What safety gear do I need on the pushpit?

[Deleted member 36384]

The horseshoe could easily be mounted on the quarter, outside or inside the rail and still connected to the danbuoy. Also the life-sling could be moved to the quarter as well, or even to the cockpit locker. I guarantee that the life-sling will not be instantly deployed when the MOB shout is made but will be launched when the approach to the MOB has started.

 

[xyachtdave]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this judging the by the previous replies but thought I'd offer my thoughts.

I've gradually taken everything off the back of the boat until now there is nothing permanently attached. The scenarios given above about people falling in left, right and centre at every opportunity getting on and off the boat in marinas and on moorings......maybe they should consider other hobbies are available!

If you're into pushing your luck say racing at night, in big seas and winds I can see the logic in having a decent Danbuoy with a light, some serious recovery tackle etc, if you're coastal pottering in daylight, in lighter airs (which with modern forecasting means being caught out in anything nasty is unlikely) all the stuff on the back is just window dressing.

Many of the boats I see with these essentials on the rail look like they'd take five minutes to untangle all the knitting and launch anyway, rather than be ready for action.

Exception would be a decent throwing line handy.

 

[pvb]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this judging the by the previous replies but thought I'd offer my thoughts.

I've gradually taken everything off the back of the boat until now there is nothing permanently attached. The scenarios given above about people falling in left, right and centre at every opportunity getting on and off the boat in marinas and on moorings......maybe they should consider other hobbies are available!

If you're into pushing your luck say racing at night, in big seas and winds I can see the logic in having a decent Danbuoy with a light, some serious recovery tackle etc, if you're coastal pottering in daylight, in lighter airs (which with modern forecasting means being caught out in anything nasty is unlikely) all the stuff on the back is just window dressing.

Many of the boats I see with these essentials on the rail look like they'd take five minutes to untangle all the knitting and launch anyway, rather than be ready for action.

Exception would be a decent throwing line handy.

Lot of sense in that. I only have a Lifesling on the rail, and that's largely for the mental comfort of my lovely wife. As I often sail singlehanded, no amount of gear on the back is ever going to help!

 

[xyachtdave]

Lot of sense in that. I only have a Lifesling on the rail, and that's largely for the mental comfort of my lovely wife. As I often sail singlehanded, no amount of gear on the back is ever going to help!

Yes, you can't throw it at yourself when you're on your own!

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

I have just replaced my solid lifebouy with an inflatable one, alongside an already installed inflatable danbouy. My reasoning is that I can quickly deploy the marker(dan) and support (lifebouy)from one location on the pushpit before sending the mayday etc. and then getting back to the causality somehow. Even in daylight spotting a casualty in a choppy sea is horrendously difficult without a marker. I also have a rigid danbouy ,for use at night, and heaving line to “collect” the casualty. The rigid lifebouy, in its frame, took up space which prevented access to cleats and also needed a separate marker light. I intend to attach the marker light to a mooring bouy for additional deployment when I have worked out where and how to stow them! We all need bigger boats!

 

[pvb]

My reasoning is that I can quickly deploy the marker(dan) and support (lifebouy)from one location on the pushpit before sending the mayday etc. and then getting back to the causality somehow.

Shouldn't your priority be to get back to the casualty, rather than waste time sending a mayday transmission?

 

[dslittle]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this judging the by the previous replies but thought I'd offer my thoughts.

I've gradually taken everything off the back of the boat until now there is nothing permanently attached. The scenarios given above about people falling in left, right and centre at every opportunity getting on and off the boat in marinas and on moorings......maybe they should consider other hobbies are available!

If you're into pushing your luck say racing at night, in big seas and winds I can see the logic in having a decent Danbuoy with a light, some serious recovery tackle etc, if you're coastal pottering in daylight, in lighter airs (which with modern forecasting means being caught out in anything nasty is unlikely) all the stuff on the back is just window dressing.

Many of the boats I see with these essentials on the rail look like they'd take five minutes to untangle all the knitting and launch anyway, rather than be ready for action.

Exception would be a decent throwing line handy.

Although we have a horseshoe buoy attached to a danbuoy with a light, a throwing line, a handy billy and an Oscar MOB sling on our pushpit, I totally agree with the above.
I am not sure that every time I am on my boat I should feel responsible for everybody else and therefore equip my boat as a Lifeboat.
Obviously I will ALWAYS assist (and have done so in the past) in a life saving incident but please don't tell me what I should have on my pushpit in case someone else falls in the water...

 

[john_morris_uk]

Although we have a horseshoe buoy attached to a danbuoy with a light, a throwing line, a handy billy and an Oscar MOB sling on our pushpit, I totally agree with the above.
I am not sure that every time I am on my boat I should feel responsible for everybody else and therefore equip my boat as a Lifeboat.
Obviously I will ALWAYS assist (and have done so in the past) in a life saving incident but please don't tell me what I should have on my pushpit in case someone else falls in the water...

I hope your boat is less than 45’ long then. Otherwise the law very certainly says what you will carry on board regarding lifesaving equipment.

