Lessons From a Tragedy
Monday, February 27, 2006 - Bangor Daily News

It was a boat accident that shouldn't have happened - for several
reasons. Here's how things went wrong, as pieced together by the Coast
Guard in a final report issued recently:

A 55-year-old Stratham, N.H., man and his son, 20, started out from
Rockland last Oct. 15, a Saturday, on their 41-foot sailboat, Naobi,
for Rye, N.H., to have the boat hauled for the winter.

The forecast was for bad weather. They had trouble starting the engine
on their dinghy, and their diesel engine sputtered and died, but they
went ahead under sail. They had lifejackets and safety harnesses
onboard but never put them on. Safety flares were onboard but weren't
used.

By nightfall, it was raining hard, the wind was gusting at perhaps 30
knots and they were being buffeted by nearly 5-foot seas. The son, new
to the boat, slept below and occasionally spelled his father at the
helm.

At about 9:30 p.m., with the weather worsening, the father summoned the
son on deck to help furl the sails. The father crawled out on the
bowsprit to try to fix the jammed furling mechanism on the jib sail
while the son tried to keep the boat headed into the wind.

It broached broadside to the wind and waves, took a lurch, and the stay
sail boom knocked the father overboard. He managed to grab the end of a
line, and the son tried to haul his father aboard, but the father lost
his grip and disappeared in the murk.

The son tried unsuccessfully to start the engine. He tried to use the
boat's shortwave radio but didn't know whether it was working. He tried
to call for help on his father's cell phone but could raise no one.

His mother became alarmed when she couldn't reach them by cell phone.
She called the Coast Guard on Monday, Oct. 17, and a search began
immediately of the long stretch of ocean between Rockland and Rye. On
the fourth day, a patrol plane finally spotted the battered sailboat
and radioed a nearby lobster boat for help. The crew found the son
still aboard and got him onto the lobster boat. The sailboat was towed
into Rockland harbor and examined by the Coast Guard.

The inspecting officer, Lt. Cdr. Michael Lindaitis, had these
recommendations for all sailors:

File a "float plan" with family or friends, giving the intended route
and time of arrival.

Make sure all necessary equipment is in order and all necessary safety
gear is aboard.

Make sure that crew members understand how to handle the boat and use
the safety gear.

Finally, if a boat is overdue, call the Coast Guard immediately.

Commercial boats and their captains are licensed, and crews may get
dockside safety training and inspection by the Coast Guard.

Maine has no similar requirements for recreational boating, but Cdr.
Lindaitis strongly recommends that pleasure sailors arrange with the
Coast Guard Auxiliary for training and inspection.

Adequate gear and training, prudent preparation and a float plan can
save lives and prevent tragedy.

The five P's: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

Having an engine that works is a good idea.
Having extra crew is a good idea.
Wearing a lifejacket is a good idea.
Having a reliable means of communication is a good idea.
Making sure your equipement works is a good idea.

The bottom line is treat your boat like an airplane. Everything
should work, or you should be heading back to the dock if
you can't make repairs safely.

Roller furling is a great idea. This fellow should have struck
the jib instead of trying to furl it when they were overpowered.
Or he could have reefed the main prior to trying to fix the furling line.

The guy was a poor skipper and died because of his lack of
skill and intelligence.

"Nothing or little to do" yeah right. If he did not have to go out on
the bow in the first place he would not have been knocked overboard.

I never said it was the reason he died, I just said roller furlers
suck.

Seems they always fail in situations like this. Why chance a stuck
sail?

Hank on's rule. Tried and true, will not dis-appoint you in your moment
of need.

Joe

Joe,

One HUGE question with your story?

If the Father was on the Bowsprit working on a Jammed Furler; just how
in the Hell was he knocked overboard by the staysail boom?



http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ThomPage

http://community.webtv.net/tassail/Pneuma

Joe wrote:
"Nothing or little to do" yeah right. If he did not have to go out on
the bow in the first place he would not have been knocked overboard.

I never said it was the reason he died, I just said roller furlers
suck.

Seems they always fail in situations like this. Why chance a stuck
sail?

Hank on's rule. Tried and true, will not dis-appoint you in your moment
of need.

Joe

You're nuts, Joe. You have to go out on the deck with hank
ons....how do you do sail changes??? Or Llike I said, unscramble
problems that also arise with jank ons? Sometimes I wonder if you
ever really sail at all or if you just motor that thing around.

Don't know Thom, but if he was flying the proper head sail, he would
not have needed to fight a sail on the bow in bad weather.

A nice hanked on 25% to 50 % jib would have worked nicely IMO.

I don't know about you , but I hate fighting an out of control jib in
bad conditions.

Joe

I learned early to reef and swap head sails before the front or bad
weather hits. It's not that hard Katy.

True...RedCloud has the to ability to power out of trouble, but that
has nothing to do with roll up failures, and Ive seen so many roll up's
shreaded it isn't funny.

Next thing your going to try to tell me in-mast rollers systems are
great.

Bwahahahahahahahaaaa.

Joe

Joe wrote:
I learned early to reef and swap head sails before the front or bad
weather hits. It's not that hard Katy.

True...RedCloud has the to ability to power out of trouble, but that
has nothing to do with roll up failures, and Ive seen so many roll up's
shreaded it isn't funny.

Next thing your going to try to tell me in-mast rollers systems are
great.

Bwahahahahahahahaaaa.

Joe

Nope...I don't think they're great except for people that would
never venture out into anything but fair akies and fair seas...and
we sailed for years without a furler, so I do know what I'm talking
about. The erros in that story ahd nothing to do with furling and
everything to do with inept sailong...and yes, we reef
early...sometimes we reeft right at the dock or mooring, preferring
a controlled situation rather than getting out there and having
everything flying all over...it's always much easier to shake iot
all out if uneeded than to reef in under poor conditions...

Having a hanked on a 25% on that did not need reefing in high winds.

Joe

Hank on sails work fine, except that you are required to go forward to deal
with it (unless you have a downhaul). Furlers work fine, but have the
possibiilty that you may have to go forward to deal with it. Going forward
in bad conditions is something to be avoided if possible.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Joe" wrote in message
oups.com...
"Nothing or little to do" yeah right. If he did not have to go out on
the bow in the first place he would not have been knocked overboard.

I never said it was the reason he died, I just said roller furlers
suck.

Seems they always fail in situations like this. Why chance a stuck
sail?

Hank on's rule. Tried and true, will not dis-appoint you in your moment
of need.

Joe