[Rhodes22-list] Beer Overboard

Sun Apr 16 20:27:11 EDT 2006

Slim,

Impressive!

Was it skill or luck that put the sucker (they are great) within arms 
reach on the first pass?  Could you see it the whole time, or did it 
disappear under the gunwales?  How fast were you going as you passed by?

Develop a MOB procedure for Mary Ann that does not involve her getting 
into the water.  No matter how strong a swimmer she is, leaving the boat 
increases the chance of both of your drowning by many orders of magnitude.

I haven't really thought about what one should do, although it is more 
than time to do so.

Immediately release everything is probably the best place to start.  
That will point the boat directly into the wind, stop it, and start it 
moving backward toward the overboardee.  Ignore the noise of luffing 
sails, look for the person off the stern.  Point the rudder at the 
person while drifting backward.  Try to start the engine.  Get ready to 
drop an anchor....

Another project for this summer,

Bill Effros

Slim wrote:
> Bill and others interested,
>
> We talk about the MOB but don't drill often enough or at all.  The closest
> we've come to a drill is what we did yesterday to recover the beer holder.
> Conventional wisdom used to be to jibe the boat, but now they're saying that
> tacking is more controlled and no risk of getting hit on the head with the
> boom jerking across, etc.  In yesterday's case, we were on a starboard tack
> close reach at the time of the BOB and we simply tacked and then continued
> to fall off until we were heading 180 degrees from original course--now on a
> broad reach port tack.  The gusts were over 20 and we were going fast so I
> let the jib sheet go and I kept the main sheet close-hauled spilling wind
> forward to keep the speed down.  I steered a course to pick up the thing on
> the starboard (low) side and Mary Ann reached down and plucked it out of the
> water.  Obviously the beer coozy is of little consequence (although it was a
> "sucker" that's worth retrieving) but we took it seriously as a drill and it
> went perfectly.  That sucker was not in the water for more than about 45
> seconds, maybe less.
>
> But all we did was turn around and go back.  The standard MOB maneuver is
> sailing a big figure 8 and coming to a stop for the pickup.  That's a little
> trickier.
>
> If I were the one to go overboard, my wife knows what she doesn't know.
> That is, she probably couldn't maneuver and sail back to me but she knows to
> first throw a cushion then let everything go--tiller and sheets--and the
> boat will stop sailing.  Then she can start the motor OR dive in and save
> me. She's not a great sailor but she IS a great swimmer and fearless in the
> water.  I, on the other hand, sink like a rock if I don't paddle and kick
> hard.  
>
> But I agree it's very important and we should drill more often.
>
> Slim
>
> On 4/16/06 8:26 AM, "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>
>   
>> Slim,  (Alain--pay attention!)
>>
>> Some details on the beer overboard maneuver.  Seriously.
>>
>> We haven't talked enough about the difficulties of recovering things and
>> people falling overboard.  Especially single handed (which everyone
>> would be if their partner fell overboard with only 2 originally on board.)
>>
>> Would your partner be able to recover you?  Mine wouldn't.
>>
>> When I was practicing anchoring last summer, I discovered that when the
>> wind is blowing at 20-25 kts. it is almost impossible to recover a
>> properly set anchor while sailing single-handed and remaining tethered
>> to the anchor.  Some extremely dangerous situations can (and did) arise.
>>
>> So I developed a technique of tying the bitter end of the anchor rode to
>> a life preserver and throwing it overboard.  This allowed me to get my
>> boat out of facing directly into the wind, and into a position where
>> either my motor or my sail could position me where I could retrieve my
>> (too expensive to leave behind) anchor.
>>
>> As noted previously, I use floating anchor line with little or no
>> chain.  This leaves a long line of rode floating on the water, attached
>> to a life preserver,  which is far more difficult to see and retrieve
>> without fouling the line than you would imagine, if you've never tried
>> it before.  But once recovered, the scope is shortened, the pressure is
>> off the anchor, the boat can maneuver, and the anchor can be easily
>> retrieved.
>>
>> Still, I find myself using this technique only as a last resort because
>> of the difficulties of retrieval, and the amazing fact that you can
>> easily lose sight of the floating life preserver under these conditions.
>>
>> Which got me to thinking..."what if the floating life preserver had a
>> person in it?"  Would I be able to retrieve that person in time with out
>> causing more harm?
>>
>> So I decided one of the things I would work on this summer was MOB.
>>
>> I have also retrieved objects fallen overboard as trivial as beer
>> holders, and been surprised at the difficulty, and my willingness to
>> blow closer and closer to rocks in an attempt to save a $10 item.  In
>> fact, I purchased a 3 part extending pole with a reach of more than 12
>> feet to replace my 2 part extending pole with a reach slightly under 10
>> feet specifically to try to address this problem.
>>
>> More than you expected, I'm sure, but I would like to know more about
>> your recovery, and anyone else's experiences.  It's something I can't
>> remember talking about, but something I think we should.
>>
>> Bill Effros 
>>
>> Slim wrote:
>>     
>>> Rummy,
>>>
>>> Glad you had such a fine season opener.  The scenery looks pretty familiar.
>>> 8-)  What's that red thing in the guy's mouth in the first shot?
>>>
>>> We had our shakedown sail today and it was terrific.  My new luff pad works
>>> great.  It was quite windy and we were deeply reefed with main at about 75%
>>> and the genny at various reef points and the luff pad really takes the belly
>>> out of the big 175% and held a much better shape when it's rolled in.
>>>
>>> One casualty--we lost a nearly full beer overboard in a big puff.  Bad
>>> seamanship!  However, we did a beer-overboard maneuver and recovered the
>>> coozy.  8-)  
>>>
>>> Slim
>>>
>>> On 4/15/06 9:03 AM, "R22RumRunner at aol.com" <R22RumRunner at aol.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>   
>>>       
>>>> Well, the annual breaking in of the lake went off perfectly. We had great
>>>> winds and warm temps. There was also a multi-hull regatta on the lake.
>>>> Attached  
>>>> are two pictures of the regatta.
>>>>
>>>> Rummy
>>>>
>>>> Name: IMG_3634.JPG Type: image/jpeg Size: 1490608 bytes Desc: not available
>>>> Url: 
>>>> http://www.rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attch/200604/15/IMG_3634.jpg
>>>>
>>>> Name: IMG_3663.JPG Type: image/jpeg Size: 1381379 bytes Desc: not available
>>>> Url: 
>>>> http://www.rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attch/200604/15/IMG_3663.jpg
>>>>
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