KLC Lewis wrote:
In the past, I tended to agree with the old view that towing a dink behind
the mothership was "lubberly," and ill-advised. I still tend to think that
way when a hard dink is involved, but recently purchased a 9 foot Genesis
(Walker Bay) inflatable. With this monster sitting, inflated and assembled,
in our dining room last evening, it suddenly occurred to me how much like a
very large PFD this dinghy is, which has me reconsidering my standard MOB
routine.

At this time my standing MOB Rule is that upon crew going aglub, the first
thing to do is to toss them a horseshoe with floating line attached, keeping
an eye on them (or trying to) while coming about for rescue attempts. Other
than retrieving "Oscar" in the Navy (for non-squids, "Oscar" is a stuffed
manakin made of sailor clothing wearing a PFD, used for Man Overboard
drills) and PFD's or rings tossed overboard, I've not had the misfortune (so
far) of having to actually rescue an actual person.

But this inflatable dink has me rethinking things. By towing the dink when
weather allows, if crew should go overboard the dinghy could be cut loose
immediately. This would provide conscious MOB with a boat to swim towards,
and give rescue crew another marker (though one with more windage) to help
with locating the missing crew. The floating line in the water would also
give the MOB something to grab, and its streaming direction would offer
clues as to the current and rate of drift, assuming it's not being trailed
behind a wind-driven dink.

And, of course, trailing a dinghy in the water in fair weather could become
a handful if the wind picks up.

Any thoughts?

A lot of people seem to think that towing a dinghy
is a bad idea, and I've never tried it even in
benign conditions. The times I've been offshore
we've kept the inflatable lashed down upside down
on the front deck, and the outboard on the stern rail.

Just the same, I think your idea may have some
merit with the appropriate rig. You would need a
good cover or self-bailing system to keep the
inflatable from filling with water and becoming a
towed sea anchor. You would also need some
floating line, and plan on trailing the dink 100'
or so behind the boat to give the MOB a chance to
catch it on the way by. Now, some line loops on
the side and back of the dink would give a
conscious MOB a pretty good chance of grabbing the
dink on the way by, and possibly hauling
themselves aboard.

You might experiment with this during the summer
by jumping overboard while the boat is going 7kts
and seeing how hard it is to grab the dink as it
goes by.

If you plan on casting loose the dink, I'd suggest
a one-way parachute drogue on the line to stop the
dink from blowing away when you release it.

Let us know what you find out.

Don W.

"Don W" wrote in message
news:ahbAh.9596

You might experiment with this during the summer by jumping overboard
while the boat is going 7kts and seeing how hard it is to grab the dink as
it goes by.

I can tell you now, Don, that grabbing a dink doing 5 kts was impossible.
Trying to drag my clothed body thru the water was far too much for my grip
to last more than a few seconds. Quite apart from the hell of being rolled
over by taking a bad grip in the first place . . .

JimB

"News f2s" wrote in message
...

"Don W" wrote in message
news:ahbAh.9596

You might experiment with this during the summer by jumping overboard
while the boat is going 7kts and seeing how hard it is to grab the dink
as it goes by.

I can tell you now, Don, that grabbing a dink doing 5 kts was impossible.
Trying to drag my clothed body thru the water was far too much for my grip
to last more than a few seconds. Quite apart from the hell of being rolled
over by taking a bad grip in the first place . . .

JimB


Charlie Sheen can do it. I saw it in a movie.

"News f2s" wrote in message
...

"Don W" wrote in message
news:ahbAh.9596

You might experiment with this during the summer by jumping overboard
while the boat is going 7kts and seeing how hard it is to grab the dink
as it goes by.

I can tell you now, Don, that grabbing a dink doing 5 kts was impossible.
Trying to drag my clothed body thru the water was far too much for my grip
to last more than a few seconds. Quite apart from the hell of being rolled
over by taking a bad grip in the first place . . .

JimB



Wasn't there some guy in his 70s who managed to haul himself out of the
water when he got knocked off his boat... I seem to recall the story that
he grabbed the boat as it went by and climbed back on. Or, is this a Usenet
myth? g

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

Capt. JG wrote:

"News f2s" wrote in message
...

"Don W" wrote in message
news:ahbAh.9596


You might experiment with this during the summer by jumping overboard
while the boat is going 7kts and seeing how hard it is to grab the dink
as it goes by.

I can tell you now, Don, that grabbing a dink doing 5 kts was impossible.
Trying to drag my clothed body thru the water was far too much for my grip
to last more than a few seconds. Quite apart from the hell of being rolled
over by taking a bad grip in the first place . . .

JimB


Wasn't there some guy in his 70s who managed to haul himself out of the
water when he got knocked off his boat... I seem to recall the story that
he grabbed the boat as it went by and climbed back on. Or, is this a Usenet
myth? g

I'd sure give it a try if I was the only one on
deck when I went OB, but I sure wouldn't bet on
the outcome.

Then there was the tragedy a few years back
between Fiji and New Zealand, where the guy fell
overboard at night while his wife was asleep, and
his tether was just long enough to let him drag
and drown. The wife found him when she woke up in
the morning.

Don W.

"Don W" wrote in message
...


Capt. JG wrote:

"News f2s" wrote in message
...

"Don W" wrote in message
news:ahbAh.9596


You might experiment with this during the summer by jumping overboard
while the boat is going 7kts and seeing how hard it is to grab the dink
as it goes by.

I can tell you now, Don, that grabbing a dink doing 5 kts was impossible.
Trying to drag my clothed body thru the water was far too much for my
grip to last more than a few seconds. Quite apart from the hell of being
rolled over by taking a bad grip in the first place . . .

JimB


Wasn't there some guy in his 70s who managed to haul himself out of the
water when he got knocked off his boat... I seem to recall the story
that he grabbed the boat as it went by and climbed back on. Or, is this a
Usenet myth? g

I'd sure give it a try if I was the only one on deck when I went OB, but I
sure wouldn't bet on the outcome.

Then there was the tragedy a few years back between Fiji and New Zealand,
where the guy fell overboard at night while his wife was asleep, and his
tether was just long enough to let him drag and drown. The wife found him
when she woke up in the morning.

Don W.



We had one off the coast here... the guy fell off the bow... got hit by a
mini-rogue wave and lost his footing. He was tethered but bonked his head.
His wife panicked and couldn't figure a way to haul him in. By the time she
got it together, he was dead from blunt trama. A good point of order on not
having too long a tether and not having jacklines that run the entire length
of the vessel.

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

News f2s wrote:

"Don W" wrote in message
news:ahbAh.9596


You might experiment with this during the summer by jumping overboard
while the boat is going 7kts and seeing how hard it is to grab the dink as
it goes by.


I can tell you now, Don, that grabbing a dink doing 5 kts was impossible.
Trying to drag my clothed body thru the water was far too much for my grip
to last more than a few seconds. Quite apart from the hell of being rolled
over by taking a bad grip in the first place . . .

JimB


I suspected it might not be easy. I've water
skied a lot, and have tried to master the trick
where you have the boat pull you on your chest
sans skis. A lot of the good barefooters can do
this. It is a lot harder than it looks ;-)

Don W.