Is a danbuoy any use

[Coaster]

...for a modest sailing boat crewed by a couple in their fifties?

As I understand it a danbuoy is intended to be thrown into the sea immediately after someone has fallen in. But with a simple boat, under way and crewed by two people, if one falls in the other might be nowhere near the danbuoy storage. Surely the sole remaining crew member on board needs to turn the boat asap?

I can see the value of a personal epirb in such a situation. It seems unlikely that a danbuoy would be useful for us, in most circumstances.

Comments welcome, especially from anyone who has actually fallen in.

 

[alexrunic]

I would agree with a crew of two it would waste valuable time in good conditions. although at night or in big seas you will find it very difficult to find your crew in the water so might be a good idea to use one then.

 

[Babylon]

The fact that, if one of you fell overboard, there'll only be one of you left to do everything - trying to keep the MOB in sight while also raising the alarm and handling the boat (sails, engine) - would IMHO make having a danbuoy an absolute necessity. They're very quick to deploy: just grab and chuck.

If, on the other hand, the remaining person wasn't on deck to witness the fall and was only alerted by a personal epirb (if at all), then I'd rate the casualty's chances as lower.

Practice keeping an eye on a fender in the water at night, or against the glint of the sun in broad daylight - never mind the sea state - while simulating a cold panic, then decide whether a danbuoy is really dispensible.

Just my opinion.

 

[snooks]

Your danbuoy should be easy to deploy, but this depends on the design of your boat...You could make up a case/holder that would drop the danbuoy/life buoy over the side with a yank of a rope if you have a centre cockpit. It's worth a bit of thought to make it easy and quick to get it over the side because with swell of 1 ft or more and you'll loose site of them occasionally and this is why we carry a danbuoy, it's a lot harder to loose sight of one, a MOB on the other hand can be lost too easily.

One school of thought is that if someone goes over, you throw the danbuoy over asap so it gives you a marker high up to see the casualty who can be lost in surprisingly small. It also give the casualty somewhere to aim for where they know they will be more visible, and also hopefully find the life buoy.

Another take on things is that if someone goes over, just go hove to (i.e. push the helm away from you and as you drift back down towards the MOB you then throw the danbuoy to help you find the casualty

Personally depending on what happens, my rough plan is get the danbuoy/horseshoe buoy over the side asap, it's right next to the helm, and the red flag will be a bigger target to aim for, turn the boat around, reach down and press the distress button for 5 secs on the VHF, then get back to the MOB (with engine and furl the genoa), throw over the life sling and hopefully tie them in knots and get them back to the boat. Drop the main once along side, and then get them out.

When we go off to Scotland next year we're going to get a couple of personal EPIRBS because we'll be doing night watches alone.

 

[Doug_Stormforce]

... if one falls in the other might be nowhere near the danbuoy storage. Surely the sole remaining crew member on board needs to turn the boat asap?

I can see the value of a personal epirb in such a situation. It seems unlikely that a danbuoy would be useful for us, in most circumstances.

I think the day one of you falls in you might find it useful. The idea of the dan bouy is that it is very viasble from a distance. It is just what you need to mark a position while you sort out other matters on board (donkey on, sails under control/dropped etc). It is very easy to loose your bearing of exactly where you are. This simple device requires no technical knowledge on its use, or servicing and gives you a point to get back to. It can be seen from a considerable distance in rough seas compared with a man in a lifejacket.

 

[Bav34]

I think that the LESS people you have onboard the MORE important a Danbuoy becomes.

One thing that I was taught was that on a crewed boat somebody ALWAYS points at the MOB to the exclusion of everything else. It is so easy to lose sight of them.

Our Danbouy is tied to our lifebuoy. Thats the first lot to go over the side. By the time the remaining crew has sorted out the boat for the return, the Danbuoy is probably the only visual reference point ... hitting GPS MOB helps ... assuming it is near the helm!

