Overboard when single handed sailing

KellysEye said:
You don't say how big your boat is but we used harnesses with one long and one short tether which we could clip on to a U bolt in the cockpit or jackstays. If you use the short tether there is no way you can go overboard. For example if I was going to reef the main in bad weather I would use the short tether and crawl forward on my knees then clip the long tether around the mast. We always clipped on at night and in bad weather. If you are worried about tripping etc clip on all the time with the short tether and use the long one as needed as I did.
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I found the short tether an absolute pain- swinging about hitting my knees etc. Also I cannot stand up to get onto the deck from the cockpit with a short tether.
I had a crew who turned up with a short tether & soon changed to a long one when he realised how restrictive it was, even just in the cockpit.With a jackline on teh side deck there is still scope to go over the side.
 
bbg said:
For most people that means a piece of hollow webbing secured across the stern of the boat, from one quarter to the other. The webbing must be long enough that it can drop down 50-60 cm into the water so you can get a foot onto it. You then put some bungie cord inside and sew it into the webbing near the ends. This keeps the webbing out of the water when sailing, but when it is pulled down the bungie stretches and the webbing will come down.
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I'm going to make one of these. Where can I get hollow webbing? I've asked in a few chandlers and looked online but can only find flat tape. Do I need to make it?
 
Following some thought, prompted by this post I have a loop at the stern, which is held clear of the water by a cable tie
Pull hard & the tie breaks. Before it breaks the loop hangs just clear of the water so i can reach it
I suggest that this is better because I have a loop system over the side of my Phantom. This is tensioned by a bungee.
When I capsize I put my foot into the loop to help heave myself up.
The bungee keeps pulling the loop away from me so I have a job getting my leg up high enough to get into it. Once I get some weight on it it then drops to the correct level to allow me to push up
Looking at the tube & bungee system proposed i am not entirely convinced that with both hands hanging on for dear life i can get my leg up high enough to engage in the loop.
With a cable tie the loop will drop down & not keep pinging back up. The rope will want to float as it is trailed in the water & i have been considering a weighted line to keep it down. However, one can only do so much & the more gear the more complication. so KISS
 
Daydream believer said:
Following some thought, prompted by this post I have a loop at the stern, which is held clear of the water by a cable tie. Pull hard & the tie breaks.
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This is good thinking, especially as you're likely to get tired quickly trying to get back on board. The last thing you want to be doing is repeatedly grasping for a springy thing. It makes me wonder about hanging other items on lanyards with ties. My horseshoe ring is too high to reach from the water, but with a bit of thought it could perhaps be modified so that it can be pulled down by someone swimming, as well as being ready to throw by someone on deck.

Also, I don't need to order any webbing tube or sew any bungies.
 
Daydream believer said:
Following some thought, prompted by this post I have a loop at the stern, which is held clear of the water by a cable tie
Pull hard & the tie breaks. Before it breaks the loop hangs just clear of the water so i can reach it
I suggest that this is better because I have a loop system over the side of my Phantom. This is tensioned by a bungee.
When I capsize I put my foot into the loop to help heave myself up.
The bungee keeps pulling the loop away from me so I have a job getting my leg up high enough to get into it. Once I get some weight on it it then drops to the correct level to allow me to push up
Looking at the tube & bungee system proposed i am not entirely convinced that with both hands hanging on for dear life i can get my leg up high enough to engage in the loop.
With a cable tie the loop will drop down & not keep pinging back up. The rope will want to float as it is trailed in the water & i have been considering a weighted line to keep it down. However, one can only do so much & the more gear the more complication. so KISS
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You must be using different cable ties than anything I have ever seen. Even the smallest cable ties are very difficult if not impossible to break by hand.

If you want a system like that I would recommend velcro or a slip knot. If you use cable ties test it first. See how easy it is to break. Then ask yourself whether you want to spend that much energy while you are in the water, just to activate your MOB strop.
 
bbg said:
You must be using different cable ties than anything I have ever seen. Even the smallest cable ties are very difficult if not impossible to break by hand.
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I think he means the little bits of wire wrapped in paper or plastic rather than the plastic clippy things that the CIA so love to use as handcuffs.
 
BlackPig said:
As I have said before. IF you end up in the water your safety lines are all wrong. Keep the lines in the middle of the boat, test them lean back if you go over the side the shorted the tether or move the lines. Have two tethers so you you can attach the second before you release the first. I clip on before I leave the cockpit and at night I clip on before I leave the cabin.

Talk to the Jesters.
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First class advice!

Colin. Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
There are cable ties & cable ties. Some are quite weak & i use the smallest i can get
I can assure you that the weight of me being dragged along will break them with ease. I also just loop the rope & the pull is direct
 
I occasionally sail single handed, To my mind the important thing is not to fall overboard, admittedly I am not as well behaved as I should be. I do carry inflatable life jackets, I bought them because they had a harness, and were only slightly more expensive than a harness.
The fear of being dragged can be eliminated by using a short tether. so I can't fall over, I shorten my tether with a knot.

I am reasonably fit, although in my 50's. I have always been a fairly strong swimmer (in a heated pool). A BSAC diver for many years.

I cant imagine if I fell over, from my boat under sail being able to catch a trailing line, or catch up with my boat as it sails away.

Has anyone ever heard of anyone successfully recovering themselves after falling of a sailing vessel which was under way and sailing at even a just couple of knots.?

Falling overboard could happen to anyone, even me. all it takes is a moments inattention. There is a couple of threads about a very experienced sailor who apparently fell over of the south coast the other day.
 
Miles Hordern describes going overboard while tethered in "Voyaging the Pacific" chapter 6.

"I don't know exactly what happened next. I've climbed around the deck at night hundreds if times, sometimes without a harness. It was a bad squall that night but not exceptional, the rain hard, the wind at 40 knots. ...

"The first thing I remember was a crushing blow to my chest. The jerk was unforgiving, spinning me around in the water like a rag doll. "

He describes in great detail the way water filled his oilskins like a balloon, how he was pressed against the quarter, and the movements he had to make to get back aboard.

He was doing nothing unusual and suddenly he was in the water.

This is the account that makes me clip on.
 
I have been a Rib driver for 10 years at my club doing the safety boats for the dinghy sailing. Probably the worst I have had was one sailor with a broken collar bone and 3 cracked ribs, i think he was about 14 / 15 stone but was in a dry suit so no waterlogged clothing (with buoyancy aid ) It took all the strength two of us had to get him on board a RIB with low freeboard. I also have been in the water wearing boots and salopettes, it must be the same sensation an elephant has when swimming, if you are left in any doubt about what i am saying pop down your local swimming pool and wear your boots, salopettes and a buoyancy aid in the SHALLOW end.
 
I was lucky enough to do a sea survival course with Cambridge University Yacht Club where we jumped into a pool with gear on, inflated lifejackets and rafts, righted upside-down rafts, climbed in and out, and lifted other people. (We also let off flares.) There's no substitute for physically trying stuff and I highly recommend doing so, even if you're not on an organised couse.
 
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