LOOKOUT! Lessons Learned by Accident

[clancy]

Humans often display a strong tendency to not believe that something bad can or will happen unless presented with what they consider to be undeniable proof of it. That undeniable proof, of course, often must (and does) take the form of the actual occurrence of that event which was specifically warned about before it is finally taken seriously.


On page 13, we come to the bizarre but true and very sad story of a small launch skipper whose clothing got caught up by a spinning drive shaft universal joint, resulting in his being pulled in and strangled to death by his own twisted up shirt.* How did he get snagged? Because he was reaching around and under the spinning shaft. Why was he reaching around a spinning drive shaft? Because he was searching for the source of flooding after he lost situational awareness and struck some rocks at night. Then he made the final and fatal mistake of forgetting to take the engine out of gear before groping around in the bilge. Besides being twisted up in his own shirt, he was also being held underwater as the boat flooded, so if he hadn’t strangled he would have drowned. How’s that for a freakish and catastrophic chain of events?

LOOKOUT! (http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/Publications-and-forms/Lookout/LookOutSep09.pdf)

[Ian McColgin]

Sailors face a large number of such hazards that will jam loose cloths and limbs causing death or injury or damage to the boat.

A hot running main sheet during a gybe might swallow a bit of billowing sunshird, jam on it, and holding the wearer against the block stop the sheet from running so the boat's caught way oversheeted and capsizes.

Crouching over the winch may lead to clothing or body parts getting caught in an over-ride.

Any hot running line - sheet, anchor, halyard - can loop around a body part and let that unworthy crew do a Captain Ahab.

I don't let anyone else shut down my diesel as the cable to the choke is frozen and the tab it pulls on is broken anyway. So I have to reach in past the generator and raw water belts, around the fresh water belt, and feel for it. You can bet I roll up my sleeves.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

The Royal Navy has gone in for clothing without anything to catch on anything for rather a long time - the present uniform jumper dates from 1903 and was designed on that basis, but then so is the fisherman's smock.

[paladin]

Ever parachuted wearing a tight pair of levis?

[willmarsh3]

One thing that stands out from a lecture at the weekend safety at sea workshop in Annapolis. He explained that at sea the standard procedure is to hook in to a safety line when going on deck. Some people use a non locking carabiner to hook in. Then he demonstrated how easy it is for it to come undone just by swirling the rope around.

[marcin]

When I was taking the safety portion of my sailing course, the instructor said something like:

When going up on deck, put on your storm gear and clip in. When you've clipped in, check that you are in fact clipped in. Once you've checked that you are safe, check again before you go do what you have to do. However, make sure you are never in a situation to check the effectiveness of your safety equipment the hard way.

[Ian McColgin]

Some gear is worth testing. Build up so you don't strangle yourself or something but ultimatly you should know exactly what happens if you tip over the life line and get fetched up on the thether with the boat moving 6 knots or more.

I'm always amazed at the number of folk who have no clue as to how to get a casualty aboard their boat. This is not just the fault of dopey boat owners. A lot of boats are sold with no thought as to what body recovery could involve. Yet this ability is as obvious as doors on a car.

Practice casualty recovery. It's even fun on a warm day, especially if you have kids who want to play in the water. The life sling is a wonderful gizmo, for example, but the directions that you haul the casualty up on a halyard are iffy at best. Just try it. Hurts. And if you're the grinder, it's really hard.

If your boat is so low that you won't get the casualty up over the rail with a handybilly from the boom, maybe you can at least have a snatch off the boom so the halyard can haul the casualty up clear of the hull and then swung aboard.

And if you have a "swim platform" try to pretend it's not there in a real emergency. Either the wave action will bring it down on the casualty's head or your prop will osterize the casualty. Either way, who needs to put your washdown pump to that much work?

[martin schulz]

I always get grey hair (a German expression for getting worried so much that the hair turns grey) when watching guests/trainees on board wrapping sheet rope around their hands to get a grip.

