This isn’t new, but it was new to me when I ran across it this afternoon. About a year ago, John Rousmaniere published his Final Report on the 2005 Crew Overboard Rescue Symposium. If you aren’t familiar with it, please, please take half an hour to read it through. It’s extremely informative, and extremely sobering.
I just bought a Lifesling 2 for my little C-Dory, and after playing with it at home and reading everything I can find about it, I feel confident that it will be very effective in getting a fallen crewmember back to the boat. What I’m terribly uncertain about, however, is how we’ll get that person INTO the boat. Especially if the overboard crewmember happens to be me!
Anyway, read the report, go over your own gear and plans, and make time in your boating schedule to practice your crew recovery plan.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for your recognition of the efforts of the large team who organized and performed these tests in the largest and most thorough evaluation of rescue gear and skills.
As you say, self-rescue is a big problem. It’s much less a problem if the person in the water is wearing a PFD.
Yes, that is the harder of the two part problem, getting them back onboard.
One should do as much as possible to stay on the boat, when sailing and more so when sailing alone!