We then have a floating heaving line and one of those lifebouys that has floating line attached to the boat ... the idea being that you circle the casualty.

Then comes the tricky bit ... but that wasn't your question

 

[PeterGibbs]

When we go off to Scotland next year we're going to get a couple of personal EPIRBS because we'll be doing night watches alone.

Even with personal EPIRBS the helm will still have difficulty focusing on the MOB's position so as not to run them down, especially at night - the danbuoy will give you a most important visual reference (it mjust have a light or flag to make it conspicuous) when the motor's on you don't want to be running the MOB down as you make circles looking for them in the dark?!

It cannot be under-estimated how quickly a head disappears in even small waves. At night, it's impossible to see anything in the water - or you could assume that for planning purposes.

In any breeze the horseshoe will be useless, so I dumped mine in favour of a danbuoy for the helm to focus on and the casualty to stay close to; I have a retrieval line with floatation collar to drag past the MOB and haul in to the rear steps.

For the cost, definitely a worthwhile safety item.


PWG

 

[planteater]

Danbouy may be of some comfort to any inexperienced crew left aboard but it's the PLB which will attract professional, experienced and well equipped help.

 

[Ludd]

Your danbuoy should be easy to deploy, but this depends on the design of your boat...You could make up a case/holder that would drop the danbuoy/life buoy over the side with a yank of a rope if you have a centre cockpit. It's worth a bit of thought to make it easy and quick to get it over the side because with swell of 1 ft or more and you'll loose site of them occasionally and this is why we carry a danbuoy, it's a lot harder to loose sight of one, a MOB on the other hand can be lost too easily.

One school of thought is that if someone goes over, you throw the danbuoy over asap so it gives you a marker high up to see the casualty who can be lost in surprisingly small. It also give the casualty somewhere to aim for where they know they will be more visible, and also hopefully find the life buoy.

Another take on things is that if someone goes over, just go hove to (i.e. push the helm away from you and as you drift back down towards the MOB you then throw the danbuoy to help you find the casualty

Personally depending on what happens, my rough plan is get the danbuoy/horseshoe buoy over the side asap, it's right next to the helm, and the red flag will be a bigger target to aim for, turn the boat around, reach down and press the distress button for 5 secs on the VHF, then get back to the MOB (with engine and furl the genoa), throw over the life sling and hopefully tie them in knots and get them back to the boat. Drop the main once along side, and then get them out.

When we go off to Scotland next year we're going to get a couple of personal EPIRBS because we'll be doing night watches alone.

I'd clip on on a short tether if I were you. I sail solo mostly and that's my solution.

 

[sarabande]

it is quite amazing how small a human head becomes at even 50 metres. Anything which increases the visibility of the MOB, or even the nearby location, must be helpful.

Being weighted a meter or so below the water, a danbuoy will also tend to drift at the same rate as a human bean, whereas a lifebelt can scud along the surface quite quickly.

The answer is to have a quick release mechanism for the danbuoy and join it with a light line to the lifebelt, so that both are deployed together.

 

[oldsaltoz]

This is the set up I installed on my first mono hull:

As there is large area under the cockpit lockers (Quarter berth) I installed a 150 mm PVC storm water pipe than ran from an opening I cut in the transom to the companionway steps, the pipe was fixed to the underside of the locker and side of the hull so took up no real space, the inner end was closed with an end cap.

The danbouy was stowed inside with the weighted end facing aft, attached to this was a line to the lifebuoy, drogue stored at the outer end of the tube and another line to the automatic light held in a clamp on the outside of the pushpit rail.

Note the drogue was about twice the size of the ones normally supplied and had a small weight at the narrow end.

Deployment was simple, throw the light and lifebuoy out, they pulled the drogue out and it pulled the danbouy out.

This system ensures minimum UV damage and retains rapid deployment.

I hope this helps.

Oh, and yes I am sure you should have a danbouy on board.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[csharpatsea]

All safety gear is dangerous because it allows people to think that falling overboard is a survivable event.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

A Necessary And Essential Item In My Opinion

All safety gear is dangerous because it allows people to think that falling overboard is a survivable event.

