Re-pack your Jon Buoy auto-inflating danbuoy? Impossible, Sir.

[Ohlin Karcher]

Well, at least yours inflated.

Mine just sank.

View attachment 81047

Anyways, since replaced with a more traditional variety...

:disgust: Not good.. they are emergency lifesaving gear, I will repack my fancy one, and make a foolproof manual version which will definitely do the neccessary.
The manual ones, glorified plastic flagsticks, are 100 quid in the chandlers so it's worth spending an afternoon fettling one up..

 

[PurpleKate]

I share the frustration with the Ocean Safety response, they seem to like to hid behind the "you need it servicing by us at huge cost or its not certified" argument which is no doubt true for commercial operators but it is irrelevant for leisure sailors who prefer to actually know how things work so you can fix them at sea or away from home.

I bought a Jon Buoy Dan buoy and horseshoe off ebay, it was described as new so imagined it was someone selling redundant gear. When I opened it to check it had been fired, two empty C02 cylinders, Missing the manual inflate levers, Missing the L shaped bracket and the battery for the light at the top was expired. I got my money refunded from the seller but it left me with the challenge of could I get it working again. Ocean Safety could only offer an official service at something like £150 plus parts which I figured would end up more than the cost of a new one. They would not supply parts even though I explained I was a leisure sailor and took full responsibility for my own life.

The guys that was most helpful was from this company : https://rt-supplies.co.uk. Not only does he do the UML Autoinflators in bulk at a very cheap rate (great if you get together with your mates) but together we brainstormed a solution. I swopped the 2 manual inflators that were missing the activation levers, with Auto inflates. He even gave me the torque settings so they could be swopped over perfectly. Co2 cylinders are easy to buy and replace. I added a second water activated light to the Horseshoe part which i thought was a nice upgrade.

Finally came the light at the top of the Danbuoy which looks a bit special. Ocean safety refused to sell me one , Viking never replied to my email so I worked out the part was made by Daniamant and contacted them directly. I told them there so called distributor wasn't actually distributing and funnily enough within about 20 mins Ocean safety contacted me to tell me of course I could buy one from them.... that was the best laugh of the whole story.

Finally as I have no L shaped bracket I made the device an acrylic canvas bag with a lid that hangs on the rail . So in the event of an emergency I just open the lid, sling it in and woosh both parts should inflate. I did test it with an old rusty CO2 cylinder and it worked fine.

Net I have an upgraded device, that I know exactly how it works and I can service it myself ... and like the OP says its still a bugger to fold up and stuff inside the plastic case

 

[JumbleDuck]

Why don't we get repacking instructions for life jackets - after all we have to test them every year!( and the hoods that go with them? )

My crew's lifejacket comes with very clear repacking instructions on a label which gets folded in and completely hidden at stage two of seven.

 

[prv]

Finally came the light at the top of the Danbuoy which looks a bit special. Ocean safety refused to sell me one

After a few years the light on my Jon Buoy expired and I couldn't get a like-for-like replacement.

It was a heavy thing, with an incandescent bulb and correspondingly big battery, and it was activated by a somewhat questionable arrangement of string intended to be pulled by the inflation of the A-frame tube. This often didn't happen when test-inflating it with a footpump; presumably it would have been more reliable under CO₂ operation?

I replaced the whole lot with a modern LED lifejacket light at a fraction of the size and weight (so it doesn't pull the top of the tubes down as much), which is water-activated by a sensor I ran down inside the channel for one of the lifting straps, to ensure it will trail in the sea.

The fabric still holds pressure overnight, the straps are undamaged, the bottle is still just over its tare weight, and there's no auto-inflator, so it should be good for some years yet.

Pete

 

[mjcoon]

My crew's lifejacket comes with very clear repacking instructions on a label which gets folded in and completely hidden at stage two of seven.

As your memory fades you need to keep using your smartphone camera...

Mike.

 

[Iain C]

Wow...I'm glad I just have the traditional type!

I don't really understand what problem a Jonbuoy is really trying to solve. There's many design challenges I'd like to solve on my boat but swapping out a piece of lifesaving equipment that is simple, has no moving parts, can't rust, sink, puncture, and is very obvious in it's deployment really isn't one. The fact that the first word used to describe the benefits Jonbuoy on the website is "stylish" tells me all I need to know!

Sure, you can't sail a yacht in a non-inflatable cruise liner style LJ, but an inflatable danbuoy just seems like a solution looking for a problem!

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

Wow...I'm glad I just have the traditional type!

I don't really understand what problem a Jonbuoy is really trying to solve. There's many design challenges I'd like to solve on my boat but swapping out a piece of lifesaving equipment that is simple, has no moving parts, can't rust, sink, puncture, and is very obvious in it's deployment really isn't one. The fact that the first word used to describe the benefits Jonbuoy on the website is "stylish" tells me all I need to know!