SOLAS regs for pleasure craft over 13.7 metres described here: https://www.rya.org.uk/knowledge-ad...e-saving-appliances-on-class-xii-vessels.aspx

 

[[70521]]

Where did the myth that you had to get "into" a horseshoe come from? It is a flotation device, it could be any shape: A; B; C ... X; Y or Z, it is to give support to somebody in the water if they can grab hold of it, bit like an old fishbox.

 

[dslittle]

I hope your boat is less than 45’ long then. Otherwise the law very certainly says what you will carry on board regarding lifesaving equipment.

SOLAS regs for pleasure craft over 13.7 metres described here: https://www.rya.org.uk/knowledge-ad...e-saving-appliances-on-class-xii-vessels.aspx

Luckily I know the SOLAS Regs. I also know the Reqs in France where we are just now.

Oh and we were Coded.

Now what has that got to do with the OP on his 27 foot boat???

 

[john_morris_uk]

Luckily I know the SOLAS Regs. I also know the Reqs in France where we are just now.

Oh and we were Coded.

Now what has that got to do with the OP on his 27 foot boat???

Not much, but I was responding to, “..nobody’s going to tell me what to put on the back of my boat...” if your boat is coded, “oh yes they are”. I was also pointing out that even without coding requirements, once you reach a relatively modest size, you don’t get a choice.

I work with and on coded boats a lot (and have had our own boat coded in the past). I can see how some coding requirements seem irrelevant and OTT at times, but most of the rules and requirements are there for good reason. It seems strange or worrying that there seemed to be a growing body of opinion in this thread that said life buoys on boats were unnecessary and almost implying that people’s safety was not their problem. So long as their crew always wore a lifejacket life buoys and otter MOB gear ‘cluttering up the stern” didn’t matter. I’d described earlier on how the life buoy, light, drogue and danbuoy were very useful as a marker for casualty and searching boat, but this seems to have been ignored.

 

[zoidberg]

A couple of years back I was roped in to help with the scrutineering, at Plymouth, of the 50' trimarans heading transatlantic in the Bakerley event, each with a sole crewmember/skipper. The Notice of Race required a pair of horseshoe lifebuoys, and each boat had 'em - strapped together with gaffer tape, and most of them also well-wrapped in protective plastic sheeting.

I queried the very experienced skippers as to why? They shrugged Gallicly - "Rules! Not worth arguing about. Who's going to throw one of them to me, if I fall off in mid-Atlantic?" They were concerned, however, that the same then-current rules had removed the requirement for red rocket flares. Each of them smiled, shrugged, then produced their 'surplus to requirement' flares pack, which they'd prudently retained.

It seems to me worthwhile always to question the existence of something like a pair of horseshoe lifebuoys. And other stuff. It's your/my responsibility, after all, and a well-considered decision is 'fairy nuff'. I'm sure the OP will consider the views expressed here......

 

[duncan99210]

I carry an inflatable horseshoe on the pushpit, along with a 15m throw line. There’s a handy billy ready to be rigged off the stern to aid in recovering a MOB (nice low sugar scoop stern to help with that). And that’s it. If I have a bit of spare cash soon I’ll add an inflatable dan buoy to fit next to the life ring because a rigid one simply gets in the way too much when berthing stern to; it’s likely to cause as many problems as it solves, if not more.
I’ve not used any of the above in anger except for the throwing line, which is great for passing a line to someone requiring a tow.
I’ve never picked up a MOB but we did loose the dinghy last year in a gust off Kephalonia. I hit the MOB button on the plotter and discover that it immediately abandoned our set course and started directing me to the MOB, which I followed back to the dinghy after starting the engine and putting away the sails. I was impressed with the plotter as it did take me back to the right place, albeit that the dinghy had in the meantime move a bit. Given the larger target, it was easier to spot than an unconscious MOB but it did give me some confidence that we would have been in the right area to start a search. Also made me think about AIS and an AIS beacon; AIS now fitted, beacons to follow next season. That, frankly, will give me more confidence than any amount of floating clutter for the helmsman to be heaving over the side.

 

[dslittle]

I can see how some coding requirements seem irrelevant and OTT at times, but most of the rules and requirements are there for good reason. It seems strange or worrying that there seemed to be a growing body of opinion in this thread that said life buoys on boats were unnecessary and almost implying that people’s safety was not their problem. So long as their crew always wore a lifejacket life buoys and otter MOB gear ‘cluttering up the stern” didn’t matter. I’d described earlier on how the life buoy, light, drogue and danbuoy were very useful as a marker for casualty and searching boat, but this seems to have been ignored.

I agree. We take ours (and the safety of others) very seriously. Everyone who goes to sea must have an awareness of the potential need for help from others and their responsibility to help others.

However, I still believe that the OP can make their own choice in relation to equipping their boat (both legally and morally) and will have probably been helped in making that choice from the comments above.

 

[Corribee72]

It's quite timely actually, at the weekend I put more safety gear on our 21 foot boat, a spare block and tackle and a coil of yellow polypropylene rope. My wife asked if I was overloading the boat, I have a horseshoe, ladder, safety slings and karrabiners coming out my ears, also some supersized bright orange fenders. My first thought was to say, hold that thought and ask the first person who we fish out the drink in 10 degree water........ didn't say anything though.....obviously, don't upset the boss!