Man Overboard Solent

Well done Paul!

Glad that you got ET back in the water too.

For the others here, Paul is making a habit of rescuing people. Though this is a lot more dramatic than the out of control boat in Ocean Village he saved last time!
 
Paul_f7 said:
Thanks Nigel (and everyone for the kind words).

Nigel, in answer to your questions:

I was not alerted by VHF, but by a yachtsman on another vessel who witnessed him going overboard. At first all I could see was another yacht who appeared to be having trouble with its spinnaker which was in the water and crewmen who appeared in a desperate hurry to get the sails down. At first I thought they had suffer some form structural failure, and then I saw the victim in the water. To be fair he was very calm and I stopped approximately 10 metres away from him to ask if he had any obvious injuries, as yanking someone out of the water with a back/neck injury could have resulted in serious injury. I then explained what I was going to do, and made sure the victim acknowledged what I was doing. I then positioned the boat upwind of him, sideways on so to provide some shelter for him and to allow the boat to be blown towards him. Once I was within 8 feet, I threw him a line and secured him to the boat, at which point I could pull him to the stern of the boat and get him out.

Having never been involved in anything like this before I was a little shaky and afterwards thought about what I would do differently. Obviously, had I had crew on board I would have have them issue a mayday or panpan, but as I was on my own I thought it better to at least secure him and attempt a recovery, if the recovery had failed then I think a mayday would have been the right decision.

Not something I would want to have to do on a regular basis, so hats off to the RNLI crews.

Hope this is what you wanted.
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Some really interesting info, Esp re checking for injuries; I'm not sure that I'd have been so adept so hats off to you.

I shall remember to keep my throwing line in good order and by the helm from now on.

Best regards
 
PEJ said:
Well done Paul!

Glad that you got ET back in the water too.

For the others here, Paul is making a habit of rescuing people. Though this is a lot more dramatic than the out of control boat in Ocean Village he saved last time!
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that wasn't me he rescued out of control a few months back was it? I know a few OV residents did.

anyway, Paul, textbook approach - boat upwind, drift down, drag casualty from amidships. To do that for real shows excellent seamanship. I've done it many times with a fender and a few times with a hat, but never a person. I hope I could do it that well and successfully.
 
PEJ said:
Well done Paul!

Glad that you got ET back in the water too.

For the others here, Paul is making a habit of rescuing people. Though this is a lot more dramatic than the out of control boat in Ocean Village he saved last time!
Click to expand...

Cheers Pate,

Blimey, I'd forgotten about that !

I'm starting to think I might be attracting issues ! Should I think about spending more time in the pub?

Paul
 
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