Well-known member
I think that a horse shoe bouy attached by a floating line to a Dan bouy offers the mob a chance. Chuck everything that floats over the side. It gives you something to look for as you return to pick up the mob.
Sandy
Well-known member
That depends on what you are trying to solve
They are brilliant at what they are designed to do, give buoyancy for somebody in the water and mark the general area where somebody who should have been on deck was last seen bobbing up and down in the oggin.
To quote a very knowledgeable instructor, if you have a crewmember who leaves the boat for "unexpected reasons" while at sea chuck anything that floats in after them it will give you something to aim for when you turn the boat round and the brown stuff leaks out of your oilies.
jerram
Member
Sailing past Cowes Green a young lad was having a problem swimming against the ebb tide I was able to throw the horseshoe to him his parents returned it to my sailing club the next day with a thank you note thats why I carry the horseshoe buoy .
Gary Fox
N/A
I would like to find some new yellow ones.
Hopefully a design which can take a loop of strong line to lift and tow a casualty.
They are an excellent piece of MOB equipment, and exponentially more so when coupled with a flashing light. My previous horseshoes are 20 yrs old and only now beginning to wear out.
The design has not been improved on, but today's floating lights are much better than the dreadful old things with a D cell and a torch battery.
prv
Well-known member
To be honest I think the design may have got worse, by making them "more compact" for neat stowage, to the point that you can't fit them round a typical torso. Still useful, of course, as something to hold onto and to mark the position, but I've seen photos from past decades where the horseshoes were big enough for someone to get round themselves under the armpits and do up the rope in front.
I carry a Jon buoy on one quarter and a horseshoe (with light and drogue but no pole) on the other. There's uses for both. We also stow four of the fenders in baskets on the stern rail due to limited locker space, and chucking those over as markers or bouyancy if needed is absolutely part of the plan.
Pete
LadyInBed
Well-known member
I've also noted that, the same with waterproofs that I used to wear twenty years ago ?
LadyInBed
Well-known member
A modern alternative?
D
Deleted member 36384
Guest
Life jacket wearing is fairly universal now, so the need for the horse shoe as a floatation aid is almost redundant. Even marking MOB position a horseshoe and Dan buoy combination is shit. The majority can’t be deployed in a meaningful time frame to Mark MOB position. Also personal AIS solutions are far better at returning to the casualty, even though expensive.
Apparently the even older life ring had better functionally to get the required support. It flips up when you grab the side allowing one top poke the head and shoulders through it. So I have been told.
I snapped a horseshoe forcing it around my rotundness.
Apparently the even older life ring had better functionally to get the required support. It flips up when you grab the side allowing one top poke the head and shoulders through it. So I have been told.
I snapped a horseshoe forcing it around my rotundness.
D
Deleted member 36384
Guest
A modern alternative?
What great tech. The woman can give mouth to mouth to the man overboard and provide body warmth after swimming to the man with the flotation aid. Where can I buy one of these Flotation Under Devices.
TernVI
Well-known member
If your boat is set up so that you can't get the buoy over the side quickly, that's not really a design flaw with the buoy.
I go with the old racing advice that the helm should be able to get the buoy over the side in seconds, from the helming position.
Ours do that, complete with light and drogue that work pretty well.
There's only a 50:50 chance of the danbuoy launching, depending on which buoy the helm goes for.
AIS and all that is great if the MOB happens to be carrying it and it works etc.
A horseshoe buoy has zero moving parts, which is often a good thing when you get down to basics.
Roberto
Well-known member
Another option, this "Silzig buoy" has recently been added to the Offshore Special Regulations, it has 145N floatation, it can be used to tow a person, or lift it up onboard. "Silzig" meaning sausage in Breton, so I am told.
Gary Fox
N/A
That Silzig looks ideal, just how I would design one myself.. but £182 is daylight robbery.
