Short-handed MOB advice please

[smithy]

We tried several different methods, actually lifting people from the water. The only one that worked consistently well is listed below.

1. Bring back dedicated halyard with carbine hook on it to cockpit
2. Catch the casualties harness with the boat hook and drag along side.
3. Attach the halyard (the difficult bit).
4. Let the casualty go and winch in with the primary winch. They will be pulled forward and up over the rail.
This of course depends on having a low enough freeboard or a sugar scoop and crew wearing a harness.

You will have great difficulty controlling the boom in rough weather. Suggest you practice lifting someone from the water in the marina.

 

[William_H]

OP seems concerned with the actual getting of a person on board from the water. However it is likely that if you are sailing that the main sail will remain up due to lack of time or man power to get it down.
A spinnaker pole held horizontal by topping lift can be very useful for getting a forward facing halyard or hoist outboard for lifting. You don't have to go the end of the pole but by use of a strop can go from about the centre of the pole. ie just far enough outboard to get him over the side.
As said the halyard run can involve a lot of friction so better is to use the halyard cleated off and use a tackle to actually lift.

Having said that if the MOB is still functioning then a hoist over the stern can mean he can use the ladder. A halyard or topping lift can be used to help him or as a safety line. But then again as said the pitching of the boat can mean a great difficulty in using the stern ladder.

A sling can be used but in the absence of a sling a bowline ina heavy rope can work well if very uncomfortable.

If you are saili8ng when a man is lost overboard first requirement is that you know he has gone. Second is to turn the boat around under control by remaining crew. Of course most important is to not lose sight of the MOB. Then you have to get a line to him and finally get him on board. So a whole lot of different steps each vital to success. Making to my mind the actual lifting not so important as other stages. Or making more important to not go overboard in the first place.
of course many MOB occur in harbour so hoisting then becomes a major factor. Assuming someone sees you and can help. Having a plan with existing gear is perhaps the easiest cheapest first step in being prepared. good luck olewill

 

[lw395]

If help IS on its way, then get on with trying to recover the MOB if at all possible. If you haven't called for help, much time can be consumed during prolonged or unsuccessful recovery.

Yes.
Once the casualty is tethered alongside the yacht, 30 seconds on the radio might be well spent, in many locations.
The casualty might be hypothermic, injured even, so a trip ashore might well be called for.
But in many cases they might be fine and capable of helping themselves aboard.
You have to make a judgement at the time, not here and now.

While I agree with the 'don't fall off, or accept the consequences' concept, I think it pays to remember that many people have been recovered by their own crews on yachts, and it would not be a nice feeling to fail for want of a little planning and prep.
Also many people feel happier knowing there is a scheme to get them back on board.

 

[prv]

it is likely that if you are sailing that the main sail will remain up due to lack of time or man power to get it down.

Agree.

A spinnaker pole held horizontal by topping lift can be very useful for getting a forward facing halyard or hoist outboard for lifting. You don't have to go the end of the pole but by use of a strop can go from about the centre of the pole. ie just far enough outboard to get him over the side.

I don't buy the importance of a strut (boom, spinnaker pole, etc) to hold the halyard outboard. If it's coming from near the masthead then the inboard force will be limited, and sliding someone up the side of the hull isn't going to cause them great harm. It's more important to have a simple system with a minimum of parts for an inexperienced crew to rig wrongly - save the elegant cargo derrick arrangement for lifting heavy stores aboard in port.

Making to my mind the actual lifting not so important as other stages.

The reason people here tend to concentrate on that part is that the orthodox teaching of sailing has always (even before the RYA syllabus - remember John Walker's dad teaching him "when there's a man overboard, always gybe" in the 1930s) focussed on manoeuvring to keep a MOB in sight and return to him. The final step of getting someone back on board was traditionally never covered, assuming it would be easy - and perhaps from a low-freeboard smallish 1950s yacht it was. But with a high freeboard 40-footer it's a real problem, so people are rightly thinking about it to fill in the gap where, when learning, they casually lifted a bucket and fender on board with a boathook. They don't need to discuss the manoeuvring part so much because their training and practice was valid there.

Pete

 

[Graham_Wright]

I would favour an alongside lift. If the lift is away from the hull, would there not be a possibility of smashing the MOB against it if there is swell?

Just a thought - if the danbouy is deployed with a light, long floating line attached to it still attached to the boat, would it not "lassoo" the MOB if the boat encircled the (presumed) last sighting?

 

[lw395]

I would favour an alongside lift. If the lift is away from the hull, would there not be a possibility of smashing the MOB against it if there is swell?

Just a thought - if the danbouy is deployed with a light, long floating line attached to it still attached to the boat, would it not "lassoo" the MOB if the boat encircled the (presumed) last sighting?

That is the 'Seattle Sling' method for recovery.
It should be separate from the danbuoy, which needs to be a free floating marker and life-float.

I think you are right about keep the casualty against the side of the boat.

 

[prv]

Just a thought - if the danbouy is deployed with a light, long floating line attached to it still attached to the boat, would it not "lassoo" the MOB if the boat encircled the (presumed) last sighting?

This is how the various MOB slings are intended to be used:

Pete

 

[Daydream believer]

I would not go for the spinnaker pole idea. first it has to be deployed then it will swing all over the place, fore & aft, & by holding the casualty away from the boat it may then swing in & smash him against the side. Also it cannot easily be deployed aft of the shrouds
Better a halliard & take the slack up every time the boat rolls towards the casualty. Eventually he will be bought to the side & lifted as the boat rolls away from him( & dropped again) but should stay against the side if the crew gets the slack in & starts winching again as the boat rolls towards the casualty
A halliard fixed high up the mast has a high radius & this is emphasised when the boat is rolling

 

[prv]

On Prince William we once burst a RIB (2-foot split in the tube) while hoisting it back aboard on a midships crane davit in half a gale in the North Sea. We wouldn't normally have launched it in such conditions, but we had to get a portable salvage pump over to another vessel that was sinking.

I don't know whether a person dangling from a spinnaker pole would swing in quite the same way, but it's certainly something to consider.

Pete