Report finds almost half of man-overboard cases result in death

[mainsail1]

A quick skim of the MAIB reports suggests the biggest area of concern is probably fishing boats. I don't think large numbers of people are falling off large ships. On passenger services, some may jump or end up overboard as a consequence of drink but I don't recall many crew falling off big ships in the UK?

Its definitely not zero though.

Does that make it more or less likely that you need to put it into practice tomorrow? I've not executed a real-life MOB for probably nearly 30 years, and that was someone doing something stupid in benign conditions, but the type of boating I do now means its probably more likely now than 10 years ago. I have however ended up in the drink myself in that time getting off a small rib onto a harbour ladder. Mostly the walk of shame past everyone with my fully inflated lifejacket was enough to teach me a lesson - alone on a dark night with different clothes on it could have been a very different prospect.

I should have been more careful with my words. I meant larger commercial vessels and I would include fishing vessels in this. My point was that very few people fall off your average sailing boat and die and we should not over react to this report.

 

[DownWest]

Just going through the process of registering my DIY mini cruiser to the French flag. One of the requirements is that if the freeboard is more than X, then a boarding system must be fitted. In my case a folding ss ladder on the transom.
Last time we had a MOB was in the 60s, just before the finish line at Burnham. Lower freeboard then and just did a quick turn and pulled him back aboard. Got two guns as we crossed the line twice...
More recently, I went over solo and couldn't catch the wind driven boat, so had to swim around 400mts to shore in choppy water. It was impossible to get rid of shoes or anything else and to top it all, the life jacket mouth inflation valve blew out. So, swimming on ones back with one hand holding the tube folded.
Bit close that...

 

[Stemar]

One important thing for single handers is to ensure you can get at your boarding ladder from in the water.

The one time I went overboard was on a buoy in Langstone Harbour. I wanted to do something on the dinghy and had a Tom and Jerry moment getting back on board. My ladder was tied up in such a way that I couldn't fold it down and, had I been solo, it could have been very nasty. Since then, I'm fairly insistent on having a ladder that I could get to if I'm swimming.

 

[Adios]

I used to ride motorbikes often fast, I accepted the fact that one wrong twitch of the arm and I'm likely dead. With the same attitude I rely on carefully holding on when I move about on deck. Feeling (still) young enough and capable enough to trust my balance, finger strength, dexterity and concentration I'm not inclined to wear a tether unless its very bad weather. They are a major trip hazard and never seem set up right.

I'm walking along a slightly sloping deck with guard rails all around it, not climbing a cliff and I wouldn't sail with someone who insisted on a tether in calm weather. The only person who ever has tried to insist on it was a bag of nerves himself and needed a good talking to.

As for being the skipper of a boat with some inexperienced friends on board (my most usual scenario if not solo). I treat it as being solo and don't fall in. As they won't know how to find their way back to shore safely they just need to know how to stop the boat as quickly as possible and get the sails down (giving me a lot more chance to catch up than if I was solo), I wear the PLB, and they know how to use the radio to call for help for me and them. Anything else would be a bonus but if I try to give too much of a briefing on MOB recovery to complete novices they'll likely forget the most important thing, which is stop the boat and call for help. If I expect them to sail up to me they'll more likely just end up getting further away while faffing about.

 

[kof]

One important thing for single handers is to ensure you can get at your boarding ladder from in the water.

The one time I went overboard was on a buoy in Langstone Harbour. I wanted to do something on the dinghy and had a Tom and Jerry moment getting back on board. My ladder was tied up in such a way that I couldn't fold it down and, had I been solo, it could have been very nasty. Since then, I'm fairly insistent on having a ladder that I could get to if I'm swimming.

Ah yes. Very good point. Every time I anchor or tie to a mooring I deploy the swim platform and ladder. Could easily trip, especially at night and end up in the water.

 

[Adios]

Ah yes. Very good point. Every time I anchor or tie to a mooring I deploy the swim platform and ladder. Could easily trip, especially at night and end up in the water.

and stream a rope out astern if you can't swimmer faster than the tide.

