Single handed MOB drill

[oldmanofthehills]

This is probably only half true. Many boats, particularly lighter boats, will get pushed around so much by flogging sails that they must either be used or doused.

My other theory is that so long as you have thrown the MOB something that floats (and hopefully they are dressed for the water temperature), it is better to take an extra 1-3 minutes to square everything away and get it right on the FIRST pass. It will be faster than the frantic 3-4 passes we so often read about. Stay close and take the time it takes... working with a purpose! But no sloppy mistakes or flogging sails. How long does it take to furl a jib and drop a main (but not put it away)? It wouldn't take me 2 minutes working alone.

The problem isnt the time it takes to pickup the casualty, its that if you ever lose sight of the casualty in bad weather or night you will never find them again. Probably not an issue for the OP chartering in the Med but my thoughts are UK shite weather thoughts as how do you fall overboard in calm?

I can probably furl the genoa quickly but short handed my focus must be on the victim and steering. Letting go the jib sheets probably good enough until I am on approach the casualty. Simply fully dropping main would ruin my forward vision but could just slacken the halliard

 

[capnsensible]

There is no need to drop the main at all. Simply sheet it hard in and return to the casualty from downwind.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

There is no need to drop the main at all. Simply sheet it hard in and return to the casualty from downwind.

+1

 

[RJJ]

Best is IMHO to engage her intellect in this challenging problem (and all challenging problems). A drill that she learns by rote is better than nothing but may not help her understand why each operation is important; if for example your drill is to furl the headsail, she should understand what happens and what is the effect if she fails to do so. Which can be practised, in various conditions.

I would break MOB down into four subjects:
- 1. avoidance
- 2. Getting the situation under control
- 3. Regaining contact
- 4. recovery

1. Has been well covered above. If you are really nervous about this, check with the charter firm what gear is provided. Should be harnesses; might not be jackstays.
2. Personally I tend towards heaving to, which requires copious practice in the specific yacht and in various weather; chuck floating/identification aids; mark position and post distress signals; furl jib.

To heave to it is insufficient to say "spin the wheel over". She needs to understand why it works (and why it might not work well in some boats); to experiment with how much to ease main after tacking; how quickly and how much to reverse the wheel after tacking etc. A drill is easily forgotten in panic; actual knowledge less so.

3. I believe easiest with main up and engine on, facing into the wind or on a fine reach. In truly stinking conditions, there is a school of thought that says approach from dead upwind with both sails down; but that requires the main dropping and anyway you are going to avoid sailing in stinking conditions. No need in Greece.

4. Getting onto even a good deep boarding ladder in more than a foot or two of waves is hellish hard and likely dangerous. I think it's essential to have a plan for lifting in some way. You can practise this on deck. My preference is a sling attached to spi halyard that can be winched; a warp can take the place of a sling ; but not all charter boats have a spare halyard.

I think the dinghy and bucket idea is a good one and will put that into practice if I tow my dinghy.

There's a brilliant series of articles on YW called "mob myths busted". I require all crew members to read the whole lot; it puts the fear of God into them and hopefully we never have to get beyond stage 1!

Enjoy your hols.

 

[scotty123]

the best bet is to chuck stuff that floats in the water, drop all sails, and start the motor]

Quite! I was chided on my Coastal Skipper for sailing to the "casualty" which I had done. Instructor said "how you going to explain it to relatives and coroner if your fancy sailing leaves your mate dead! Use Engine" I then got everyone to drop sails and started engine and bore away and did it again so he simulated rope round prop to teach me a lesson in humility.

KISS. Flogging sails risk only money - get that engine on .

You don't need to waste valuable time dropping sails, you simply position your boat upwind of the MoB, let all sheets fly, check no lines in the water & then use reverse & forward gears to position boat upwind but adjacent to casualt6y, while the boat drifts down until it reaches MoB. Faffing about with sails, means you eye is off the ball & MoB can be lost. I was shown & practiced this by a Poole Sailing School, simple & works.

 

[scotty123]

This is probably only half true. Many boats, particularly lighter boats, will get pushed around so much by flogging sails that they must either be used or doused.