Which it is, survivable because of Safety Gear. The dan buoy is very useful in a MOB situation but many boats have them set up so as to be difficult to deploy. Humans being humans make mistakes or get caught out, so safety gear is not dangerous but actually addresses to some extent the fallibility of being human.

To answer the OPs question directly, yes a Dan Buoy is useful and should be rigged to to use. I have used them many times in MOB training. Compared to a bucket and fender, there is just no comparison when it comes to visibility. I have also had one deploy in heavy weather accidently and again it was very easy to spot and recover.

So get it set up for rapid deployment by the helms person.

 

[snooks]

Even with personal EPIRBS the helm will still have difficulty focusing on the MOB's position so as not to run them down, especially at night - the danbuoy will give you a most important visual reference (it mjust have a light or flag to make it conspicuous) when the motor's on you don't want to be running the MOB down as you make circles looking for them in the dark?!
PWG

My point about personal EPIRBS was that if someone goes over the side, they can make the activate the distress themselves on their own EPIRB from the water, or for the person left behind can activate it without loosing sight of the MOB...the personal EPRIBS will be used along side the danbuoy arrangement we already have in place

 

[Spookyfella]

Ok, assume you are alone, and the personal MOB alarm / epirb blurbs. Now you have to work out how to interprete the signal, find the position, plot and sail, and then hope. Do you not think that is a lot of time better spent visually looking for a danbouy flag / light?

And then there is the question, if YOU fell in, do you not think a lifebelt / extra bouyancy with elevated light / visual aid would give more comfort than seeing the boat simply disappear, and hoping the battery lasts / works, and that it really is waterproof?

But of course, if the other person fell off when you were asleep ...

Circumstances are always different, but the danbouy is an example of a piece of equipment you buy but you never want to use "in anger". So CYA and get whatever makes you feel comfortable, both as the person in the water, and as the person in the boat. The personal MOB alarm does however sound like a good idea.

 

[awol]

Are personal EPIRBs really the panacea to falling overboard? I thought that the sequence involved phone calls to nominated persons and then tasking of the relevant rescue service - quite a timelag for someone doggy paddling in the water.

Launching the danbuoy and a floating light, both attached to horseshoe buoys and drogues, one after the other gives a track on which to return which, especially at night, could be useful.

What I find odd is that neither the danbuoys nor the horseshoe buoys come from the chandler fitted with retroflective material and that so few boat owners add any (or even the boat's name).

 

[Genoa]

When I sail 2 up in anything other than a flat calm we have personal (inflatable) danbouys on our lifejackets - they do work - try one! These really do answer the fundamental question here - whilst deploying a normal danbouy are you also able to watch the casualty and control the boat. IMHO no you are not. 3 up, 1 person deploys the danbouy and watches the casualty, the other controls the boat and hits the red button.
G

 

[Kelpie]

I was just about to ask about those. £25 a go, seem like a very neat idea. Are they bulky at all? Can you wear one on your LJ without it getting in the way?

 

[Genoa]

I was just about to ask about those. £25 a go, seem like a very neat idea. Are they bulky at all? Can you wear one on your LJ without it getting in the way?

No - doesnt get in the way, just wear tucked in to one side of the "horseshoe" part of the lifejacket. Its not as good as a real solid one, but does the job in the short handed scenario.

 

[snowleopard]

I second the comments about losing sight of people in the water. If you've done a MOB exercise in a bit of a chop you will know how hard it can be to spot a fender in the water from 100 yds away. I once went searching for a 20 ft boat painted with dayglow orange and even that I only saw from 1/4 mile away. Anything that helps locate the person in the water has to be good.

A drogue attached to lifebelt and/or dan buoy is also important. Not only does it help prevent the device out-swimming the MOB but he can also put it on his head to make himself more visible (they are usually a fluorescent colour).