From Sailing Quarterly: Seamanship Vol. 2 Running Time 7 mins Controlled, scientific tests of penetration and holding power of popular anchors in both sand a...

Closed Captions (CC):
last year an issue assailing quarterly

we included a clip of our recently

completed video on safety at sea your

response to the sections on distress

signals and flares was so enthusiastic

that we decided we ought to bring you

more of this very important information

so let's take a look at crew Overboard

recovery techniques the full length

safety of sea video was filmed with the

assistance of the US Coast Guard and the

Naval Academy and demonstrates detailed

techniques for use for the full crew

sailing upwind a full crew sailing

downwind and a short-handed crew now

let's hear Gary described the

short-handed recovery Man Overboard

recovery with the short-handed crew is

the biggest concern for the cruising

couple especially since it's often the

husband who goes overboard here will see

a 110-pound woman rescue a 170 pound man

and do so in six and a half minutes when

someone goes overboard floatation is

immediately heaved to the victim and the

boat is put head to win a Seattle sling

a device similar to a floating horse

collar attached to the stern pulpit by a

line is dropped into water and allowed

to trail out astern once the sling is

deployed sail in a wide circle around

the victim by simply steering in a

circle around the person without

touching any sheets or sails even a non

sailor can recover someone the line and

sling are drawn inward by the boats

circular motion until the rope or sling

reaches the person then the person into

water places the sling over his head and

under his arms as soon as he has the

line or sling the boat is very quickly

brought head to win the jib dropped and

a Mane doused as the boat drifts the

crew pulls the sling and victim

alongside the line is pulled up tightly

and secured suspending the victim in the

sling so he won't drop out then grab the

main halyard and attached the halyard

shackle to a three or four part block

and tackle such as a boom bang or main

sheet system

pull it up about 10 feet above the deck

high enough to hoist the victim over the

lifelines and then cleat off the halyard

now you can attach the lower end of the

tackle to the Seattle sling reeve the

running end of the tackle through a

block and secure it to a cockpit winch

now you can hoist the victim aboard by

winching in the running end of the

tackle

these quick stop techniques were

developed to minimize the amount of time

the person is in the water and the

distance between him and the boat let's

review the basic steps in recovery

first shout point and throw flotation

deploy a sling if you have one second

slow the boat down by going head to wind

third keep your eyes on the victim and

circle close to him fourth make contact

by either throwing a line or using a

Seattle sling fifth stop the boat six

effect a recovery using either lots of

manpower or a block-and-tackle system

from the main halyard remember

hypothermia is a danger so act fast as

you can see the Seattle sling or as it's

known today is a life sling is a very

important and valuable part of our Man

Overboard recovery equipment we keep one

mounted right here on the stern pulpit

experience has shown that one of the

biggest challenges in recovering a

victim from the water is keeping track

of where that person is while the boat

is maneuvering to come back and pick

them up we've done a couple of things to

help solve that problem we have a Man

Overboard light that can be thrown into

the water when it hits the water it

turns upright and a strobe light comes

on automatically providing us with a

rice visual reference point to the

victim we also carry a mom eight a Man

Overboard module this is a system is

designed to provide flotation to the

victim and also a visual reference for

the boat to come back to here's how the

system works as soon as the helmsman

hears a report of a person overboard he

or she turns around and pulls this one

at the top of the box that releases the

bottom unless you drop into the water as

it does so with co2 inflation system

inflates at all orange pile on that has

a light on the top of it and also an

orange horseshoe ring as a flotation for

the victim because this system is so

quick and simple to operate is a very

good chance that it will be in the water

very close to the victim having provided

the victim with flotation and a visual

reference for the boat we can then

deploy our life sling to actually make

contact with the person pull them back

to the boat and get them back aboard now

let's take a look at the MA mate in

operation pull the pin on top to release

the flotation device into the water

inflating automatically the orange pylon

rises to mark the spot where the victim

fell overboard regulations also require

that you carry at least one Coast

guard-approved throwable flotation

device aboard your boat the experience

has shown that it's also a good idea to

have a heaving line readily available in

the cockpit many times you can maneuver

the boat quickly back close to the

victim if you have a good heaving line

you can throw the evening line to the

victim and recover them in that fashion

this type of heaving line where the line

is stuffed in a bag and you throw the

entire bag and the line pays out as it

goes is particularly good it can be

thrown to great distances with good

accuracy even directly upwind several of

these bags simply have lime with a

little weight in the end to make them

easier to throw this device the Tek

float has the advantage of including a

co2 inflatable horseshoe ring inside the

bag when the bag hits the water and the

automatic operating device causes the

co2 horseshoe ring to inflate so that we

provide the victim with flotation as

well as a line to connect them to the

boat let's see how it works in operation

okay this is the Tek float that it's a

combination of the heaving line with an

inflatable on the end of it I'll try and

toss it out there too Dan

the device inflated automatically a few

seconds after we hit the water as the

victim reaches it he gets a good hold on

the line and positions the tech float

around his chest under the arms easily

keeping his head above water as he's

pulled to safety this excellent video

was produced in conjunction with the

editors of cruising world and sailing

world magazines the video is 70 minutes

long and covers everything you need to

know about being a safe sailor order

your copy today

it's a must for every sailor