Ellen MacArthur wrote:
"Joe" wrote
| Wrong! The ideal is to keep your eyes on the line, and never get in the
| path it may take if parting.
| Both times the boats had specific areas to hide behind that would have
| saved them both.
| Both people killed took thier eyes off the load, they never knew what
| hit them.

Wouldn't it be better just to stay away or behind bulkheads.

Yes, but work on deck may prevent that. In one case the guy was
watching cargo slide on deck after tieing the line that snapped.

We had headache rails on the boat to jump behind and be safe : Lika
so..

http://www.marcon.com/library/Sales_...005Sales/a.jpg

http://supplyboats.leefelterman.com/specs/osv116a.jpg

see the big rails along the deck side, between the deck and bulwarks?
Thats were you go when **** starts shifting, then you can turn and
look. See were the stern bits are? A line goes up to each corner of a
drilling platform and you set an anchor off your bow, you may be
offloading and loading cargo for days on end. You have to work the
deck, you can not hide all the time.

The second was a guy on a Fleet tug deck pulling on our ship to get
her away from the dock in a typhoon.
IIRC it was this tug : http://www.msc.navy.mil/N00P/graphics/Mday4.jpg

The guy was not in direct line when the 6" samson braid let go, he was
on the stern quarter of the deck I think heading to dis-engage the
brake as the line started to smoke.



They sure have some dumb safety rules. It'd make better sense to make a rule the nobody can watch
the line in the open. There needs to be strong bulkheads to protect seamen working near the hawser. They
need to be told to stay behind the bulkheads. It sounds like they're supposed to watch the hawser at all
times. Then they're supposed to see when it starts to snap. Then they're supposed to beat feet to cover.
Duh!
I can stretch a rubber band until it breaks. It snaps straight back. Just don't get in line with the
hawser and you're probably pretty safe.

Not so, the larger the hawser the wider path of danger , the way the
hawser parts, and it's braid, can make it go off at weird angles.

Joe


Cheers,
Ellen