I have been considering toeing a line while sailing solo. Has anyone been overboard while sailing? Assuming that a 100 foot floating line is visible, have you been able to swim to it before it passes you? Issues: 1. Any Coast Guard guidelines? 2. It is a hazard to vessels moving across the stern. 3. Low chance of survival in cold No. Cal waters. 4. Don't "tie the tiller" when sailing alone. Better chance to get back to boat. 5. Attach it to starboard stern cleat above folding ladder. I would really appreciate hearing views, considering the vast amount of knowledge available from all of you. Bruce King '84 M15
I would rather wear my PFD and also attach my harness to a jackline to avoid going overboard. Our North Atlantic waters are probably as cold as yours just offshore... barely above 50 F even in mid summer. On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 3:02 PM, Bruce King <hillking7@comcast.net> wrote:
I have been considering toeing a line while sailing solo. Has anyone been overboard while sailing? Assuming that a 100 foot floating line is visible, have you been able to swim to it before it passes you? Issues: 1. Any Coast Guard guidelines? 2. It is a hazard to vessels moving across the stern. 3. Low chance of survival in cold No. Cal waters. 4. Don't "tie the tiller" when sailing alone. Better chance to get back to boat. 5. Attach it to starboard stern cleat above folding ladder.
I would really appreciate hearing views, considering the vast amount of knowledge available from all of you.
Bruce King '84 M15
Don, PFDs are nice if you are not alone or there are other boats watching the action, but the conventional wisdom of old salts is that you are better off sinking fast if your craft sails off without you. We don't want to dwell on the negative in such a rewarding sport, but it is serious business. As you say, stay in the boat! Tom Jenkins On Jun 22, 2012, at 11:43 AM, Don White wrote:
I would rather wear my PFD and also attach my harness to a jackline to avoid going overboard. Our North Atlantic waters are probably as cold as yours just offshore... barely above 50 F even in mid summer.
On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 3:02 PM, Bruce King <hillking7@comcast.net> wrote:
I have been considering toeing a line while sailing solo. Has anyone been overboard while sailing? Assuming that a 100 foot floating line is visible, have you been able to swim to it before it passes you? Issues: 1. Any Coast Guard guidelines? 2. It is a hazard to vessels moving across the stern. 3. Low chance of survival in cold No. Cal waters. 4. Don't "tie the tiller" when sailing alone. Better chance to get back to boat. 5. Attach it to starboard stern cleat above folding ladder.
I would really appreciate hearing views, considering the vast amount of knowledge available from all of you.
Bruce King '84 M15
Hi Tom... reminds me when one of our cameramen was on a show segment up north.... way up North! He asked the Inuit boat operator about surving in the frigid waters and the native guy said it was best to drink lots of water on the way down. I guess their point is to not suffer any longer than necessary. On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 3:54 PM, Tom Jenkins <tjenk@gte.net> wrote:
Don, PFDs are nice if you are not alone or there are other boats watching the action, but the conventional wisdom of old salts is that you are better off sinking fast if your craft sails off without you. We don't want to dwell on the negative in such a rewarding sport, but it is serious business. As you say, stay in the boat! Tom Jenkins
On Jun 22, 2012, at 11:43 AM, Don White wrote:
I would rather wear my PFD and also attach my harness to a jackline to avoid going overboard. Our North Atlantic waters are probably as cold as yours just offshore... barely above 50 F even in mid summer.
On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 3:02 PM, Bruce King <hillking7@comcast.net> wrote:
I have been considering toeing a line while sailing solo. Has anyone been overboard while sailing? Assuming that a 100 foot floating line is visible, have you been able to swim to it before it passes you? Issues: 1. Any Coast Guard guidelines? 2. It is a hazard to vessels moving across the stern. 3. Low chance of survival in cold No. Cal waters. 4. Don't "tie the tiller" when sailing alone. Better chance to get back to boat. 5. Attach it to starboard stern cleat above folding ladder.
I would really appreciate hearing views, considering the vast amount of knowledge available from all of you.
Bruce King '84 M15
Bruce, I have survived many a long nights' watch crossing the Pacific, and I would not use a trailing line; it's not sure that you could grab it in the confusion of falling overboard, or have the strength to pull yourself forward against water running at 5 knots. I clipped into a jackline when the weather was at all rough, and it kept me from being knocked overboard or floated out of the cockpit several times. An M15 is so small that a standard jackline would be impractical, but you could tie in several short segments and clip your harness to them as you move about. Leaving the tiller loose is a dandy idea, because most boats will round up pronto, but I tied myself in on my larger boat because it had a wind vane, and would go 500 miles without looking back. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla On Jun 22, 2012, at 11:02 AM, Bruce King wrote:
I have been considering toeing a line while sailing solo. Has anyone been overboard while sailing? Assuming that a 100 foot floating line is visible, have you been able to swim to it before it passes you? Issues: 1. Any Coast Guard guidelines? 2. It is a hazard to vessels moving across the stern. 3. Low chance of survival in cold No. Cal waters. 4. Don't "tie the tiller" when sailing alone. Better chance to get back to boat. 5. Attach it to starboard stern cleat above folding ladder.
I would really appreciate hearing views, considering the vast amount of knowledge available from all of you.
Bruce King '84 M15
On 22-Jun-12 2:02 PM, Bruce King wrote: Hi Bruce, My first thought is that you need some sort of loops or large figure 8 knots in the line to give you a hand-hold, as you are trying to grab it and hang on. If you are sailing on a broad reach an M15 can easily be doing 4.5 to 5.0 knots. Grabbing the trailing line at that speed means you need some firm hand-holds to be able to hang on to the line. I certainly would also want a large loop at the end that I can - hopefully - easily get it over my shoulders and under my arms so that I am being held by the rope, till I can solve the overboard problem, and I am not trying to hang on just with my hands. I would suggest some actual testing of your trailing line idea, with someone else in the boat, to gain an idea of what the problems might be in hanging on to the trailing line while sailing; and in getting back on board. Connie
I have been considering toeing a line while sailing solo. Has anyone been overboard while sailing? Assuming that a 100 foot floating line is visible, have you been able to swim to it before it passes you? Issues: 1. Any Coast Guard guidelines? 2. It is a hazard to vessels moving across the stern. 3. Low chance of survival in cold No. Cal waters. 4. Don't "tie the tiller" when sailing alone. Better chance to get back to boat. 5. Attach it to starboard stern cleat above folding ladder.
I would really appreciate hearing views, considering the vast amount of knowledge available from all of you.
Bruce King '84 M15
I've done it while sailing off the California coast. I sailed alone too. Tie a bowlin loop in the end so you can hook your elbow through the loop rather than relying on hand strength to hold the line. -----Original Message----- From: Bruce King <hillking7@comcast.net> To: montgomery_boats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Fri, Jun 22, 2012 11:01 am Subject: M_Boats: Safety: M.O.B. towing a line I have been considering toeing a line while sailing solo. Has anyone been overboard while sailing? Assuming that a 100 foot floating line is visible, have you been able to swim to it before it passes you? Issues: 1. Any Coast Guard guidelines? 2. It is a hazard to vessels moving across the stern. 3. Low chance of survival in cold No. Cal waters. 4. Don't "tie the tiller" when sailing alone. Better chance to get back to boat. 5. Attach it to starboard stern cleat above folding ladder. I would really appreciate hearing views, considering the vast amount of knowledge available from all of you. Bruce King '84 M15
Just a thought on the dragging line: You might want to rig it with an attachment to your tiller in such a way that if there is ever any serious pull on it, it pulls the rudder off center and actively takes the boat off the wind. Our Flicka, if well balanced might sail on, on it's own for quite a while before an unattended tiller causes it to round up. BUT IMHO it's much better to stay IN the boat. A good tether as has been mentioned is probably best. Rik Sandberg On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 2:54 PM, Sandy <sandyal55@aol.com> wrote:
I've done it while sailing off the California coast. I sailed alone too. Tie a bowlin loop in the end so you can hook your elbow through the loop rather than relying on hand strength to hold the line.
-----Original Message----- From: Bruce King <hillking7@comcast.net> To: montgomery_boats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Fri, Jun 22, 2012 11:01 am Subject: M_Boats: Safety: M.O.B. towing a line
I have been considering toeing a line while sailing solo. Has anyone been overboard while sailing? Assuming that a 100 foot floating line is visible, have you been able to swim to it before it passes you? Issues: 1. Any Coast Guard guidelines? 2. It is a hazard to vessels moving across the stern. 3. Low chance of survival in cold No. Cal waters. 4. Don't "tie the tiller" when sailing alone. Better chance to get back to boat. 5. Attach it to starboard stern cleat above folding ladder.
I would really appreciate hearing views, considering the vast amount of knowledge available from all of you.
Bruce King '84 M15
-- "Since this is an era when many people are concerned about 'fairness' and 'social justice,' what is your 'fair share' of what someone else has worked for?" …. Thomas Sowell
In my opinion the line aft is impractical. If you are wearing life jacket and warm cloths you will never be able to catch the line. On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 5:46 PM, Rik Sandberg <sanderico1@gmail.com> wrote:
Just a thought on the dragging line: You might want to rig it with an attachment to your tiller in such a way that if there is ever any serious pull on it, it pulls the rudder off center and actively takes the boat off the wind. Our Flicka, if well balanced might sail on, on it's own for quite a while before an unattended tiller causes it to round up.
BUT IMHO it's much better to stay IN the boat. A good tether as has been mentioned is probably best.
Rik Sandberg
On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 2:54 PM, Sandy <sandyal55@aol.com> wrote:
I've done it while sailing off the California coast. I sailed alone too. Tie a bowlin loop in the end so you can hook your elbow through the loop rather than relying on hand strength to hold the line.
-----Original Message----- From: Bruce King <hillking7@comcast.net> To: montgomery_boats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Fri, Jun 22, 2012 11:01 am Subject: M_Boats: Safety: M.O.B. towing a line
I have been considering toeing a line while sailing solo. Has anyone been overboard while sailing? Assuming that a 100 foot floating line is visible, have you been able to swim to it before it passes you? Issues: 1. Any Coast Guard guidelines? 2. It is a hazard to vessels moving across the stern. 3. Low chance of survival in cold No. Cal waters. 4. Don't "tie the tiller" when sailing alone. Better chance to get back to boat. 5. Attach it to starboard stern cleat above folding ladder.
I would really appreciate hearing views, considering the vast amount of knowledge available from all of you.
Bruce King '84 M15
--
"Since this is an era when many people are concerned about 'fairness' and 'social justice,' what is your 'fair share' of what someone else has worked for?" …. Thomas Sowell
participants (7)
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Bruce King -
Conbert Benneck -
Don White -
douglas kelch -
Rik Sandberg -
Sandy -
Tom Jenkins