 

[GHA]

So the solution must be to remain on your boat. As I sail singlehanded, I always wear a lifejacket with a PLB to give me at least a chance of recovery (or locating my remains).

Agree a bit though full time solo liveaboard haven't worn a lifejacket onboard in double figure years. Small lightweight climbing harness with a "grigri" climbing device which means lanyard can instantly be made as short as you can.

IMHO.. no time/money/resources should be spent on "disaster recovery" until you've focused intensely, solely & spent all realistic time/money/resources on doing everything practical to making sure the disaster never happens. Only then look at "what if it did..."

No doubt in my mind, over the side = dead. Even if there is doubt in the real world in my mind certain death helps keep focussed on staying onboard. Stay safe out there guys..

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I have a tale of 2 MOBs for you. One, me. Fell off X156 near A buoy our near Hurst Castle. Picked up by skipper inside 10 seconds. Not wearing a lifejacket, but a buoyancy aid. Assisted by the other crew member and the skipper, I was back on board in another 10 seconds. We raced on, came third. The incident was obviously not reported, just something that happens on open dayboats.

one some of you will recall. Almost a year ago, a young woman fell off a Sonar in the Cowes Town Cup race. She was a disabled sailor sailing with 2 able bodied and experienced crew, and wearing a lifejacket. This incident is still under investigation, not sure what I should say. We bailed out of the race to assist. We did not see her fall in, just realised that she had. She was unconcious in the water and subsequently died.

 

[rogerthebodger]

For those who do use tethers and jack stays where does the tether connect to your harness at the front or at the back and is there any advantages or disadvantages in each

I do have my own view

 

[DownWest]

For those who do use tethers and jack stays where does the tether connect to your harness at the front or at the back and is there any advantages or disadvantages in each

I do have my own view

Front. Back is for working at height.

 

[DownWest]

Front. Back is for working at height.

Though, that crew that fell off the racer and was towed, ditched her harness and LJ as at the speed they were going, she was drowning. Picked up by another boat and OK.

 

[Stemar]

Mine attaches to the front, as that's where the eye is on my LJ, though I can see advantages to it being attached at the back if I'm being towed along by the boat.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Front. Back is for working at height.

There has been reports that if the tether is connected at the front and the MOB is being dragged through the water the head of the MOB would tend to be pushed underwater

At the back the tendency is for the MOB's head to be lifted above the waaer

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I was coding a yacht and the MCA surveyor wanted to see a video of the MOB recovery kit in use (from pontoon or dinghy), not at sea. Our method was a waste of time unless you could walk on water. As a result I bought MOB Lifesavers for all my lifjackets and the recovery kit.

The Lifesavers work a treat, they solve the issue of securing a MOB to the vessel once along side, with only a boat hook. The Recovery kit is a piece of cake to use, less than a minute to rig if stored correctly and can be used by one person to lift the casualty horizontally and be guided over the guard rail and laid down. I am big and fat, my lightweight partner, single handed, can recover me from the water. Pulling a MOB out the water by attaching to the MOB Lifesaver, is to say the least, a dawdle.

MOB Lifesavers | MOB Retrieval for lifejackets I have no association with this company.

The recover kit can likely be substituted for a halyard but short handed that may be an issue.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

The old platitude of "don't fall in" is all very well, but what are you going to do when it happens. Wishing they hadn't fallen in is a waste of the casualties time.

 

[jwilson]

40+ years ago I lifted a harness-attached crew member out of the water from the sidedeck of a well-heeled cruiser-racer by pure adrenalin. The whole boat had just been inverted.

A few years later I spent much of a day practicing MOB retrieval as "skipper" on a 45 racing yacht with a big hefty RN diver pretending to be face-down unconscious (very convincing: he seemed to be able to hold his breath for ever). The biggest problem was stopping a non-harnessed or attached crew member jumping in as well. Ultimately if a large MOB is unconscious off a modern high-freeboard boat in anything but flat water with a stern platform someone else absolutely needs to go in. On a two-up boat this probably means one death or two.

