Single handing

[Irwin32]

I would be interested to hear accounts of single handers who did fall over travelling at 5 or 6 knots. Are there any?

[paulthober]

Almost all of the sailing I have done has been single-handed. At first my only concern was to stay attached to the boat, but then contemplation of being overboard intruded into my conciousness - how was I to get back aboard?. I made and tested a boarding ladder that was accessible from the water. I think it is essential that a single-handing sailor be tethered to the boat and that if the tether enables the sailor to go overboard there has to be means for getting aboard again. This goes for sailors whose crew is not fully capable of handling the boat.

Trailing a line is a nice concept, but what if you miss the line? I can remember reading a single-handed cruising tale where the skipper was becalmed in the doldrums and went swimming using a trailing warp to get back to the boat. A puff of wind filled the sails and the skipper missed the rope. He swam methodically toward his boat and eventually caught it. The mere thought of being a thousand or so miles from land while my sailboat indifferently sailed away gives me the chills. Survival while single-handing needs to be as foolproof as possible and practical.

Paul

[paulk]

We were about 200 miles south of Newfoundland on our way to Ireland and hit a fairly calm spot. One of my shipmates thought it was a good opportunity for a swim, so he stripped down and got ready to jump over. Wait a second, we said. How fast do you think we're going, here? "Pretty much sitting still." he figured. Three to Four knots, we advised him. "So?" he said. So tie yourself to this spare jib sheet so we don't have to reverse course to get you, we said. He tied a bowline through the front belt loop of his cut-off jeans. No, we told him. Put the line through that loop, and the next, and the rest of the way around you, and then tie the bowline. " OK, Fine" he grumbled. That done, and the other end securely cleated to the boat, in he jumped. About three seconds later he came to the end of the 60' line and turned to try swimming. No way. The boat simply dragged him twice as fast as he could possibly swim. Whenever he turned to face forward, his own bow wave suffocated him. We had to put the line to a winch to crank him in. I always think a main objective while sailing is to stay as dry as possible.

[sailingdog]

Two things come to mind...

First, in Paulthober's story...why didn't the idiot take the sails down... if he had... the boat wouldn't have much headway in a puff.....and he wouldn't of ended up chasing it. Unfortunately, stupidity isn't curable.

Second, PaulK's story reminds me of a story that Tania Aebi wrote about... where the owner of a boat she was the delivery captain of decided to take a swim in the middle of the ocean... he found it was so refreshing, that he dived off the bow a second time...swam around the boat and climbed up the swim ladder. About six seconds after he got out of the water, a sixteen-foot-long shark hit the hull just below the swim platform.

I would have to agree that the main objective is staying dry and on the boat.

[Pogo-2]

The ultimate object is Not to fall overboard, this said things never go as intended. There was an article written some where on the web that addressed all the issues of falling over. I do sail single handed and have taken what I thought to be some good precautions to ensure my survival. After reading this article I've made some changes in my plans. I wish I knew wher i saw the article so I could post it here? But here are some high lites. I sail with my stern ladder down in the water other wise you'll never get back aboard the boat, the drag isn't that bad. I use to have about 50' of line tied to a fender and tow that behind just in case I went over I could grab this and pull myself to the boat. In dead calm water and the boat not moving this would work, according to the article, the boat traveling at 2 kts it would be hard to hold onto the line let alone pull yourself to the boat, at 5 kts forget it you'd last about 15 seconds on the line that is if to could hang on. They do recomend putting hand and foot loops about every 3- 4 feet or so. This way you can support yourself with your feet and hands. Always where a PFD and tether your self where ever you go above decks, alow just enough line to do what you have to so incase you do go over your not hanging on thside and being draged along. make sure you have a strobe lite on the vest. Just a few ideas I'll look for the whole article and post it here.

[Irwin32]

I'll say it again. At 4 or 5 knots you are toast - harness or no - trailing lines or fenders - boarding ladder down - you are toast. What we need is a waterproof, wireless remote for otto, that we keep attached to us at all times.

[TrueBlue]

Originally Posted by Irwin32

What we need is a waterproof, wireless remote for otto, that we keep attached to us at all times.

Interesting concept.

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by TrueBlue

Interesting concept.

Actually, B&G, Raymarine and a few others have remotes for their autopilots. I use a Raymarine Smart Controller, which acts as both an autopilot remote and an instrument repeater. Has a range of about 30 feet.

[Faster]

We have always had 3 basic rules for sailing (for ourselves and any guests):

Rule #1 - Stay on the boat
Rule #2 - Stay On The Boat
Rule # 3 - STAY ON THE &*%$# BOAT!!

Whatever it takes, do not break any of these rules!

[TrueBlue]

sailingdog,
My Autohelm 6000 has a handheld remote, limited in range to a 30 ft. cable, but interchangable with both the aft & pilothouse helms. I do realize wireless remotes are common, but don't think they are submersible, with long range . . . yet.