tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263863416874538973.post8883360449617526639..comments2024-03-26T06:23:27.120+00:00Comments on Arwen's meanderings: righting lines on dinghies like Arwen?stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06932550661580632605noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263863416874538973.post-29090845323505395062012-05-23T19:31:42.559+01:002012-05-23T19:31:42.559+01:00um - actually i know exactly what you mean and phy...um - actually i know exactly what you mean and physically I'm not sure about being able to right arwen so i sail cautiously. i agree with absolutely everything you have said. I bought everything back to cockpit as well and have rigged lazy jacks on a sprit boom rig - which was an interesting exercise in itself<br /><br />thanks for taking the time to talk this through with me - really appreciated because i am now moving towards not having righting lines for the very arguments and reasons you have elucidated so well<br /><br />stevestevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06932550661580632605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263863416874538973.post-63581150698032268022012-05-23T18:37:25.312+01:002012-05-23T18:37:25.312+01:00The safety precautions that you have incorporated ...The safety precautions that you have incorporated thus far would easily put you in the upper 1% here. They seem more than adequate to me, in my non-expert opinion. I know one can survive at least one hour before hypothermia sets in here. Assuming water temps are similar where you are, and help is 30 minutes away (worst case), you would have plenty of time to spare after promptly summoning help, even under the worst case scenario.<br /><br />Personally I won't be bothering with righting lines. I have my doubts that I'd be able to re-board, much less right a capsized or inverted Navigator. I'm too old, fat and physically out of shape. Instead, I've chosen to focus my safety efforts in the two directions that I think are most beneficial for me, which are to avoid trouble and to be able to summon help.<br /><br />My paranoia is not capsizing, but falling overboard and watching Ellie sail away. Before I even started building her, I planned to rig Ellie so I could control everything from a seated position in the cockpit. I don't like walking around on her. I do all I can to keep clutter at a minimum for fear of tripping over something and going over. I always reef early. I chose the gaff rig with lazy jacks and led the halyards aft so I could easily pop the halyards and drop the main in an instant while remaining safely seated.<br /><br />If I were to end up in the water, I put little faith in by ability to self-rescue, due to the lack of my physical capabilities.<br />This does not concern me because I know for sure I would be rescued provided I can summon help, I have my PFD on, and I stay with the boat. <br />Like I said earlier, the ability to summon help is vital. I sail in populated areas where help is readily available, so I feel my VHF, phone, flares and horn are adequate. On rare occasions I do go to remote locations, like Sucia, which might possibly be out of range for my handheld VHF. If I had a SPOT, as you do, I'd be covered under all circumstances.Joel Bergenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15368971898993662883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263863416874538973.post-52782130665184513622012-05-22T21:58:50.177+01:002012-05-22T21:58:50.177+01:00Joel, I am sorry about these tragedies. I was out ...Joel, I am sorry about these tragedies. I was out last year when I heard the mayday call for a lady who fell overboard without a life jacket on; by the time they had realised she had gone overboard and they had turned around she had drowned; none of us could reach where she was in time.<br /><br />In the Uk we had a car seat belt campaign many years ago called clunk click every time......it was very successful. Our RNLI operate a similar campaign about wearing life jackets. it is amazing how many UK sailors don't put them on automatically they step aboard their boat. No-one boards Arwen unless they are wearing a PFD or a life jacket - my boat; my rules; take it or leave it policy! leave it - means dont come on board.<br /><br />i wear a PFD always; on it is a VHF, a mobile phone; mini flares; whistle; and a SPOT. within plymouth sound - there is plenty of boat traffic most days plus the MOD police for the dockyard - someone will get to you within minutes normally; just stay with your boat.<br /><br />along our open coastline - a different matter - its normally a leeshore with strong along the coast currents; a huge number of headlands and exposed coastlines with cliffs and exceptionally rocky beaches in places. getting help - well expect to wait 20 - 30 minutes. during summer less so - as many yachts pass along the coast between Falmouth and Dartmouth. you have to be pretty self reliant. with righting lines - I wonder whether it will help me if there is an inversion, get arwen back up to the horizontyal from which I can then right her and either drop anchor or put out a drogue to slow drift rate whilst I summon help<br /><br />I am ambivalent about them; I have as much safety gear on me as i can; I always use the spot every 30 mins to send Ok message; my boat is in the coastguard boat registry scheme we have; I've inserted plastic 2 lt drink bottles in every floatation chamber so if I'm holed it will stay put and still float the boat (he hopes!)<br /><br />Maybe I'm just paranoid and ultra cautious; i know one thing....I even wear my PFD when on the pontoon or launching the boat off the trailer....if i'm within 5m of the water - it goes on!<br /><br />Stevestevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06932550661580632605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263863416874538973.post-38885025952814985952012-05-22T20:43:03.869+01:002012-05-22T20:43:03.869+01:00My thoughts regarding righting lines: Every bit of...My thoughts regarding righting lines: Every bit of safety gear is a good thing, but where I sail they would not be on the top of my list. In all honesty, I would not depend on the system working. Here, it is vital to be able to summon help and stay alive until it arrives. At least where I sail - offshore may be a different story. To me that means wearing a life jacket packed with as many signaling devices as possible. Mine has a VHF radio, cell phone, flares, whistle, and air horn. I'm considering adding a SPOT transmitter to the arsenal. Now, I confess, in the past I have been very bad about not always wearing mine, but a fellow drowned here a week ago, right where I'd been sailing two days before and I hereby swear I will ALWAYS wear mine from now on. This fellow and his buddy capsized their john boat a short distance offshore of Jetty Island, within sight of the Coast Guard station at the second largest marina on the U.S. West Coast. Neither was wearing their life jacket and they had no signaling devices. By a sheer stroke of luck, one was spotted by a passing boater in the water an hour later, hypothermic, and was rescued. The other was never found. A couple years ago, four young people drowned under similar circumstances 5 miles away just off Camano Island. They would all be alive today if they had been able to summon help. On the other hand, had they been able to right their boats and re-board (in less than 10 minutes), they still may not have survived. They would have been unable to start their motors, and with no signaling devices, would have drifted unseen and likely perished due to hypothermia. The ability to summon help is vital, unless help is more than an hour away, in which case self-rescue is vital.Joel Bergenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15368971898993662883noreply@blogger.com