Sure, you can't sail a yacht in a non-inflatable cruise liner style LJ, but an inflatable danbuoy just seems like a solution looking for a problem!

Why? a good question.. I have a double-ender so don't have a pushpit, and the stern is already occupied by the Aries on its bracket. Even if it wasn't, it can be an awkward clamber to the pointed stern deck, which also has the mainsheet and blocks, boom gallows and other obstuctions, toe stubbers and trip hazards, plus the helmsman's elbow. Jettisoning a danbuoy in a hurry would be 'interesting' and a bruising experience at best!
I could bungy a trad danbuoy outside the shrouds, but then you've got the light boxes, with GPS and navtex mushrooms, as well as sidelights, there isn't a really good place and it could go in the screw.. I did give it some thought..so I plumped for the auto type in a smooth plastic box seized on the rail. It still managed to get snagged by a mooring line!

Thanks to all for the comments, especially the practical solutions!

 

[prv]

I don't really understand what problem a Jonbuoy is really trying to solve.

In our case, originally, the fact that we had a small gaff-rigged yacht with a narrow counter stern, closely swept by a mizzen boom. A standard life-ring, light, pole, drogue, etc, in properly bright and visible colours, would have been tricky (though not impossible) to fit, and would have looked like a dreadful pile of modern clutter standing out against our varnished woodwork and tan sails. Instead I made up a special sheer-pole on the mizzen shrouds which the white Jon Buoy box bolted onto just above the teak gunwale, and it looked reasonably unobtrusive.

Once the thing were in the water, had it ever been launched which so far it has not, it’s a lot more visible than a standard dan buoy, being about 3’x4’ at water level and about 6’ high. It has a big weighted liferaft-style pocket on the underneath to limit the drift. Ideally the MOB gets into it and sits up out of the water (it’s a lot easier to get into than a life raft, being much lower), but even if not strong enough to fully drag themselves out, it’s a much bigger and more supportive thing to hang onto than the typical modern horseshoe, which are invariably too small to secure around one’s torso as the design originally intended.

Assuming the MOB does manage to get into it, there’s a lifting ring provided at the point where the four legs of the flagpole join, which should be reachable from the rail of a typical yacht once the thing’s alongside (a cooperative casualty is provided with a small quoit and throw line which might just help get and hold them there - perhaps). Clip a halyard onto that lifting ring and you can winch the whole thing aboard as a lifting cradle.

Of course like anything inflatable there’s a small risk it might fail to work when called on - but the mechanism is a standard manual lifejacket inflater with the pull cord tied to the boat, so there really isn’t that much to go wrong. We do carry a standard foam horseshoe with light and drogue as well - though that’s more for the case where either we dropped the Jon Buoy too late and the MOB couldn’t reach it, but we’ve managed to come back for another pass, or someone fell in while moored in benign conditions and it doesn’t really warrant throwing a mini liferaft at them.

Pete

 

[grumpy_o_g]

My Jon Buoy automatic inflation danbuoy got snagged, went in the sea, and self inflated. I pulled it out with a boathook. It just has a normal 33g CO2 bottle which I got the same day (from East Coast Marine in Scarborough, a good little chandlers).
The thing doesn't want to fold up and go back into its box, so I can use it again going down the coast. No instructions on the web how to fold it.
I phoned Ocean Safety the makers, and they said, "We do not give out repacking instructions for them, that's not how we operate. You have to take it to one of our centres, and give it to us, and there will be a charge of 20 something pounds plus VAT"
So I have a choice, either guess how to pack it properly, and not be sure if it will work next time.
Or stow it somewhere in my boat, which is full if people and stuff already, and carry an expensive but useless piece of equipment to So'ton and pay them to fold it. (Oh, and buy another danbuoy at the chandlers for the trip down. )
There is something wrong with this situation, why don't they just publish folding instructions, it would be so easy. The technology is less than a normal lifejacket ( no salt button or hamar diaphragm.)
These items are useless for cruising if you can't repack them.
Maybe I should use the bits and just seize the weight, flag, drogue and light on a broom stick, it would seem to be the sensible course.

So what happens if you're mid-passage and it goes off for some reason, maybe even gets used in anger? Do Ocean Safety expect you to do the rest of the voyage without it? Ocean Safety just lost any business from me if this is accurate (and I see no reason why it shouldn't be). A despicable and short-sighted approach from them, especially if a someone has a second MOB and no Jon Buoy because they couldn't repack it.

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

Exactly g-o-g, if it goes off once and you can't repack it, you don't have a danbuoy.
I also have an Ocean Safety liferaft, which has to go back to the same depots for servicing. It's due a service, but..I'm hopping down the E Coast from the Tyne to Brittany, and my nearest OS service place is..Glasgow! Soon I will 'cross the line' and it will be So'ton :encouragement:

 

[capnsensible]

So what happens if you're mid-passage and it goes off for some reason, maybe even gets used in anger? Do Ocean Safety expect you to do the rest of the voyage without it? Ocean Safety just lost any business from me if this is accurate (and I see no reason why it shouldn't be). A despicable and short-sighted approach from them, especially if a someone has a second MOB and no Jon Buoy because they couldn't repack it.

