What safety gear do I need on the pushpit?

[yerffoeg]

The back rail of my boat is getting cluttered, especially since I recently attached a solar panel. At present there is a danbuoy, a recovery sling and a horseshoe lifebuoy. I would like to reduce the amount of gear on the rail.

I always insist on everyone wearing a decent lifejacket if they come out on the sea, so I am not sure if the horseshoe buoy serves any purpose, and is therefore the item to go.

Your views please.

 

[scottie]

If you were the MOB would you be happier with it ?

 

[Kukri]

I would. But some horseshoe buoys are difficult to actually “use”. They are too small for anyone who is not actually sylph like to get into, and unlike the old round ones you can’t really throw them.

 

[moomba]

I have got rid of my two , as you said all crew have to wear a life jacket on my boat , and we have cushions to throw and lines
is it really necessary with modern life jackets , me personally I don't think so ,
these are my points of view only
1. first you have to throw the thing , I would be surprised if after some one fell in, that you would be able to throw it accurately on a pitching boat going at 6 knots
2. the person in the life jacket will find it difficult to swim or move towards the horseshoe
3. the life jacket will prevent then getting it around their middle ,
pros
1. it is another safety device to hold onto in the water
2. it looks nice on the transom

 

[Caer Urfa]

The back rail of my boat is getting cluttered, especially since I recently attached a solar panel. At present there is a danbuoy, a recovery sling and a horseshoe lifebuoy. I would like to reduce the amount of gear on the rail.

I always insist on everyone wearing a decent lifejacket if they come out on the sea, so I am not sure if the horseshoe buoy serves any purpose, and is therefore the item to go.

Your views please.

So you think a Solar panel is more important than a Horseshoe lifebuoy , You have obviously never had anyone fall overboard !

 

[Pasarell]

I had a similar problem on my boat. It has 2 gates through the transom down to the sugar scoop so not a lot of space for "things". I'm in the Med so they are frequently used. I replaced the horseshoe and the danbuoy with a Jonbuoy inflatable combined version. Mush smaller so saves a lot of space and should be much easier to throw to anyone in the water

 

[ashtead]

Have a jonbuoy tube version plus a Seago box with which is smaller on the rail. Don't now have any yellow horseshoes or solar panels but do have an outboard

 

[sailorman]

The back rail of my boat is getting cluttered, especially since I recently attached a solar panel. At present there is a danbuoy, a recovery sling and a horseshoe lifebuoy. I would like to reduce the amount of gear on the rail.

I always insist on everyone wearing a decent lifejacket if they come out on the sea, so I am not sure if the horseshoe buoy serves any purpose, and is therefore the item to go.

Your views please.

What is "out to sea", for you, what size boat is she. As skipper its your call as to what is most important to " have at the ready"

Oh what medical kit do you have o/b

 

[yerffoeg]

Thanks for your replies.

Our boat is 27 feet in length. Everybody on board wears a crewsaver jacket with thigh straps tied if we go out from port.

Agree that the modern horseshoe lifebuoys cannot be thrown like the old cork quoits, and cannot fit round someone with an inflated lifejacket. Why do so many boats carry them?

 

[Caer Urfa]

Boats carry them as 'it's good sensible practice' because how do you know the size of the person who falls overboard and who says they will be wearing a life jacket
as they could fall off another boat, lock side, dinghy or fall off a pontoon etc etc.

Sorry mate you want people to tell you its ok to get rid of your lifebuoy as you don't need it and it will make you pushpit 'look pritty'

Well here's one that hopes you never need one to save some poor souls life and you can explain why you removed it to the RNLI or to the Coroner.

Simple answer is re position your solar panel

 

[KeithH]

One reason for carrying the horseshoe buoy, not yet mentioned, is that it could be used to throw to a person in the water who is not from your boat. In this case, the point about your crew always wearing a LJ is not relevant.

It may be a child, when the small size of the horseshoe opening could be an advantage.

