[DuaneIsing]

An example of how an unexpected MOB event can be different from practice drills occured during a weeklong training class in Feb 02. For the final 2 days, there were just 2 students aboard the 38 foot sloop and no instructor.

We had the engine on and had just secured the main halyard after hoisting when my hat blew off (I always use clips after that). The other student was skipper for that day, and was at the helm as he shouted MOB. We immediately went into the figure eight drill we had practiced quite a bit during the previous days and were doing very well up until we tried to stop alongside the hat. For some reason we just kept moving by.

Turns out that the blowing wind, and our exuberance at conducting the procedure had masked the very quiet sound of - the engine still chugging along in gear!