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Want To Hear A Sad Story

4K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  cardiacpaul 
#1 ·
On Sunday I went out for the usual race with my club.
An uneventful day..Little wind..Close sailing and all strategy all day..

We came in third on corrected time which was good for us..We ALL can't be winners..

As we were coming in to dock, one of the crew was at the bow ready to go over to tie us off.
The boat came in very slow and for some unknown reason, he jumped off..
All we heard was a scream..
He was not in view after he left so we did not know what was going on..

He broke his leg below the knee..
A guy who saw it said it was like watching something in slow motion and before he could tell him not to jump, he just went for it.

Ambulance came and he went off to hospital.
He broke the same leg about three years ago and needed pins etc to hold it together for weeks.
Now he is going thru it all again.

There is a lesson there..
NEVER JUMP OFF.

We all probably do it, right?
Well I am here to tell you from his screams, it hurt..LOTS..

So fellas, be aware that bone and concrete are not user friendly.
Ambulances take time to get thru locked gates and security.
Pain killers do not work all the time.

Just thought I would share that with you.
Take care out there and especially when coming in when you are tired.
It took the gloss off the day for a lot of his friends.

Jim.:cool:
 
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#4 ·
Fortunately, at my marina, we usually have enough neighbors on the dock to handle the lines... no jumping necessary.
 
#5 · (Edited)
That is a very sad story, my legs hurt just from reading it.

Never jump.
and never fend with any body part between the boat and the dock/pilling.

My daughter got lucky three weeks ago docking in a cross wind during a squall. She escaped with bad bruise. I should have turned and gone back out to open water when we did not make it in in time before the storm hit, but everyone wanted to tie up quickly. We survived, not even a scratch....... on the boat.
 
#6 ·
I work in EMS and unfortunately see the results of bad decisions every day. We are all guilty, some are luckier others though. The world is a dangerous place and we must all try and learn from our mistakes. This story points out that we must be careful. I wish your friend a speedy recovery. Be safe.
David
 
#7 ·
That is unfortunate, but it's a good lesson to share. It reminds me of a near-miss I witnessed last summer that still gives me shudders.

A teen-sailing program came into the harbor where we were docked, they in an older, heavy mid-40 footer, in nasty weather. They had had a rough day of it in heavy winds and drenching rain. As they approached the pier where they intended to tie up for the night, they discovered that they could not engage reverse. The "skipper", a middle aged counselor, barked an order to two of the teeneagers on deck: "Run to the bow and fend off with your bodies". They ran to the bow, where one teenage girl climbed out into the pulpit and prepared to place herself between the bow and the rapidly approaching pier. The boat was still moving over 4 knots, and the helmsman was aiming straight at the pier, as if to t-bone it. The skipper kept yelling "Fend-Off, Fend-Off", but he did not order the helmsman to turn nor any other evasive action.

We are all loathe to interfere with another skippers docking procedures, but when I realized what was happenning I sprinted down the dock and with the most commanding voice I could muster, shouted to the girl: "MOVE OFF THE BOW NOW!!" and to the helmsman" "TURN YOUR BOAT". The girl pulled herself back through the pulpit just as the bow slammed into a vertical dock piling, cracking it right through, mangling the pulpit, and putting a large crack in the stem and foredeck of the boat. It was so close I almost puked. This mid-40 footer literally bounced back several feet. If that had been my daughter....

After helping them warp their boat in to the dock, I went back to our boat and asked my kids if they had seen what happenned. They had. I told them that if ANYBODY, including the skipper of a boat, ever tells them to fend-off with their bodies or jump ashore, they should refuse. It is the skippers duty to bring a boat in properly so no one needs to get hurt or jump. No part of their body should ever be between the boat and the dock. I think they got the message.
 
#9 ·
I also hope you reported that idiot to the people running the sailing program... he is a menace and could have easily gotten that girl killed. A 45' boat is probably ten tons or more, depending on the design—getting a part of your body between that much weight and a relatively unyielding dock or pier is a good way to get crushed or dead.
 
#12 ·
We used to have to teach the newbies on the schooner not to fend off with their bodies. At a 100 tons we weren't sure the dock would stop us when all hell was braking loose.
 
#14 ·
As I tell my crew!! Never jump from the boat to the dock. I will bring the boat close enough for you to step off. Never jump! Period!

And as you can see from the first post on this thread the reason why.
 
#15 ·
G'day fellas.

Glad to hear that YOU ALL take care when docking.
What happened to Simon last sunday made me realize that pain and suffering is always close by.

He will be out of action for a few months at least.
Made me feel a little sick when I saw him there but I think from the number of members that witnessed it, a little more safety is about to come into the club from now on.

Up until then it had been a beautiful day.

Jim.:cool:
 
#17 ·
Giu-

It depends... jumping off my boat onto a floating dock isn't a problem... they're not too different in height... ;) Jumping off of some of the bigger monohulls, where the height difference is more noticeable can be a serious problem.
 
#18 ·
Our slip requires a ladder to go from the boat to the slip.
No jumping. We have to grab our dock lines with our boat pole.

When approaching a transient mooring, you never know what you might find.

A mistake we make is that the person with the dock lines is standing either too far forward or too far aft. I keep telling them to stand amidship. I can get the fat part of the boat close and you step off.

I too have gotten close and we start to drift off. I yell, "quick, jump.!"
Opps my bad.
 
#21 ·
Giulietta said:
TJ

everyone jumps, everyone...or jumped...and if they say they don't...they're not telling the truth...
It's only thanks to this thread that I now know I haven't been supposed to be jumping. I've always been on smaller (30' and under) boats on floating docks. Never really aware of the risk, apart from getting wet. I really appreciated this thread.
 
#22 ·
Update

G'day folks

Simon is now out of hospital and walking SLOWLY with pins in his leg again.:D

Going to be sometime before he is back in action full time.

Also, we got him on a diet to shed about 20 kilos and should take some strain off his leg.:)

Thanks for you concern.

Jim.:cool:
 
#23 ·
everyone jumps, everyone...or jumped...and if they say they don't...they're not telling the truth...

I didn't jump that time, i was "pinched"
over a year later, still have the mark.
 
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