My other theory is that so long as you have thrown the MOB something that floats (and hopefully they are dressed for the water temperature), it is better to take an extra 1-3 minutes to square everything away and get it right on the FIRST pass. It will be faster than the frantic 3-4 passes we so often read about. Stay close and take the time it takes... working with a purpose! But no sloppy mistakes or flogging sails. How long does it take to furl a jib and drop a main (but not put it away)? It wouldn't take me 2 minutes working alone.

"3 mins to square things away"?
You could be sailing at 5knts, so in 3 mins will be a quarter of a mile away.
Try that offshore, or at night & MoB will be dead, 'if' you find him.
As you stated, your method is "a theory".
Get real guys, this isn't a cosy exercise in balmy seas, its more likely to happen in choppy waters.
Remember how difficult it can be, to spot a fishing pot, what chance a MoB's head?

 

[scotty123]

Not seen a mention of deploying a danbuoy. An inexperienced single crew cant con the boat and also maintain eyball on the MOB. Chucking a danbuoy in may help relocating the MOB?

As stated she has to practice the agread actions/manouver if you both are to have any confidence in her ability.
As also stated take extra precautions against going overboard.

The answer to that, is not to sail away from the casualty isn't it!

 

[scotty123]

There is no need to drop the main at all. Simply sheet it hard in and return to the casualty from downwind.

If you can find him again.

 

[Daydream believer]

If there is enough wind that falling off is a material risk, you won't be towing a dinghy.

You do not need any wind to fall off. Standing on the foredeck whilst approaching the mooring or pontoon is a typical one, as is placing fenders & lines whilst coming into harbour. Dead easy to trip up & go over the side due to complacency.
I have a pair of line permanently rigged over the side so that if I do go over I have something to grab if I am alongside. it does help to have something to hold onto when alongside the boat. A couple of weeks ago I had to go over the side to get a net off the prop & it would have been easy to get separated from the boat without something to grab.
It helps to stop the MOB drifting away from the boat & gives the MOB some confidence, in that they have the feeling that they are helping themselves as well.

 

[capnsensible]

You don't need to waste valuable time dropping sails, you simply position your boat upwind of the MoB, let all sheets fly, check no lines in the water & then use reverse & forward gears to position boat upwind but adjacent to casualt6y, while the boat drifts down until it reaches MoB. Faffing about with sails, means you eye is off the ball & MoB can be lost. I was shown & practiced this by a Poole Sailing School, simple & works.

Its one of the useful ways but be very careful with this if the wind is above around 10 knots or there is any sea state on the average yacht.
In lighter conditions main tight and headsail left backed ie no floppy sheets it can be quite effective. Its the way power boats pick up. Park upwind and juggle engines. Personally when close using that way I switch the engine off for recovery so noone can accidently knock the throttle which ive seen happen.

The only time floppy sheets are part of the drill is recovery under sail with a simulated.....or real ....broken engine but thats a whole different subject!

For the OP as you mentioned before helm over sheet hard in. You can show someone how to do that in minutes even if theyve never been on a boat before. 4 or 4 goes at it then not forgotten!

 

[scotty123]

Best is IMHO to engage her intellect in this challenging problem (and all challenging problems). A drill that she learns by rote is better than nothing but may not help her understand why each operation is important; if for example your drill is to furl the headsail, she should understand what happens and what is the effect if she fails to do so. Which can be practised, in various conditions.


I would break MOB down into four subjects:
- 1. avoidance
- 2. Getting the situation under control
- 3. Regaining contact
- 4. recovery

1. Has been well covered above. If you are really nervous about this, check with the charter firm what gear is provided. Should be harnesses; might not be jackstays.
2. Personally I tend towards heaving to, which requires copious practice in the specific yacht and in various weather; chuck floating/identification aids; mark position and post distress signals; furl jib.

To heave to it is insufficient to say "spin the wheel over". She needs to understand why it works (and why it might not work well in some boats); to experiment with how much to ease main after tacking; how quickly and how much to reverse the wheel after tacking etc. A drill is easily forgotten in panic; actual knowledge less so.

