[Rhodes22-list] Beer Overboard

Sun Apr 16 20:16:23 EDT 2006

Bill,

We never lost sight of the sucker until I was right on top of it.  I steered
so it would hit the hull on the starboard side of the bow knowing it would
float and skim along the hull.  At the time, I was going down wind and had
plenty way/steerage so it wasn't too hard to put the boat right where I
wanted.  I guess we were going about 3 or 4 and Mary Ann made a nice grab.
A fish net would have been nice but we don't fish and don't have one aboard.

As for her diving in the water, that would only be if she thought I was
unconscious.  If I'm still floating head up, she'd probably be able to start
the motor or I could swim to the boat or to the shore (on Lake Minnetonka
you're never more than a half mile from shore which could be swimable,
depending on the circumstance)  But as I said before, I don't float due to
low body fat (hence my nickname) and if I were knocked out, I'd certainly be
a gonner unless she dove in and saved me, albeit at her own peril.

Slim

On 4/16/06 5:27 PM, "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com> wrote:

> 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.j
>>>>> pg
>>>>> 
>>>>> 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.j
>>>>> pg
>>>>> 
>>>>> __________________________________________________
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>>>>>     
>>>>>         
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>>>>       
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