MARCH 30, 2020: SAFETY AT SEA: MOB *CONTINUED*

MARCH 30, 2020
SAFETY AT SEA: MOB CONTINUED

Jason Lauer, our commodore has contributed the following in a continuation of the topic of MOB
situations. Unfortunately the photos did not transfer but Jason has a well organized pouch of
MOB equipment tucked in his stern lazaret and he practices MOB retrieval every year with an actual
person in the water. I encourage everyone to click on the link below for a complete discussion about
MOB situations.

In 2005 I sailed from Cabo to Newport on the Alaska Eagle which was a class offered by Orange County
Community College. When the discussion of MOB was discussed, the instructor mad the point that
there is a lot of information in many books about retrieving MOB. He emphasized the most important
point was being ignored: 'DO NOT GO OVERBOARD'. In 2010 I sailed my boat to San Diego and back
and while under way our rule was strictly enforced: "if not below in the cabin, we all tethered ourselves to
the boat".


Thanks for discussing this important and often overlooked topic. My thoughts are that when I have a man overboard situation, I need to solve 3 different problems. 1. Finding the MOB 2. Getting the MOB to the side of the boat 3. Getting the MOB on board. For each problem that is being solved there are different safety gear to use and crew processes to follow. I am not going to review crew processes, like someone's only job is to point to the MOB etc. There is a really good article for that here: https://www.ussailing.org/news/man-overboard-recovery- procedure/?gclid=CjwKCAjw3-bzBRBhEiwAgnnLCkfHqHftoUVS9AXvMCNNdAsZ- rgSZqEIF109CfZiJ4Zde6cIUyIl2hoC0lAQAvD_BwE Finding the MOB: The key safety gear to deploy is a Man overboard marker like the old style fiberglass poles with a horseshoe ring. I personally have a SOS Dan Buoy that you throw in the water and will inflate after hitting the water with a flashing strobe. Getting the MOB to the side of the boat. The Life Sling or a throw rope is right safety gear for this. With the life sling, as you know, you can throw the life sling out, circle the MOB and then pull them to the side of the boat. Just like getting a tow rope to a water skier. Getting the MOB on board: This is the hardest part, in my opinion, of Man over board. I use a 3 to 1 block and tackle system that I attach to a halyard raised 8 feet above the deck. Then I run the other end to a winch to hoist up the MOB. This is way easier than using a winch on a halyard. Here are a few picture of My MOB locker and my 3 to 1 block and tackle system. MOB Locker – Located in the aft of the boat by the tiller post. Figure 1 - My MOB Locker In my MOB locker, I have a float knife for emergency cutting of halyards, a normal flashlight, a floating HH VHF radio always charged, A Pelican high power spot light, a throw rope, my SOS Dan Buoy and in the very bottom of the picture is my 3 to 1 block and tackle for getting the MOB on board. Figure 2- My 3 to 1 Block and Tackle to get MOB back on board Here is my 3 to 1 block and tackle. It has clips to attach to the life lines so while deploying it, there is no chance of it falling overboard. There are 3 blocks, on goes to the Halyard, one to the MOB and one to the toe rail. I have laminated instructions so anyone can figure out how to deploy. The “To Halyard” block goes to the halyard and is then hoisted about 8 feet above the deck so there is
plenty of clearance above the life lines etc. When we do our MOB, we always hoist the person on board
with the life sling which is very comfy and iseasy to attach the “To MOB” block to. The “To Toe Rail” block is needed to get a better angle to the winch so you can focus on hoisting and not worry about overrides.
In short, most people think a successful MOB drill is throwing a float overboard and sailing to it and picking it up with a boat hook. Which is strange because in that drill you don’t use any safety equipment at all! Every year, on Patricia J, we do a real MOB drill where someone jumps in the water while under sail and we use our safety gear to get them. I find that being the person who jumps in really helps because it give me a sense confidence as a skipper.
Thanks,
Jason                   
Thank you Jason for this valuable piece.

We are  still on lock down, so it looks like we won't be sailing until the end of April.

Stay well, stay safe!

Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice