12 • May 20 - June 2, 2016 • The Log


thelog.com


Man Overboard! Practical tips for a safe rescue and survival


Incidents in Marina del Rey, Newport to Ensenada course serve as reminders of potential perils of sailing.


By Parimal M. Rohit


SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — You are enjoying a pleasant day out at sea aboard a vessel and suddenly the day takes a turn for the worse. The vessel hits a swell awkwardly or strikes an object underwater to cause your boat to take on water. Perhaps you drop anchor 1 or 2 miles offshore but idled your boat in the wrong direction in relation to the swells. As a direct result of one of these situations one (or more) of the boat’s occupants falls overboard and into the water. What do you do to make the person is brought to safety? In the past few weeks there were two specifi c man-overboard incidents in or near Southern California waters. Those involved with a man overboard during the recent Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race and sink- ing boat near Marina del Rey pro- vided insight as to how each incident occurred. Each event also provided practical advice of how to respond whenever your boat is in trouble and/ or people are overboard.


Newport to Ensenada Race A detailed post on California Yacht


Club Racing’s Facebook Page pro- vided fi rst person accounts of what happened aboard Foil before, during and after the man overboard incident that occurred during the Newport to Ensenada Race in April. Foil,a Farr 40, was apparently sailing


near Northern Coronado Island when winds hit about 20 knots, according to the series of fi rst-person narratives posted on the California YC Racing page. The Farr 40 and its six-member crew were heading north after what was described as “a great sail during


the 2016 Ensenada race.” At the helm was a man named Val, who was guiding Foil through the winds at 12 to 15 knots, according to one crewmember “The Farr 40 is a very strong and


powerful boat and everyone was having a great time going fast. Then, disaster struck,” the narrative on Cal YC Racing’s Facebook page stated. “Foil took a bad wave, which kicked the stern causing a spectacular round down. Val lost his footing and tumbled through the port lifelines and into the water, after dark, with no life jacket!” Falling overboard was likely the


result of overconfi dent sailing and not taking the proper safety measures, according to Val. “We were all having fun watching the speed with each wave. We broke our rule. We were having too much fun sailing and forgetting about safety. It was around 8 p.m. and no one was clipped in,” Val explained through the narrative. “I was feeling ‘in the groove.’ But overconfi dence got the best of me and we rounded down. My foot slipped off the block. The last thing I heard before I hit the water was, ‘Oh my God he’s gone.’” As soon as Val fell into the water the


rest of the crew went into save-a-life mode.


One crewmember, Lisa, wrote it was her life purpose to serve as Val’s spotter and ensure he was kept in sight at all times during the rescue. “I found my life’s direction in that moment. It was so very clear, unmis- takable. My entire life’s experience, my loves, my losses, the tears, the smiles, everything, absolutely everything came down to this moment,” Lisa wrote. “I was meant to point at Val and never lose sight of him until he is back on board the boat. No matter what hap- pens my only reason for being on this or any planet is to have my index fi nger dead on the spot where he is or I last had sight of him.” Of course Val had to do his part to


THE DINGHY DOCTOR


NO SALES TAX ON SELECTED INVENTORY! 619-804-6921


QUALITY REPAIR, RESTORATION AND SALESOF INFATABLE BOATS www.thedinghydoctor.com


Always wear a personal flotation device while boating and read your owner’s manual. 2008 American Honda Motor Co., Inc. ®


Wearing a life jacket and tethers was one of the actions the crew aboard Foil, a Farr 40 that experienced a man-overboard incident during the 2016 Newport to Ensenada Race, acknowledged that they should have been doing at all times while on the vessel.


make sure he would be seen. Doing so, however, was hard since he could not move his left arm. “When I surfaced I had a searing pain, my left arm would not move. Then I heard someone yell, “There he is, throw the buoy,” Val wrote. “When the buoy hit the water it took a few seconds for it to deploy but it was the longest few seconds of my life.” Lisa continued to keep the rest of


the crew informed of her sightline with Val as Gordon, another crewmember, gave the man overboard instructions. Val was eventually pulled from


the water, brought back aboard and taken straight to San Diego for medical treatment. The narrative fi nished with the authors looking back at what they did right and what went wrong during the rescue at sea. Foil’s crewmembers, according


to the Cal YC Racing Facebook page, “Held a safety briefi ng before starting the race; had a Dan Buoy, life sling, and throwing lines ready on the stern of the boat; when disaster struck, every- one kept their cool and focused on the jobs at hand; organized quickly to start lifesaving operations; [and], kept Val


in sight (we could only see the strobe when it wasn’t hidden by waves).” The crewmembers identifi ed four actions they could or should have done better. “First and foremost, we should all have put on life jackets and tethers much earlier,” the Foil crew wrote. “There should be no fuzz on the dusk-till-dawn life jacket rule. And, life jackets should be worn offshore in big breeze. “Always choose to hold onto the


boat fi rst, even if it means losing a tiller, a sail, or whatever,” the narrative continued. “Ping the MOB GPS posi- tion ASAP. It would have been help- ful to have a personal AIS or EPIRB system on board. With only fi ve of us, we were all too busy to really use one, but it would have been a good backup system and essential if we hadn’t gotten the Dan Buoy to Val.” The authors fi nished their narrative


by acknowledging how fortune they were for everyone to return back to shore. “We were all very lucky,” they wrote.


“I know of only one ocean-racing incident where a sailor went overboard after dark and survived. And, I know of


3302 Kurtz St YACHT TENDER SALE! San Diego, CA 92110


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52