MOB and other safety routines

[SAWDOC]

We sail with children frequently and consider it prudent to have a routine MOB exercise where Freddy fender (attached to a bucket for drag) gets dumped overboard and we then retrieve him. Usually adds a bit of excitement to the trip. We also advise land based friends of time of departure, destination and ETA. For longer passages we log a TR with the coastguard.
Have other forumites any other sugestions for good safety routines on board?

 

[MoodySabre]

Fender MOB practice may be OK for honing boat handling skills but can your wife and kids recover you? We did MOB recovery practice a couple of years ago and even attached to a buoy in benign conditions it was difficult. The aim must be not to go overboard. That requires discipline in clipping on. In the worst case then some recovery system is necessary.

Here's our write up on the forum

I also give landlubbers details and a deadline for calling coastguard if I have not checked in.

 

[SAWDOC]

Well done great exercise and great thread. I intend saving and reviewing. Every club should organize something similar.

We have our boat 5 years now and some time ago the penny dropped than kids are kids not adults and you can not expect them to do what an adult would so my approach is if I fall overboard i need to get myself back on board. If wife is on board that is an advantage - sometimes she is at home with youngest child. As you say, the best way to manage MOB is to adopt practices so that you do not fall over in the first place. Other than that, safety lines for clipping on if leaving the cockpit, stern ladder, life jacket, towed inflatable. horseshoe buoy ready to throw, MOB button on VHF - and a procedure which crew have practised beforehand.

 

[Channel Ribs]

We have been developing a MOB dummy which not only makes more sense of the boat handling skills but also represents the amount of work involved in getting a MOB back aboard. It always shocks people: tricky in a RIB, difficult in a motor boat and almost impossible in a sailing boat.

 

[johnalison]

Having heard of a club member (& forum member) who was rescued only because a child had seen how the engine was started and remembered the procedure, I have a safety card for guests which includes instructions for engine starting among other things which may not be included in my verbal briefing.

 

[SAWDOC]

Having heard of a club member (& forum member) who was rescued only because a child had seen how the engine was started and remembered the procedure, I have a safety card for guests which includes instructions for engine starting among other things which may not be included in my verbal briefing.

Assume you have a new crew on board. What points should you cover in the verbal briefing.?

 

[alant]

We sail with children frequently and consider it prudent to have a routine MOB exercise where Freddy fender (attached to a bucket for drag) gets dumped overboard and we then retrieve him. Usually adds a bit of excitement to the trip. We also advise land based friends of time of departure, destination and ETA. For longer passages we log a TR with the coastguard.
Have other forumites any other sugestions for good safety routines on board?

Many YM examiners, use a fender attached to a very 'large' coil of rope when doing MOB.
This gives a much better idea of how difficult it would be to hold onto a submersed 'body' & the problem of retrieval.

Ref safety, many already mentioned, most are obvious.

1) Do not unclip your harness strop until inside companionway & clip back on when exiting.
2) Make sure that you check hatch position when exiting - hurts if someone else has closed it as you rush up the steps.
3) Wear oilies (salopettes) when attending stove in galley, to prevent burns from hot liquid spills. Shut gas off after each use.
4) All cups/mugs should be prepared & filled in the sink.
5) Take care when opening a gimballed oven at sea, since contents can easily be thrown out over you/floor.
6) When on passage, keep your lifejacket close by, in case of urgent deck call to attend MOB.
7) Safety brief all + any new crew, including VHF use/engine start/stop, use of heads, where safety gear is, how to use winches, what to do 'if'. (remembering that most casual visitors will not take it all in, so 'KISS'),
8) Just practice good habits, without getting paranoid about safety.
9) etc

 

[KellysEye]

I always smile when I see MOB equipment test articles in the yachting press - four hulking winch grinders and flat calm.

The first problem is finding the MOB. Our inflatable danbuoy deployed accidentally and we couldn't believe how quickly it disappeared and there wasn't much sea running. I honestly believe that there is only a very remote chance of getting back an MOB if you are sailing two handed and there is any sea runing.

If you are using a pole and preventer that you'll need to take off to turn then I think the chance of finding/recovery is even more remote (with a twin headsail ketch we often use two poles and two preventers), unless they have a personal EPIRB and you have a receiver.

Having said that we keep a six to one block and tackle permanently rigged and ready to go when at sea. We checked that we could lift each other while in wet clothes.

As others have said every effort must be made to not go overboard. We even tell people who come sailing with us that if they fall overboard they can assume they are dead. Extreme but it's worked so far ;-)

 

[Ubergeekian]

Having said that we keep a six to one block and tackle permanently rigged and ready to go when at sea. We checked that we could lift each other while in wet clothes.

I'm in the process of finding a good long emergency ladder for the boat - on the naive assumption that if someone isn't in a state to climb it I'll be calling for outside help anyway.

Last autumn I capsized a wee dinghy and went into the sea for the first time in years. My sea scout training kicked in and I got the boat upright easily enough, but I was amazed at how difficult it was to haul myself over a 6" high gunwhale from sea level. In the end I gave up and sailed the thing back to shore while hanging over the stern. Well, until I discovered that the water was 3' deep, then I just walked back.

 

[BabaYaga]

One sunny day when we were at anchor one of the lifejackets self-inflated, so we thought we would take the opportunity and practise some MOB rescue.
I put on the lifejacket (w integrated harness) and went overboard, pretending to be exhausted. Wife prepared the throwing line and rigged the snatch blocks that according to theory should enable her to lift me over the side, using the genoa winch.
Well, she managed, although it was hard work. But the lesson of the day was that I could hardly breathe during the lift and seriously feared my spine would break. I had to ask her to lower me down again.
One conclusion: MOB recovery exercises without a person in the water is of little use. How to do this in an emergency – still don't know.