3. I believe easiest with main up and engine on, facing into the wind or on a fine reach. In truly stinking conditions, there is a school of thought that says approach from dead upwind with both sails down; but that requires the main dropping and anyway you are going to avoid sailing in stinking conditions. No need in Greece.

4. Getting onto even a good deep boarding ladder in more than a foot or two of waves is hellish hard and likely dangerous. I think it's essential to have a plan for lifting in some way. You can practise this on deck. My preference is a sling attached to spi halyard that can be winched; a warp can take the place of a sling ; but not all charter boats have a spare halyard.

I think the dinghy and bucket idea is a good one and will put that into practice if I tow my dinghy.

There's a brilliant series of articles on YW called "mob myths busted". I require all crew members to read the whole lot; it puts the fear of God into them and hopefully we never have to get beyond stage 1!

Enjoy your hols.

No, "she doesn't need to understand" anything, all she needs to do is keep the wheel over, stop complicating the situation.. She will be panicking, drill isn't easy to forget, it can be practiced beforehand, why do you think the military use it? It needs no brains, just action.

Try the method suggested, before rubbishing it.
MOB, is not an academic exercise.
It is based upon staying with the casualty. If you sail away when crossing Biscay, the casualty will probably die.
Even going below, to fiddle with battery switches enabling engine start, takes time, in that time you will lose sight of MoB.
DO NOT LEAVE CASUALTY.

 

[Daydream believer]

We have 3 instructions to be done immediately
1) Drop the dan buoy (permanently set on the stern & easy to drop
2) Lob the EPIRB (just inside the hatch so easy to grab & throw) because this is a distress situation & can always be cancelled later. We have no idea how long it will take to recover MOB,(if at all) so any marker in the water is a help.
3) Press the GOTO button on the GPS ( takes a bit longer, so watch how far away we are from the MOB when pressing)
At night swop1 & 3 because we do not have light on dan buoy as it will hinder fast drop. EPIRB has a light.

As for life rings- not much use, other than markers & we all wear LJs anyway.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Tried that 7 times in our club drill and we never got line caught on MOB. Indeed only once got line within grabbing distance. All right we were in a long keeler so bigger circle than some but others were disturbed when we reported this back. Boat hook worked well but obviously thats a bit more dangerous to casualty if approaching in rolling seas

In that case use blasts of reverse and propwalk to reduce the turning radius.

 

[KellysEye]

Why would you wanr to jump overboard it makes no sense?

 

[rogerthebodger]

Tried that 7 times in our club drill and we never got line caught on MOB. Indeed only once got line within grabbing distance. All right we were in a long keeler so bigger circle than some but others were disturbed when we reported this back. Boat hook worked well but obviously thats a bit more dangerous to casualty if approaching in rolling seas

The idea is not to smag or get the rope t the MOB but to encircle him by sailing round and around the MOB.

Once encircled in the rope it can be used to pulled in the MOB towards the boat at midships to board using midship ladder or use halyard to hoist MOB back onboard using windlass or mast winch.

Using the Engine has been discussed in training sessions several times =. The question is what to do if the engine does not start do you troubleshoot or do something else.

With inexperienced wife KISS.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

In that case use blasts of reverse and propwalk to reduce the turning radius.

Yup tried that repeatedly and its my normal technique in marina or harbour, didnt make much difference and if doing that it slowed things down do that so much we might as well have simply manouvered to the casualty and picked up as we would a mooring. Our engine takes a long time to settle into gear fore or aft and propwalk limited and longkeels are for directional stability going forward not nimbleness. By comparison our ancient Westerly bilge keeler spins like a top, and I know she lumbers. I got very excited 10 years ago sailing modern AWB on Yachtmaster Course as I could pick up casualty both time first pass under sail even in squally weather. But as I said earlier I then got rebuked for sailing not engine.

If advising on best universal technique for saving life it must include all sea conditions as an unknown boat. Circling didnt seem to work well for fellow club members either. The Commodore with 4 aboard found the whole thing easier but that hardly helps the OP on a strange boat with just his beloved aboard.