[marcin]

Practice casualty recovery. It's even fun on a warm day, especially if you have kids who want to play in the water. The life sling is a wonderful gizmo, for example, but the directions that you haul the casualty up on a halyard are iffy at best. Just try it. Hurts. And if you're the grinder, it's really hard.


Amen.

During the same course, we practiced 4 recovery manouvers on a 70kg dummy with floatation (coming around on a gybe, a tacking figure-of-eight, a sideways drift and on the motor). And, of course, questions of realism and how to do this in a storm (when it's most likely to lose someone OB) aside, you were expected to know all four methods during the exam, and to use the appropriate one for the circumstances (heading, bearing, conditions and so on) - all that in 2 or 3 minutes.

Whenever the wife and I go sailing, on the first day we do a few recovery runs of each type on 12 or so water-filled 5l PETs tied together in an old life-jacket.

Paranoia? Maybe, but it gives a warm fuzzy, satisfied feeling...


I always get grey hair (a German expression for getting worried so much that the hair turns grey) when watching guests/trainees on board wrapping sheet rope around their hands to get a grip.

Or standing on the loose bight of a loaded rope on a slippery deck, while their hands are doing something else... and their brains are not doing anything at all

[2MeterTroll]

Ever parachuted wearing a tight pair of levis?

nope jumped off a ten foot wall though. the bloody seams at the thighs gave out.

[peter radclyffe]

I always get grey hair (a German expression for getting worried so much that the hair turns grey) when watching guests/trainees on board wrapping sheet rope around their hands to get a grip.
this is a problem with synthetic rope, its so strong they forget when they rig it to make it a good diameter for the hands, another case of bad design
& they dont give a fook

[John B]

Hmm, I was just about to reply that was exactly what happened here last year. But I see its maritime nz's newsletter, so it is exactly it.
The other tragedies mentioned have all had considerable coverage too, particularly the ski boat death and closer to home ( for me) the loss of Time to Burns keel resulting in the death of a crewmember.

[Paul Pless]

I've had one really painful experience with line on a boat that taught me a valueable lesson about keeping a boat organized. I was about 17 years old. Some friends and I were fishing and had put anchor and chain out and I was letting the line run lightly through my hands as we backed the boat down for the correct amount of scope. Sometime earlier in the day someone had inadvertently dropped a stainless 3/0 treble hook that fell into the anchor locker; that hook had embedded itself partially into the anchor rode. When it dug itself into the palm of my hand I nearly went overboard and would have, if the hook hadn't ripped itself free... the pain was effing unbelievable and was followed by a very bloody ride back to the boat ramp and then hospital.

[py]

Wedding rings can get caught on things and rip fingers off. I guess the answer is don't fall in love, because then one catastrophe just leads to another and so on, until eventually your finger gets ripped right off your hand:)

[S B]

If you realize that the next mistake, you make ,may cost you your life, you will be less likely to make it. Learning from your mistakes, must have been thought up by a landlubber.

[The Bigfella]

Ever parachuted wearing a tight pair of levis?

Yep. Hurts.

[rbgarr]

Hmm, I was just about to reply that was exactly what happened here last year. But I see its maritime nz's newsletter, so it is exactly it.
The other tragedies mentioned have all had considerable coverage too, particularly the ski boat death and closer to home ( for me) the loss of Time to Burns keel resulting in the death of a crewmember.

Tragic.

[kingplanker]

Sailing Photo of the Week - Dangers of Running Rigging (http://yachtpals.com/sailing-7031)


http://yachtpals.com/files/userimages/capsized-dinghy.jpg

[kingplanker]

"I'll have mine on-the-rocks"...

http://media1.break.com/dnet/media/content/pic3837.jpg

[BrianW]

At work, in addition to the standard life ring, we carry the life sling (much better than the ring) and a Jasons Cradle...

http://www.jasonscradle.co.uk/hudson_articles.php

The Jason's Cradle is a pretty handy device for getting someone back onboard.