Get two.

 

[DownWest]

Apart from the re-packing, does anybody know when one of these has worked in anger? As in saving someone?

I recall that the young woman who went MOB in the Irish sea and was found a bit later by another yacht, they released their Jonbuoy , only to see it dissapear down wind. They did keep her in sight and directed the helio to her, despite being exhausted and under crewed. It seems the sea anchor was not too effective?

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

It has a drogue, but it's a very lightweight bit of fabric, just a 1' square of nylon, to fold up tight and fit in the canister. It's attached by a bridle of cheap line about 1mm dia.
The drogue could be improved upon easily, but that would make repacking and closing the canister impossible..

 

[Stork_III]

That's extremely kind of you to go through those details for me. Mine's a slightly different type, in a two part box which is split by the auto-inflation ( a bit like a liferaft canister) and I will heed your advice when I tackle the repacking mission.
In fact I will take a few piccies for reference, the trouble is being unable to test it once it's packed.

This any help? http://assets.ifloat.biz/products/96ec5f8e093e181992de31c8a695de8b.pdf

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

This any help? http://assets.ifloat.biz/products/96ec5f8e093e181992de31c8a695de8b.pdf

Solid gold! I don't know why I failed to find it, thanks a lot!

 

[Iain C]

In our case, originally, the fact that we had a small gaff-rigged yacht with a narrow counter stern, closely swept by a mizzen boom. A standard life-ring, light, pole, drogue, etc, in properly bright and visible colours, would have been tricky (though not impossible) to fit, and would have looked like a dreadful pile of modern clutter standing out against our varnished woodwork and tan sails. Instead I made up a special sheer-pole on the mizzen shrouds which the white Jon Buoy box bolted onto just above the teak gunwale, and it looked reasonably unobtrusive.

Once the thing were in the water, had it ever been launched which so far it has not, it’s a lot more visible than a standard dan buoy, being about 3’x4’ at water level and about 6’ high. It has a big weighted liferaft-style pocket on the underneath to limit the drift. Ideally the MOB gets into it and sits up out of the water (it’s a lot easier to get into than a life raft, being much lower), but even if not strong enough to fully drag themselves out, it’s a much bigger and more supportive thing to hang onto than the typical modern horseshoe, which are invariably too small to secure around one’s torso as the design originally intended.

Assuming the MOB does manage to get into it, there’s a lifting ring provided at the point where the four legs of the flagpole join, which should be reachable from the rail of a typical yacht once the thing’s alongside (a cooperative casualty is provided with a small quoit and throw line which might just help get and hold them there - perhaps). Clip a halyard onto that lifting ring and you can winch the whole thing aboard as a lifting cradle.

Of course like anything inflatable there’s a small risk it might fail to work when called on - but the mechanism is a standard manual lifejacket inflater with the pull cord tied to the boat, so there really isn’t that much to go wrong. We do carry a standard foam horseshoe with light and drogue as well - though that’s more for the case where either we dropped the Jon Buoy too late and the MOB couldn’t reach it, but we’ve managed to come back for another pass, or someone fell in while moored in benign conditions and it doesn’t really warrant throwing a mini liferaft at them.

Pete

Well in fairness in your case and the case of the double ender above, that does make sense. I stand corrected, although I have to say with the experiences of the OP I'll certainly always stick with a "solid state" version if I can fit it on the boat.

Thanks for pointing it out!!

 

[Kukri]

I am a bit puzzled as some of these posts seem to be discussing the Jon Buoy mini liferaft contraption and some the Jon Buoy inflatable danbuoy. I've got a Jon Buoy (mainly because the former owners had made a very smart housing for one, neatly in reach of the helm) but not the danbuoy.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Aside No 2: If cylinders are rusting regularly, might there be any benefit to giving them a polish with car wax? Could it help keep the dreaded tinworm at bay? I can see a possible downside if it lubricates the thread, making it easier for the thread to come loose; can anyone see any other issues?

A coat of varnish stops gas cylinders from corroding. I'm sure we all have varnish of some sort aboard!

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

I am a bit puzzled as some of these posts seem to be discussing the Jon Buoy mini liferaft contraption and some the Jon Buoy inflatable danbuoy. I've got a Jon Buoy (mainly because the former owners had made a very smart housing for one, neatly in reach of the helm) but not the danbuoy.

Yes Kukri my OP was about the danbuoy, no horseshoe attached just a visual marker.

 

[Mais78]

Anyone got the instructions for the Plastimo one? Thanks