Lifejackets, when did you last fall in and would wearing one have made a difference ?

Talking of pontoons, sorry for the thread drift but since I was a ' liveaboard ' for a little while and heard of the people who'd been drowned falling in at winter during gales, off icy / sloped pontoons etc, I reckon it's a good idea to cast an eye about and have in mind where the emergency ladders are in marinas.
 
Seajet said:
Talking of pontoons, sorry for the thread drift but since I was a ' liveaboard ' for a little while and heard of the people who'd been drowned falling in at winter during gales, off icy / sloped pontoons etc, I reckon it's a good idea to cast an eye about and have in mind where the emergency ladders are in marinas.
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In most marinas if you fall in on your own you are probably stuffed - there is nowhere where you can get out.

This is the case in my marina - if I fell in, my best chance is to climb aboard the mobo which has a swim platform a couple of boats down. There are no ladders, and the pontoons are too high to be able to climb onto unassisted.

Fortunately when I did fall in - actually from the concrete pavement along the side of the dock - I slipped on a wet patch of slime when unhooking the water hose, it was in the height of summer and there were loads of people passing by. A hefty chap offered a hand up and I was out in no time. (Very embarassing, I split my shorts in the place you do not want to split them, and the mud/slime and god knows what else stunk to high heaven).

No one on my boat was aware I had gone in.
 
Michael,

in the UK marinas are required to have emergency ladders ( though they're pretty farly dispersed ! ) and when a novice chum who lives aboard was going through gales then ice recently I asked him to look for the ladders.

You're right about nearby boats with stern platforms and ladders, always worth keeping an eye out for despite the embarassment of introducing oneself with split shorts ! :)
 
Seajet said:
in the UK marinas are required to have emergency ladders ( though they're pretty farly dispersed ! )
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Is it really a requirement? It's certainly sensible, but this is the first suggestion I've heard that it's mandatory.

Mine has a single portable ladder on a stand in about the centre of the pontoon area. You'd need someone to run and fetch it though.

Pete
 
Seajet said:
You're right about nearby boats with stern platforms and ladders, always worth keeping an eye out for despite the embarassment of introducing oneself with split shorts ! :)
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Also worth making sure your own boarding ladder (if of the folding sort) can be deployed easily from the water. (some 'rotten twine' perhaps to keep it up).

A few years back some poor sod had obviously got caught in the Emsworth mud and managed to clamber aboard my boat. (Boarding ladder was down and lots of mud in cockpit, but nothing otherwise untoward).
 
johnalison said:
Unless your boat is on autopilot?
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I've always thought that, and considered making a radio device ("are you there.....yes I am") to disable the autopilot long before the present generation of 'crew overboard' alarm devices. I'm surprised no mass manufacturer has picked up on the idea. Are single-handed leisure sailors such a minority?
 
I've often wondered about a long length of 2-3mm chord, trailed over the pushpit to the autopilot for the singlehander MOB to pull it up and disable it, might be worth a go for tiller steered boats ?
 
Not much difference in disabling the autopilot only. As long as any sail is up even drifting boat will get away from the unlucky. Can You swim over a knot? I cannot.
Read about some singlehander who was using a line streamed astern connected to rudder, so as he grabs it helm is put hard over. This he installed when as he was once in water for a swim and puff of wind propelled the boat (with no sail on) he was holding a line from stern but was unable to pull himself to the boat on this... :eek:
 
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Rossynant, the idea is to stop the boat, everything else is up to ones' precautions !

Speaking of which I also plan a plastic flexible boarding ladder secured at the transom, released by said 2-3mm line, not as ideal as a stainless steel hinged ladder but suits my boat with a transom hung rudder.

I have a single folding step on the transom already which helped save my life, and have wondered about folding ' kick - in ' fighter aircraft style steps there or blocks to climb on the rudder, and accept the drag.

There was a chap on the AZAB race - sorry I don't remember your name offhand - who went overboard and saw his boat strolling away on autopilot, I can't imagine how he felt, by the miracle of modern PLB's he was picked up a couple of hours later, then raced and successfully recovered his boat - there's got to be a book and film there !
 
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Rossynant said:
Yeah, it's stopping the boat bit that worries me, meself...
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Not impossible to arrange ...... devices which sever the sheets when the overboard is activated? (motor is obviously trivial).


......but on a tiller steered yacht I think just freeing the tiller will result in it rounding up and stopping fairly soon.
 
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In my white water canoeing days I fell in quite a lot, esp in places like the Serpent's tail & Town Falls, Llangollen, B/As always worn but mostly I was able to roll back up.

Also fallen out of & capsized sailing dinghies quite often, but a lot less often in the last 15 years as I have grown older & less agile & thus take fewer risks, usually wearing a wet suit or B/A all the time.

On SR, I jump in a lot - but never with a L/J or B/A & I have not fallen in (yet as Dylan noted) accidentally, but I did once slip on a quay ladder & one leg went in the water - no L/J or B/A, but the water was only about 3-4' deep at the time. I am VERY careful in the rubber duck, they are not as stable as you may think. especially when transferring to & from it & ladders or boats or passing heavy objects to & fro.
 
VicMallows said:
Not impossible to arrange ...... devices which sever the sheets when the overboard is activated?
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There's still every likelihood that it will drift downwind (even if not actually sailing) faster than you can swim.

Why not try it one day, with someone left on board, obviously. Might be revealing :)

Pete
 
prv said:
There's still every likelihood that it will drift downwind (even if not actually sailing) faster than you can swim.

Why not try it one day, with someone left on board, obviously. Might be revealing :)

Pete
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Indeed, in confortable sailing conditions - e.g. going downwind in a F8, my boat will do more than 5 knots without any sails up at all. It will probably do that backwards as well as forwards (I try to avoid going backwards as it is a long keeler ;-)

That is a lot faster than I can swim.
 
Touch of weather helm? This would make her just pointing some more. You are referring, I'd venture to say, to wholly unballanced boat ;)
Anyway I found it hard to fish for cod, as boat without sails, helm hard up, was making over a knot in drift, F3. Had to use heaviest bait. Boat was a heavy steel ketch, similar to "British Steel"
 
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