I think it is important to have a drogue attached to the MOB and life ring combo since otherwise it can drift faster than a person could swim to it. I have a MOB pole, whistle, light and drogue connected by 50 feet of floating line. It is set up along the lower lifeline aft of the gate (center cockpit boat) and can be released quite quickly. Without a SSB antenna in the backstay the pole can handily mounted along the backstay. I also have a LifeSling and tackle for bringing someone back aboard.
That's the setup we have. The horseshoe buoy with a little drogue collar sits in a bracket behind the MOB pole. Pull a pin, the pole drops over board, which is attached to a line to the horseshoe buoy. The whole thing goes over in 15 seconds. Hope it never gets used. A strobe is a great idea to go along with it.
__________________
Ray
S.V. Nikko
1983 Fraser 41
La Conner, WA
I borrowed a good idea from a friend. The pole sits in a PVC tube (pretty standard, I reckon), the flag at the top is flaked onto the pole and a fabric sleeve is pulled down over it. The end of the sleeve has a light piece of line connected to the backstay.
I've seen so many boats with a faded tattered flag fluttering off the top of the MOB pole, this solution keeps the flag in good shape and deploys it automatically, the sleeve stays behind still tied to the backstay.
I now use this on my own boat.
__________________ "I think it would be a good idea"
Response from Mahatma Ghandi when asked what he thought of Western Civilisation.
To me it makes sense to hit the button, get the pole out and then get stopped and turned around but I am open to counter arguments.
You stop and turn around? I'd rather keep moving...
Anyway I have seen these things on other boats but don't have one of my own. Five foot waves are not unusual in our waters and such a thing would probably help. However, despite some of the descriptions in this thread I really can't picture the deployment. It is stowed in a PVC tube you say? Is this tube attached to the pushput? Does it contain the entire pole, or just the bottom or middle? Do you have to pull the pole out of its tube or is there some clever quick-release thingy?
i2f's setup sounds smart, but it's not clear to me whether it's a two-step (throw ring, throw pole) or one-step process (throw ring, pole gets pulled out automatically).
You stop and turn around? I'd rather keep moving...
Anyway I have seen these things on other boats but don't have one of my own. Five foot waves are not unusual in our waters and such a thing would probably help. However, despite some of the descriptions in this thread I really can't picture the deployment. It is stowed in a PVC tube you say? Is this tube attached to the pushput? Does it contain the entire pole, or just the bottom or middle? Do you have to pull the pole out of its tube or is there some clever quick-release thingy?
i2f's setup sounds smart, but it's not clear to me whether it's a two-step (throw ring, throw pole) or one-step process (throw ring, pole gets pulled out automatically).
Usually only the top of the pole with the flag fits folded up inside a short tube (maybe 6" long), generally fitted to a back stay higher up, and the bottom of the tube sits on a simple bracket mounted to a hand rail or cap rail. In this installation, the pole would be laying parallel with the back stay. A length of floating line is attached to both the pole and a horse shoe life ring, and the life ring is generally also mounted on a simple hanger on a hand rail. In an installation like this both the pole and the life ring would have to be thrown at the same time, or as close to the same time as possible.
Adam, if you have a split backstay, installing the pole becomes a bit harder. But for a single backstay...you can either have the pole sitting in a "cup" (i.e. a piece of PVC pipe a foot tall) and the top end inserted in another piece of pipe with no top on it. Then all you need to do is lift the pole up out of the cup, and pull it back down (out of the top) letting it fall past the transom.
The idea is that the "cup" on the bottom holds it securely enough to keep it in place even when you are bouncing around or take water over the transom.
The other way to do this is to just use a top cover (which keeps the flag stowed) and let the bottom end of the pole just hang in space, free to fall. And, you add one fastpin somewhere in the middle, to pin the pole to a mount on the backstay or pushpit. Pull the pin, and the pole falls down all by itself. Very very slightly faster deployment.
Some boats (purpose built racers usually) have kept the poles stowed in an "aft torpedo tube", which is nice if you're having the transom refinished. You cut a 4"-6" hole in the transom, install a long PVC pipe inside, secure it all and finish it off. Then the pole is stowed inside the tube and pulled out by a leash, when and if needed. No windage aloft, out of sight out of mind, but a way more expensive project.
If you only will need the pole once in a while, you can always just lash it to the rail with some slip knots or rubber bands, and cut or break them if you need to deploy it. Cutting is easy, you DO always have a small sharp knife on your belt, right?
Adam, if you have a split backstay, installing the pole becomes a bit harder. But for a single backstay...you can either have the pole sitting in a "cup" (i.e. a piece of PVC pipe a foot tall) and the top end inserted in another piece of pipe with no top on it. Then all you need to do is lift the pole up out of the cup, and pull it back down (out of the top) letting it fall past the transom.
PO did this on my boat even though it has a split backstay. He just angled the cup to match the angle of the stay; it holds up just fine. To deploy, just pull the base out of the cup, and let it drop in the wake. Never had to use it in anger, but I've tested it and it works fine.
Hi,
I see a lot of boats carrying MOB markers onboard.
This works well, and is mandatory in some ocean races. Bit much, though
It sits in a SS bracket on my boat and also has a floating light attached to a long lead of its own.
The arrangement has an amusing side effect: the light must be tethered upside down so as not to activate the batteries. In choppy sea, the transom will give it a kick every time it rises, so we have an unintended "rough sea strobe". When it begins to flash with the waves, we know things are reasonably rough
Never Forgotten
"I think it would be a good idea"
