MacGregorSailors.com

Catigale

I think most of us have grown past the stage of operating stoned by now...

I take it you have never driven in Florida during the winter. Some medication is really bad by itself or when taken with others or booze. Just come to Fl in Feb and find out.

YIkes...Ill pass, thanks. I was talking more about the board members, thanks for the heads up...

Well if you are talking about the big fast powerboats that are always trying to run you down, then I suppose they perhaps are all wasted on something. Wait, is excessive rudeness a drug... Luckily, I wouldnt guess any of those people hang out on this board.

Hi Fran, really sorry to hear about your accident. Hope your insurance and your repairs go well.

At the end of the day any boat of any size given the right conditions can capsize. You know they thought the Titanic on it's maiden voyage was unsinkable. Enough said there.

When you do get it sorted out do let us know what you think was the causes. BTW those don't have to be something done wrong most of the time combinations and conditions are usually the culprit..

Fair Winds
Tim Stone Wind Dancer
RFSC Commodore 07

We all have been very interested in what happened as it very well could happen again.

We would benefit from having a theoretical exercise which replicates the events which would lead up to a capsizing, demasting, hull breach, etc. and then analyze as a group.

How many of you guys have actually practiced a COB drill?

Have ever been in a sinking boat?

We've all probably have read about them. I've been a COB and it was scary as hull. My crew didn't have a clue what to do, or even how to work the boat.

As a safety professional, I've been involved in many investigations with the primary focus to understand to prevent. We would always set-up a scenario to study as practice in training.

Thoughts?

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How many of you guys have actually practiced a COB drill?

Have ever been in a sinking boat?

We've all probably have read about them. I've been a COB and it was scary as hull. My crew didn't have a clue what to do, or even how to work the boat.

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Could someone please translate the term "COB". Does it mean crew member overboard? Capsized or breached?

Sorry for my ignorance, but if I'm supposed to have COB drills I need to know what they are.

Jim

COB = crew overboard
MOB = man overboard

Basically, MOB = COB

Oh rats, Ill return my 3/8 inch COB drill to Home Depot...

Can Of Beer - Overboard! Emergency!...

mtc wrote: ... How many of you guys have actually practiced a COB drill?

... I've been a COB and it was scary as hull. My crew didn't have a clue what to do, or even how to work the boat.

I had read of persons doing man-overboard drills for the entire five years after buying my boat, but never attempted it on my own boat. For one thing, the SF bay is just too damned cold, and I wasn't sure what I should actually be practicing. So after years of boat ownership and operation, this season I spent a BoatBuck on the ASA sailing course. They teach overboard recovery using a flotation cushion. The instructor waits until you're otherwise occupied, tosses the cushion and hollers "MAN OVERBOARD!"

The helmsman's first job is to appoint "the pointer," one person to constantly point at the victim, never taking eyes-off. Using the pointer's outstretched arm as guidance, the helm then instructs sail trimmers to adjust to his helm corrections. It is taught under sail, which you'd expect to make it much more difficult, but it's amazingly easy to accomplish once you've seen the techniques and drilled them a dozen times. Their "recovery course" (sailing pattern) is a modified figure-8, but I could never have understood it just from the reading of it.

They teach it over and over again. They try to ingrain it, brainwash you, make it second-nature automatic. Boat handling is the essence of their training, since there's no attempt to lift crew from the water. The essence of ASA's instruction is getting the victim adjacent to the hull again, rather than lost and floating - first things first.

Having been through it, I'd judge it, alone, as worth the thousand bucks - forget the rest of the sailing instruction. It's simply impossible to learn it as effectively from a book ... impossible. I'll spend another $300 next spring for a refresher course, no debate, no question. But I'm going to have the instructor join me for two days on my 26X.

My son's and I do MOB's as 'fun' drills very often on our little sailboat in the summertime. To add the 'fun' content one of the boys jumps off the back (wearing a floatation jacket) and holds a rope tied to an aft cleat... I tow him for a while with the sailboat (really!) and they get quite a fun ride - one time my eldest almost lost his bathing suit from the speed he was being pulled! Then, the serious bit comes with recovery... I maneouver the boat using the traditional figure-8 recovery pattern and I pick them up, with the other boy assisting in the recovery. Then the other boy get's his turn to take a ride. They both have fun and I get good practice!

Frank C wrote:

mtc wrote: ... How many of you guys have actually practiced a COB drill?

... I've been a COB and it was scary as hull. My crew didn't have a clue what to do, or even how to work the boat.

I had read of persons doing man-overboard drills for the entire five years after buying my boat, but never attempted it on my own boat. For one thing, the SF bay is just too damned cold, and I wasn't sure what I should actually be practicing. So after years of boat ownership and operation, this season I spent a BoatBuck on the ASA sailing course. They teach overboard recovery using a flotation cushion. The instructor waits until you're otherwise occupied, tosses the cushion and hollers "MAN OVERBOARD!"

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We practiced the MOB many times during our ASA course also, and as you point out, it's worth the price of the course. Getting the boat into a location near the MOB, at slow speed, seems to be the key.

But I'm often sailing solo. - Has anyone learned a good MOB procedure when you are the MOB? My present approach is to wear a PFD, have a rope available in the water and a conveniently releasable ladder within range of a swimmer's arm, etc. Also, if there's time, turn the motor off if it's running and/or release all sheets. Also, if time permits, grab a flare gun, etc. However, if it happened suddently and the boat got away, it could get pretty uncomfortable.

Jim

Hi all, we just did some drills this past weekend, and plan on doing it a few times each season. I think that it's important for the crew (wife and kid) to be able to pilot the boat also, and do MOB rescue, under power and sail. After all, what if I'm the one that goes over the side?

How many of you guys have actually practiced a COB drill?

Have ever been in a sinking boat?

My wife and I did MOB drills with a cusion every year so she could refresh. We used a cushion until about 3 years ago and with a friend and 1 daughter on board I jumped in and yelled man over board!!. She did great.

As for a sinking boat. Twice. Once while it was actually critical but the water wasnt coming in too fast and we had to pump the old style "back and forth pump" about 15 mins out of every hour. It was a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour.....The weather started getting rough the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the........wait, no just kidding. We were going Island to island and had a slow leak.

The first time we were on a motor boat tied to a ramp dock and while my pops and his buddy were out looking for a new trailer bearing, (So we could tow the boat home) my brother noticed that the boat was taking on water. We bailed for around 3 hours at a mad clip. Turns out the plug had fallen out of the transom during the day. All 3 of us bailed like maniacs to stay ahead of the water and were sore for a week!!

Yea, if the drain plug falls out of a powerboat, its best to keep moving fast! Don't ask how I know that, but lets just say that there is some truth to the venturi effect. (I think that was a Bernouli principle)