sail magazine POB recovery tip this month

[Catigale]

THere was a cute trick in SAIL this month...especially appropriate for Macs...if you are lacking a ladder to get someone back on board, take life jackets and attach them together with straps and construct a 'life jacket ladder' - you can then climb up the holes in the lifejackets, if you will.

Ill try to put a picture together without violating copyright

[ssichler]

You don't have a ladder on your Mac?

[NiceAft]

It sounded like a neat trick to use in an emergency. I can't imagine what that emergency would be, but a neat trick. Then I remembered all of my life vest are self inflating

Ray

[Craig LaForce]

Yup I saw that article also and was impressed by that idea.
I wonder if it is a new idea or an old one that I never heard of before.
Hopefully I never get to try it out.

[James V]

WM sells a rope ladder and the problems with it is when you step on it your foot goes under the boat. getting to the next step is VERY hard. So much so that I cannot use it. Although better than nothing.

[Gemini]

I liked the elevator one, where you one end of the line and then use the winch to crank them up while they have their foot in the loop of the line. Quick and easy.

The ladder is much easer

[mike uk]

In a UK sailing mag recently, they featured the idea of using plastic mesh (the sort of stuff they put round excavations on building sites).

The idea is that the POB can climb up it just like a ladder.

If the POB is unable to climb up, the crew can roll the POB up the side of the boat by hauling/winching a line attached to the the outboard side of the mesh. The demo in the magazine had a pole running the length of the side of the mesh to keep it all together.

Apparently they used to roll barrels up the sides of ships in this manner.

Sounds like a great idea to me and not very bulky to have on board.

Can also be used for delineating one's personal domain on the beach (or is that strictly a British and German thing?)

[Catigale]

Can also be used for delineating one's personal domain on the beach

YEs, strictly Anglo-Kraut.

In the US, the second amendment is used to assert beach rights

[eric3a]

..

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

When retrieving folks after playing on water toys...we've simply thrown out a recovery line and pulled the person to the swim ladder. This seems to be a workable system. Much easier than messing with those tall side boards on a Mac. The aft recovery area is so much easier. And the ladder is already there and handy.

I enjoy Sail Mag, and recently renewed my subscription. The pics, articles, and tips are good.

[mike uk]

Well yes, the ladder is by far the easiest way on and off the boat as long as you're not cold, exhausted and frightened. Depending on your sailing locality this may not be an issue but wherever you are, there is also that other fearsome possibility - the POB could be unconscious. None of this is something we like to think about. The truth is that the odds for an unconscious POB are probably slim anyway, but having some sort of retrieval system could just make all the difference.

Sorry to be so serious - especially on the night that Liverpool have just knocked Barcelona out of the Cup


Mike