 

[john_morris_uk]

IMHO best practice is to have a life ring/horseshoe with dan buoy and light AND DROGUE fitted so that in the event of a MOB the casualty has something to swim towards (and the flag on the dan buoy helps locate them even if they are wearing a lifejacket and don't need it to stay afloat,). Even if the casualty doesn't manage to swim to the life ring etc, the dan buoy gives you a good visual reference to start your search from. If you do a petal type search then you keep coming back past the dan buoy which helps reaffirm your search pattern.

The drogue is essential for (hopefully) obvious reasons.

 

[chrishscorp]

One reason for carrying the horseshoe buoy, not yet mentioned, is that it could be used to throw to a person in the water who is not from your boat. In this case, the point about your crew always wearing a LJ is not relevant.

It may be a child, when the small size of the horseshoe opening could be an advantage.

+1
Ours is a 26 footer, back rail crowded with o/b, danbuoy and horse shoe and have just got a lifting strop and throwing line need to mount that now.

I saw a video about 10 days ago of Portsmouth Harbour patrol having being alerted by someone on the round tower who spotted a swimmer being swept into the harbour by the flood tide and struggling to cling onto a navigation mark, they managed to pick her up.

Keep your kit handy, know how to use it, you have no idea when you might need it

 

[pvb]

Agree that the modern horseshoe lifebuoys cannot be thrown like the old cork quoits, and cannot fit round someone with an inflated lifejacket. Why do so many boats carry them?

It's the blind following the blind; tradition, like antifouling every year. I think the "lifesling" devices are probably more effective.

 

[sailorman]

It's the blind following the blind; tradition, like antifouling every year. I think the "lifesling" devices are probably more effective.

If only the holder was UV resistant :mad-new:

 

[pvb]

If only the holder was UV resistant :mad-new:

Agree, but you can buy new bags.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Well here's one that hopes you never need one to save some poor souls life and you can explain why you removed it to the RNLI or to the Coroner.

Since when did the RNLI have powers to interrogate boat owners about safety equipment.

I went down from two to one lifebuoys a couple of years ago, when I found that one was full of water. I keep the other one for form's sake. No danbuoy.

 

[ShinyShoe]

If saving someone from another boat doesn't cut it, what about when you are not out at sea. One of your crew falls over while boarding etc... do you always have a LJ on before boarding?

 

[lw395]

Unless the boat has a very wide arse, it's often convenient to move the liferings to the quarters, i.e. the aft end of the lifelines.
I'm with the old-school RORC theory on this. The lifering needs to be chuckable by the helmsman, immediately.
It's often easier to have one each side.
It/both must have light and drogue.

I have thrown a horseshoe lifebuoy 'for real', we were in a marina at the time, the recipient was not wearing a LJ.

I feel the pushpit should also carry a throwing line.

 

[TLouth7]

The back rail of my boat is getting cluttered, especially since I recently attached a solar panel. At present there is a danbuoy, a recovery sling and a horseshoe lifebuoy.

A relevant thing you have not mentioned is how the items are joined to each other and the boat.

As I understand it the horseshoe is the only item which offers meaningful buoyancy to the casualty in the water. You feel that this role is fulfilled by everyone wearing lifejackets.

Presumably the lifesling fulfils the retrieval (to beside the boat) function, and the danbuoy is intended to mark the casualty's position in the water. With a horseshoe on a floating line you have a backup retrieval device, should you mess up with the lifesling.

Only you can decide what quantity of safety equipment is appropriate to your needs (unless you are racing), personally I would ditch the danbuoy before the horseshoe.

In response to the complaint that horseshoes cannot be thrown, I was taught to drop them in the water at the stern on the basis that you can't do much worse than knocking out your MOB with a heavy flying object.

For reference I have: horseshoe attached to yacht on long floating line which is effectively a buoyant lifesling; horseshoe and danbuoy joined together with a floating line which goes over together to form a visible, minimally drifting object that the MOB can easily reach and then provides some buoyancy.