[PeterSibley]

I've had one really painful experience with line on a boat that taught me a valueable lesson about keeping a boat organized. I was about 17 years old. Some friends and I were fishing and had put anchor and chain out and I was letting the line run lightly through my hands as we backed the boat down for the correct amount of scope. Sometime earlier in the day someone had inadvertently dropped a stainless 3/0 treble hook that fell into the anchor locker; that hook had embedded itself partially into the anchor rode. When it dug itself into the palm of my hand I nearly went overboard and would have, if the hook hadn't ripped itself free... the pain was effing unbelievable and was followed by a very bloody ride back to the boat ramp and then hospital.

The pain sounds bad , but better than following the anchor to the bottom !!:(:eek::(

[Eric D]

I don't let anyone else shut down my diesel as the cable to the choke is frozen and the tab it pulls on is broken anyway. So I have to reach in past the generator and raw water belts, around the fresh water belt, and feel for it. You can bet I roll up my sleeves.

Dumb question....

why don't you REPAIR IT??

[Vince Brennan]

Just remember: "Rocks And Shoals" is basically a collection of hare-brained ideas that worked.

To cost of winnowing those few gems was horrendous.

[Vince Brennan]

When I was taking the safety portion of my sailing course, the instructor said something like:

When going up on deck, put on your storm gear and clip in. When you've clipped in, check that you are in fact clipped in. Once you've checked that you are safe, check again before you go do what you have to do. However, make sure you are never in a situation to check the effectiveness of your safety equipment the hard way.

Outstanding advice.

[kingplanker]

Maintain a lookout for slower moving craft...

http://gallegolaw.com/images/pic-boat-accidents.jpg

[BarnacleGrim]

I need to remember to do a man overboard drill next season with Nina. I'll sacrifice a CO2 cartridge and see if that inflatable thing actually works, and that the safety line won't just put my head under water. I haven't been clipped in yet (haven't been out alone or in heavy weather), and frankly I'd like to try it out under controlled conditions first.

[Ian McColgin]

Regarding why don't I repair it - I will eventually. It's in an impossible spot till I yank the mill for a general rebuild, which should happen this winter.

But that raises the general question and I'm certainly not the only guilty party. Just I do it more with engins, not being a monkey wrench sailor. I never let rigging get that tatty but I've gone for years without being able to even operate the engin, or putting up with other minor annoyances.

The boat's not going to be perfect - at least not my boat. So the question is which probleme annoyances and which matter to real safety.

[D Happ]

http://users.gotsky.com/dhapp/o.jpg

[katiedobe]

Last summer down here we had a ski boat style powerboat accident that was very tragic. Seems the family was out for a Sunday on the lake and they were a large family, as is the norm around here. Some wanted to swim and some stayed in the boat. Seems the skipper left the boat idling in nuetral and the five year old son got to playing with the throttle handle and pushed it forward. Ran over his grandma and she died from the prop strike and head laceration. Very sad.

I will usually turn the motor off (if the conditions will allow it) when I am collecting water skiers from the lake or any time I come within 20 feet of swimmers that are connected to the boat. I can always let them swim away before I turn the key again and start up the Honda. The last thing I want is to have a prop strike accident.

[willmarsh3]

I was out sailing yesterday and discovered a safety hazard that needs immediate fixing. The companionway ladder is designed to be removed to uncover the engine. This picture shows the parts of the engine cover.

http://www.willmarsh3.net/dsb/wec_2102.jpg

Steps 1 and 2 (going up) are mounted on the front which is left in the picture. Step 3 is the countertop which is on the right and laying upside down in the picture.

http://www.willmarsh3.net/bc/pull_stop.jpg
This picture shows the top of the cover in place. Steps 3 and 4 are visible. Steps 1 and 2 are held in place by a 1/2" groove in the bottom of the countertop that the plywood side of the bottom unit fits into.

What happened as I was standing on step 1 is that the front broke loose from from the top at said groove and shifted forward. Fortunately I reacted quickly enough to catch myself and avoid any injury.

My correction is to add an extra catch between the front and top to make sure that doesn't happen again. I'll post this project on my website along with better pictures.

[willmarsh3]

As promised here's a proper write-up I just did on the safety issue I had.

http://www.willmarsh3.net/sf/safe_ladder.htm