 

[rivonia]

One sunny day when we were at anchor one of the lifejackets self-inflated, so we thought we would take the opportunity and practise some MOB rescue.
I put on the lifejacket (w integrated harness) and went overboard, pretending to be exhausted. Wife prepared the throwing line and rigged the snatch blocks that according to theory should enable her to lift me over the side, using the genoa winch.
Well, she managed, although it was hard work. But the lesson of the day was that I could hardly breathe during the lift and seriously feared my spine would break. I had to ask her to lower me down again.
One conclusion: MOB recovery exercises without a person in the water is of little use. How to do this in an emergency – still don't know.

Quite the contrary- it is VERY helpfull and the more it is done (practice makes perfect) the more confident crew will become.

Peter

 

[SAWDOC]

One sunny day when we were at anchor one of the lifejackets self-inflated, so we thought we would take the opportunity and practise some MOB rescue.
I put on the lifejacket (w integrated harness) and went overboard, pretending to be exhausted. Wife prepared the throwing line and rigged the snatch blocks that according to theory should enable her to lift me over the side, using the genoa winch.
Well, she managed, although it was hard work. But the lesson of the day was that I could hardly breathe during the lift and seriously feared my spine would break. I had to ask her to lower me down again.
One conclusion: MOB recovery exercises without a person in the water is of little use. How to do this in an emergency – still don't know.

Thanks for your anecdote and comment. However I agree with Rivonia - to discover how difficult the manouvere is in particular circumstances does not make it of little use - on the contrary, if nothing else you have completely focussed your mind on the difficulties involved in the operation. That is the first step towards adopting procedures to suit your crew and your boat.

 

[planteater]

Everybody, including children, get told about the "big red button" on the DSC. In an emergency, a five year old could save a life if they know where the BRB is.

 

[BabaYaga]

Hi Rivonia and Sawdoc,
my conclusion was not meant to discourage people from making MOB recovery exercises. Quite the opposite, I think all boaters ought to.
My point was to make it as realistic as possible. It wasn't until I got into the water to be "rescued" that I discovered that system we had so cleverly thought out really didn't work well.
Lifting a fender and a coil of rope instead might have produced false confidence.

 

[puddock]

We have been developing a MOB dummy which not only makes more sense of the boat handling skills but also represents the amount of work involved in getting a MOB back aboard. It always shocks people: tricky in a RIB, difficult in a motor boat and almost impossible in a sailing boat.

It's been used for years, in the offshore industry at least.
Pair of coveralls, arma and legs tied at the ends, filled with polystyrene (or similar) and weighted to @ 12 stone.
Cheap and effective.

 

[V1701]

...I have a safety card for guests which includes instructions for engine starting among other things which may not be included in my verbal briefing.

That makes a lot of sense, I'll do one & get it laminated...

 

[Channel Ribs]

It's been used for years, in the offshore industry at least.
Pair of coveralls, arma and legs tied at the ends, filled with polystyrene (or similar) and weighted to @ 12 stone.
Cheap and effective.

Spot on. The version we are working on will be easier to store and move about though, but certainly the same effect when being hauled out of the water.

The unconscious body's tendency to roll away when lifted, rigid limbs but floppy joints as well as weight are all things that surprise people.

 

[KellysEye]

>told about the "big red button" on the DSC. In an emergency, a five year old could save a life if they know where the BRB is.

Statement of the obvious but only if you are sailing inshore in VHF range and preferably where the RNLI is. In many countries it's difficult get the coastgurd, some don't even have one, and sailing offshore is a different ball game.

 

[SAWDOC]

Hi Rivonia and Sawdoc,
my conclusion was not meant to discourage people from making MOB recovery exercises. Quite the opposite, I think all boaters ought to.
My point was to make it as realistic as possible. It wasn't until I got into the water to be "rescued" that I discovered that system we had so cleverly thought out really didn't work well.
Lifting a fender and a coil of rope instead might have produced false confidence.

It wasn't that easy!! On our last occasion, we made I think 3 passes before rescuing the casualty. Having said that I accept your point completely - the more lifelike the exercise the better.

 

[puddock]

Spot on. The version we are working on will be easier to store and move about though, but certainly the same effect when being hauled out of the water.

The unconscious body's tendency to roll away when lifted, rigid limbs but floppy joints as well as weight are all things that surprise people.

Good on you Malthouse, glad someone has broached the subject of "real world" recovery.
I must admit to thinking (while doing a Comp Crew) "what is that meant to prove?" while we practised recovering a fender and bucket. Obviously, it gave an initial awareness of manouvering the vessel but gave absolutely no indication of the problems involved in recovering the casualty. I have been, on several occassions, joined the recovery crews onboard rigs I have worked on, during MOB drills (Admission - usually because it allows a bit of Tuna/ Barracuda fishing after the drill). What always surprised me was the difficulty of getting the "casualty" onboard.
I will be the first to admit that (during what has been the 1st year of ownership) I have not sufficiently practiced my MOB drills - and that is quite shocking, when I consider that it is mainly family I sail with ! Yes, we had a 'play about for an hour' or so with a bucket and fender - but I was the one manouvering ???? Thanks to the OP - you have got me (and hopefully others) thinking now !!!
**Promise to myself - next year, a pair of coveralls will be sacrificed to the gods! **