A few years later still I ran MOB "lessons" for a club before an ocean race, first an evening discussion ashore, then practicals all day the next day, with two (excellent swimmer) wetsuited teenagers as MOBs and myself in a RIB alongside. With pretend unconsiousness recovery time when in moderate weather conditions time in water started at about 25 minutes. After repeated practice it came down to about 5 minutes, until a spinnaker was set. Then 25 minutes again.

The statistics clearly do not cover all circumstances: twice I have been the MOB when fast catamaran trapeze wires broke, once when dinghy toestraps broke and once when I simply missed the toestraps after a fast gybe. The problem comes with bigger boats and/or smaller crews.

There are lots of patent gadgets, but I have yet to see something that will always work, needs minimal crew, etc. etc. Most MOB practice is good for getting back to the person/fender/dummy etc. Getting a real person aboard is very difficult indeed at times.

 

[mattonthesea]

Agree a bit though full time solo liveaboard haven't worn a lifejacket onboard in double figure years. Small lightweight climbing harness with a "grigri" climbing device which means lanyard can instantly be made as short as you can.

IMHO.. no time/money/resources should be spent on "disaster recovery" until you've focused intensely, solely & spent all realistic time/money/resources on doing everything practical to making sure the disaster never happens. Only then look at "what if it did..."

No doubt in my mind, over the side = dead. Even if there is doubt in the real world in my mind certain death helps keep focussed on staying onboard. Stay safe out there guys..

Topping out quick adjust; why did I never think of that?

 

[DownWest]

There has been reports that if the tether is connected at the front and the MOB is being dragged through the water the head of the MOB would tend to be pushed underwater

At the back the tendency is for the MOB's head to be lifted above the waaer

Yep, as my post after, but as a single hander, my best chance is with a front connection.

When I think of what used to happen back in the 60s, I wonder a bit...
We were crossing the Thames Estuary from Burnham to the Medway for the racing week. Either there was a missing light, or we screwed up on nav. Anyway, around midnight, we found ourselves on a broad reach running onto one of the sandbanks. Since we had already touched, we couldn't turn to tack off and were being driven on. My brother and I went over the side and and managed to get the bow round, so we could tack off. 27ft Cruiser racer with a short bulb keel and plate. 3 ft draft plate up. Back then, no harnesses or tethers. Having got our shoulders to it and succeeded, we scrambled back on board, with help from father. As before, the boat had lowish freeboard, so not too difficult. No connection...but I became the navigator soon after after reading it up at school.

 

[Wansworth]

Yep, as my post after, but as a single hander, my best chance is with a front connection.

When I think of what used to happen back in the 60s, I wonder a bit...
We were crossing the Thames Estuary from Burnham to the Medway for the racing week. Either there was a missing light, or we screwed up on nav. Anyway, around midnight, we found ourselves on a broad reach running into one of the sandbanks. Since we had already touched, we couldn't turn to tack off and were being driven on. My brother and I went over the side and and managed to get the bow round, so we could tack off. 27ft Cruiser racer with a short bulb keel and plate. 3 ft draft plate up. Back then, no harnesses or tethers. Having got our shoulders to it and succeeded, we scrambled back on board, with help from father. As before, the boat had lowish freeboard, so not too difficult. No connection...but I became the navigator soon after.

Older boats had much lower freeboard,to get maximum household continence’s aboard the freeboard has risen,my last boat an Albin Vega had a low freeboard easy to get on board and step on from a marina

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Older boats had much lower freeboard,to get maximum household continence’s aboard the freeboard has risen,my last boat an Albin Vega had a low freeboard easy to get on board and step on from a marina

+1. The minimum freeboard on my Moody 31 is around a metre; far too high for there to be any possibility of climbing up it. There is a tiny sugar scoop at the stern, with a narrow foothold just above sea level; this is the normal place at which we board her from a dinghy. But bringing a MOB aboard at that point in anything of a sea would be fraught with danger; the bottom of the hull at that point os only just below the waterline and there would be a grave danger of braining a casualty!