Single handing

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by 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.

I believe the two wireless remotes I mentioned are IPX 7 spec... so they will survive a brief dunking to a meter or so deep. The range of most of them is only 30 feet or so... and I doubt that would help if you fell overboard... if the boat is making any kind of speed, it would pass out of the range quite quickly.

[Irwin32]

It is time for someone to devolop a waterprook remote with a range of a half mile. All you really need would be a way to disengage if you go over. If you always keep a little weather helm trimmed in, the boat will round up and you, attached by your tether, would have a half decent chance of getting back on board. Not fool proof, but what is?

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by Irwin32

It is time for someone to devolop a waterprook remote with a range of a half mile. All you really need would be a way to disengage if you go over. If you always keep a little weather helm trimmed in, the boat will round up and you, attached by your tether, would have a half decent chance of getting back on board. Not fool proof, but what is?

Umm, if you are attached by your tether... why do you need a range of a half-mile on the remote... do you normally use a 2700' long tether? Mine in is only six feet long.

[Irwin32]

You are right.

[Indee]

I single hand now and then, and while I haven't fallen over yet, I've come close a few times when on the bow and caught off balance in a pitch. I was normally comfortable with just a tether, knowing I would always be attached to the boat. But, the story of the sailor being dragged to his death along with a personal experience where I had to reboard after a swim without a ladder, made it clear that while I never plan on falling overboard, I should have a plan if I do.

What I've done for the last couple of seasons, is if I have to go forward I kick the boarding ladder down and with my tether (which I attach to my lifejacket that had a built in harness) I also carry 40 feet of 'soft' line coiled and attached to my belt. My theory is that if I fall over, be it high or low, I can then take the 40 feet of line that has shackles on both ends, attach one end to my jacket as I hang in the water while attaching the other end to either the toerail or something else (my thought being, even on the high side, I'll be able to pull myself up enough to clip it to something; in the worst case, I'd attach it to my tether). Once the line is attached on both ends, I'd blow my thethers connection to me and play out my new 'tether' in such a fashion as to reach the boarding ladder.

While this may not be the most sensible solution, I think it gives me a lot of control of the situation. What I would never want to do is unattach myself from the boat and hope to catch a dragging line though I could envision, in really bad weather of towing a grab line along with the later being down.

[Omatako]

If you're planning on inventing something to stop your boat if you go over the side, how about I give you all a thought that may make one of you rich! How about an electronic device that HAS to be WITHIN 20 metres of the boat to KEEP the autopilot working.
That way, if you go over the side, the moment you are 20 metres from the boat, the autopilot loses the signal that keeps it on course and rounds the boat up and keeps it head to wind.
When I singlehanded across the Indian Ocean, the last thing I wanted was to be snug in my weather gear with a great PFD and a flashing strobe and an EPIRB and watching my boat sailing off to the horizon. I often wondered if the strobe would still be flashing when I died. Forget about ropes over the back and all that stuff. Stay on the boat or you're dead. End of story. And out there, nobody is going to see your strobe and nobody is going to come and fetch you if they get an EPIRB signal and nobody is going to receive the VHF signal from a 5W handheld. You're on your own mate.
I had my boat netted from the top guard rail to the toe rail the entire length of the boat both sides. Whenever I moved around the boat in dodgy conditions, I did it on hands and knees and tethered my self when I got to where I wanted to be with a tether that prohibited me from going over the side. I concur with the three rules mentioned somewhere before "Stay on the boat" X 3.
Oh and the other thing, if you're planning on shackles for a line in whatever form it may take, use trip shackles (as for your spinnaker release), not snap shackles, you'll struggle your butt off to undo a loaded snap shackle.
Hope this all makes sense.
And finally, singlehanding rocks - don't be scared to give it a whack, it's very fulfilling.

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by Omatako

When I singlehanded across the Indian Ocean, the last thing I wanted was to be snug in my weather gear with a great PFD and a flashing strobe and an EPIRB and watching my boat sailing off to the horizon. I often wondered if the strobe would still be flashing when I died. Forget about ropes over the back and all that stuff. Stay on the boat or you're dead. End of story. And out there, nobody is going to see your strobe and nobody is going to come and fetch you if they get an EPIRB signal and nobody is going to receive the VHF signal from a 5W handheld. You're on your own mate.
I had my boat netted from the top guard rail to the toe rail the entire length of the boat both sides. Whenever I moved around the boat in dodgy conditions, I did it on hands and knees and tethered my self when I got to where I wanted to be with a tether that prohibited me from going over the side. I concur with the three rules mentioned somewhere before "Stay on the boat" X 3.

I agree wholeheartedly with STAY ON THE BOAT. Besides, the strobe will light up the insides of the shark that eats you quite nicely...but no one will see it there.

I'd also like to point out that the majority of fatalities in sailing have to do with falling off the boat. Even on a well-equipped boat, with a highly skilled crew, falling off the boat can easily result in fatalities—look at the Volvo Open 70 race, with ABN Amro One, where Hans Horrevoets died after falling off the boat. I doubt that most of us will be sailing with a crew as quailified as that of the ABN Amro One.

In the distant past, many sailors on the commercial sailing ships didn't even know how to swim—their job was to sail the boat, and if they fell of the boat, it would not return for them. Swimming after a boat is not generally an option—you won't catch it.

My favorite story about not swimming in the Ocean comes from Tania Aebi’s book, I’ve Been Around. Tania was doing a boat delivery with the owner of a new boat and several other people. The owner decided to jump off the bow and swim to the stern of the boat. He found it so refreshing that he did it a second time. Seconds after he got out of the water a second time, a 17+ foot shark hit the hull of the boat where he had exited the water.

As many of my sailing friends say, "We're sailors, and if we're not on the boat, we food for fishies—shark-bait."

[Irwin32]

I am presently in the middle of a single handed port hopping trip up the west shore of Lake Mich. Got a little dicey today - storm came thru. I did use my tether and jack lines, but moving at 6.5 - 7 knots all day it seemed unlikely to get back up if I fell over with auto on. Omatako has a great idea. The technology is there so why not? Remember the 3 rules of single handers as given by Omatako: Stay on the boat stay on the boat stay on the boat.

[Surfesq]

I single handed my Hunter 37 Cutter Rig thousands of miles in open ocean and on the Chesapeake Bay. I typically used a tether with jacklines. I definitely always carry a knife. On one occasion, I was half way to Bermuda when I was nearly swept overboard in an effort to retrieve my fouled Spinnaker. If I had not been wearing a tether, I would not be here today. I have since sold that boat and recently purchased a Seawolf 41 Ketch which I fully intend to single hand.
Singlehanded sailing is in my opinion an incredible and rewarding experience.
Tom.

[SoOkay]

Here is what we do:

1. tether to windward
2. use schackle that will "quick release" under full load on thether
3. We use Mustang Type 5 with the intedgrated harness
4. have whistle and strobe tied inside vest
5. trail 150 ft or so of buoyant line off stern

The next step would involve a small handheld VHF and small EPIRB

Harry