Motor Safety Key Lanyard

[Jack O'Brien]

In the thread "Mast Raising With Boom & Sail" Norbert cautioned to be sure to be tethered to the boat if underway ALONE with power and autopilot and you go forward on the deck. Very Good Point! Even if not under power, and just sailing, or just being blown in strong wind, falling off may let the boat get away faster than you swim.

What happens if you are tethered and you fall off? You get towed through the water until.....? Even if you have a jackline from bow to stern, if you fell off at the bow the tether would catch on a stantion and you would be towed alongside. If you released the tether and tried to grab the moving boat...AND MISSED....OH, WOE! If somehow you reached the stern you have a dangerous propeller to avoid - especiallly if you fell off the starboard side and your stern ladder is on port. All this is not a pretty picture. And although it always happens to the "other guy" and not to you - IT DOES HAPPEN! (Read this week's "Dumb & Dumber" replies on the MacGregor Owners site for the lucky survivors' stories.)

http://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/pv ... 6205359.65

Other than having a "Motor Kill" wireless transmitter on a chain around your neck (with dead batteries), the Motor Safety Key Lanyard needs to be accessible from OUTSIDE the boat somehow. And accessible to you if you are being towed through the water somewhere around the boat.

Please post your suggestions for:
1) How & where to have the Motor Safety Key Lanyard accessible.
2) How to manage tethers & jacklines so you can reach your ladder.

[Mark Prouty]

I voted no to your poll. It is a good topic that I haven't thought about enough yet!

[Terry Chiccino]

I picked up my March/April '04 copy of "Good Old Boat" this morning and was perusing, guess what? There's and article called "A Last Chance Tripline, This trailing line could save your life". I've got to study the line rigging, but the author states his methods can give you that one last chance.

[GBroga]

I was reading a Cruising World or SAIL a few months back and they had these brothers cruising together when in the south Pac one put the only GPS they had on top of the Companion way hatch-sure enough it fell off and splash! One jumped in right after it and the other one jumped in at the same time! the first one in heard the other splash and raced for the dingy as the boat was under sail using a windvane steering. One brother made it to the dingy and each time he leaned forward to pull the painter line the dingy nose would submerge. after several attempts he had no choice but to go fo it. sure enough the line snapped and he was lucky enough to have a hold of the line above the break. The water force stripped him of his shorts and just holding on exhausted him till he had to let go-luckily the boat steered to a nearby island and lodged itself on a reef-one brother had a nice long swim while the other had a real long one paddle dingy ride. The locals helped them off the reef with little damage--but imagine the things in his mind--All alone it the largest ocean without a boat.......Darwin award!

[Chip Hindes]

Story in (I believe) Sail Mag a few months ago. Two brothers, both veteran sailors, doublhanding in a distance race, I believe it was the Transpac, SF to HI?

One brother fell overboard but was fetched up short by his tether and jackline, and being drug by the boat, which was on autopilot. His brother saw him go over and rushed to help but between them they couldn't overcome the force of being drug enough to get him back into the boat. I assume a fairly large, fast boat since they were running the Transpac, maybe a big reacher or spinnaker. At one point they they were actually talking and discussing what to do next; the second brother finally realized the only thing to do was stop the boat. By the time he could get to the wheel, disengage the autopilot, head up, ease, and/or drop enough sail and stop the boat, his brother had drowned.

Horrible story; not all of them can be laughed about later. Everyone agrees the best thing is not to fall out in the first place; after that I guess there's some discussion. In a big fast boat, in heavy weather I understand it's surprisingly easly to to completely lose a MOB, so it's generally accepted that being tethered to the boat is better than not, but that's apparently what went wrong in this case.

[norbert]

1. DON'T FALL OVERBOARD!!! this is the worst thing that can happen to a sailor. i often single hand and am aware that going overboard will probably be the last thing i'll ever do. even in the summer in an area with many boats around and wearing a pfd the chance to be rescued is quite minimal. i think about purchasing a watertight handheld vhf though and attaching it to my clothes.

2. there are reports of people going overboard when tethered and although be drowned or strangled. but there are much more cases of people going overbord and dissappear for forever! the lessons learned from tzhe stories above: don't attach your tether to the livelines or stanchions. better places on the 26x are: pedestal (i always hope it � strong enough), mast base, mast raising eye. when underway alone in bad weather i have a jackline rigged midships (pedestal-mast-bow cleats). nothing of this is 100% secure, but all is better than fall into the water and see you boat disappear.

3. always be careful on sea. but be 3 times as careful when single handing!

[Tony D-26X_SusieQ]

Something elst to keep in mind, If your crew or guests can not operate the boat then you are still single-handing the boat.

[Timmy Z]

When sailing alone I am tethered to a line tied off on one of the bow cleats and just long enough to reach the stern. That way it gives me free movement over the boat and if I do fall overboard I will drift to the stern where I can climb aboard. I hate to admit it but I did slip on the front (wet) glass one day and fell overboard. It worked great and although I wasnt alone (they were down below making lunch), I was aboard before anybody knew that I fell. If motoring I tie the kill key to my belt with just enough line to get around the helm. As a side note, I practice man overboard drills every three of four times out with my family. I am confident that it would be no problem for anyone of them to get me out fairly quickly.

[Flip]

My son once tried to tie up the boat by putting one foot on the dock. The wind pushed the boat away from the dock, and he had one foot on each. Well teenage boys can only do the splits so far.

[Tom Root]

Timmy Z, great Idea, and since I have a continuous dock line that runs from the bow cleat to the stern cleat, just another use of this line!

Each one (Port & Starboard)is 40' long, and permanently attached on all cleats. It makes boat handling in any situation a breeze, and I cleat the rear off tight when underway just above the rubrail. I knot mine through the center of the cleat. That leaves about 6' double tail remaining. I will put a double brass clip on this and attach it to my harness for heavy weather sailing. I can loosen it up and use it as a jackline for going forward, but will have to do a transition reclip at the sidestays if I want to go further forward, or slack may allow for this task also. I definately have to try it out!

Another use for the remaining double tail is that I tie this off to the lower area of the goal posts which effectively keeps the boat on the trailer and keeps it nice and secure, no other tie downs are required. I do tie an additional line off at the front along with the winch line though. This system works for me anyway. Try it, you will love it, and never go back to docklines that are not handy at all. I have yet to see a situation that this way of rigging a single dockline has caused any grief, and it's always there, so it lessens the time to get on and off the trailer etc. And now, another use for it!

Tom Root
2002 26
Great White
San Diego

[mgg4]

I'm sure it will generate some discussion, but I heard one recommendation whichwas running the jacklines outside the shrouds. This only makes sense if you are very careful when you "Move" your clip when going forward farther than the shrouds.

The theory, according to the person who told me this, was that if you fell overboard, your tether would then slide back over the jackline, and you would be left right at the stern of the boat.

Of course, this assumes you fall in such that you don't tangle your tether around a lifeline or stanchion. In those cases, you would still be "stuck".

In my "Lines led aft" modification (underway), I have a deck plate under the tabernacle. On this deck plate, there are extra holes. I plan on mounting something I can hook into into one or more of these holes. That way, when I'm at the mast, I can be hooked to the boat. Hopefully, this will keep me from an unplanned debarkation.

--
Mark Galbraith
Mac 26x "Offline"
Oakley, CA

[Tony D-26X_SusieQ]

Rockhound,

Now thats the kind of stories that will get us through this winter till we can live again on the water. Thanks for the breath of life.

[Tony D-26X_SusieQ]

Rockhound,

Now thats the kind of stories that will get us through this winter till we can live again on the water. Thanks for the breath of life.