Rogershaw: - the rope did not wrap round casualty it circled him about 3 metres from "hands" (We used fender for that part as victim/instructor had duties with other club members) We tried different weight of line and float over the next hour or so and indeed weighted a line near horseshoe buoy to see if we could get it to drag more and then snag.

I would advise the complacent throw a fender over the side in bad weather without warning the helm and see what happens - perhaps agree to give money to charity if more than the critical 10 minutes and penalties for running down the casualties!

 

[RJJ]

"spin the wheel over". What happens next? If you keep the wheel held over on our boat (fairly typical fin/skeg with shallow forefoot) she will happily keep spinning into a gybe, regardless of what you do with the main.

"Try the drill before rubbishing it". I have tried the drill, and variants thereof, I haven't rubbished it but I have found it doesn't work on all yachts in all conditions.

Which is why my personal advice is: go beyond "do this drill". Practice it under various conditions; "explanation, demonstration, imitation, practice" and encourage her to understand why it works. Or, just accept that it's highly unlikely she will be able to help you out, and focus all your attention on not falling in.

 

[thinwater]

"spin the wheel over". What happens next? If you keep the wheel held over on our boat (fairly typical fin/skeg with shallow forefoot) she will happily keep spinning into a gybe, regardless of what you do with the main.

"Try the drill before rubbishing it". I have tried the drill, and variants thereof, I haven't rubbished it but I have found it doesn't work on all yachts in all conditions....

^^ This.

My current boat would do the same. My PDQ , with the wheel held over like that, would tack and then take off on a reach at more than 5 knots. On the PDQ, if the course were anything other than well trimmed to windward, would not tack, would only keep reaching faster than you can swim. Probably most multihulls will do this, and some long-keep monos.

One commenter said that you might "loose track while going below to switch the battery switch." I've never had a boat where I would leave the helm to start the engine. Honestly, that sounds like a design shortcoming you should fix. Again, the point is not that he was wrong, but that each boat is different.

Practice. If the least able crewman does not want to try the drill by themselves, then you are singlehanding. Don't even bother telling them what to do. You will only stress them more. Accept it and sail accordingly.

Discussion is very good, but emphatic statements (other than stay close) mostly don't help.

 

[capnsensible]

"spin the wheel over". What happens next? If you keep the wheel held over on our boat (fairly typical fin/skeg with shallow forefoot) she will happily keep spinning into a gybe, regardless of what you do with the main.

"Try the drill before rubbishing it". I have tried the drill, and variants thereof, I haven't rubbished it but I have found it doesn't work on all yachts in all conditions.

Which is why my personal advice is: go beyond "do this drill". Practice it under various conditions; "explanation, demonstration, imitation, practice" and encourage her to understand why it works. Or, just accept that it's highly unlikely she will be able to help you out, and focus all your attention on not falling in.

What happens next is that with the wheel locked or held hard over and the mainsheet well in boats like that just go round in circles near the casualty buying plenty of time. I dont offer this lightly I ve tried it on loadsa boats with lots of different people in lots of places. Literally dozens and dozens of times. That tells me it works.....

 

[scotty123]

"spin the wheel over". What happens next? If you keep the wheel held over on our boat (fairly typical fin/skeg with shallow forefoot) she will happily keep spinning into a gybe, regardless of what you do with the main.

"Try the drill before rubbishing it". I have tried the drill, and variants thereof, I haven't rubbished it but I have found it doesn't work on all yachts in all conditions.

Which is why my personal advice is: go beyond "do this drill". Practice it under various conditions; "explanation, demonstration, imitation, practice" and encourage her to understand why it works. Or, just accept that it's highly unlikely she will be able to help you out, and focus all your attention on not falling in.

Exactly, spin the wheel & keep it right over. Of course the boat will gybe, but centering the mainsail/boom stops any scything heads off/damage. The boat will lurch a little, but continue to turn in a circle, not leaving the vicinity of the MoB.
I notice your "do this drill" has replaced teach her how to handle sails.