• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

Winter Safety - boat checks etc.

Emerald

Moderator
It seems every year I read in the local paper about 2 or 3 folks going in to the water while doing winter boat checks, and tragically, these almost always end in death. Last winter, I swung by Emerald during the middle of a work day to do a quick check, and had a close call. One minute I was standing on board, and the next I was hanging by one arm from the lower life line, which I'll never figure out how I grabbed hold off, and about half in the water. I was able to pull myself back on board. I can't figure out how I fell it happened so fast. It was the middle of the day and no one knew I was there, and Emerald is at a tiny neighborhood marina, which means no one is around for much of the time. Water temperature was around 34 F.

So, point off all this is, at the risk of sounding like your mother :rolleyes:, wear an auto-inflating PFD for those winter boat checks! I get a few odd looks as I clip it on when my foot hits the pier, but I got my free ride, and am not counting on another :cool:
 

WBurgner

Member III
Exit Strategy

I am glad that had a happy ending David. It is amazing how many homes on the canal where we keep our boat do not have ladders on the docks for getting out of the water. Our dock neighbors added an aluminum ladder to the sea wall for that purpose. Still, time is of the essence with water temps like you have in the winter. Only a few minutes of immersion would make it very difficult to climb out, so flotation gear would be important.
 

bayhoss

Member III
Safety check

David, glad to hear you came out ok. An inflateable pfd is a great idea. One thing that I do whenever I go to make winter checks is carry a set of quilted coveralls. If you go into the water (hopefully never) it is vital to get dry and have warm clothing to put on when you come out. You can be out of wet clothing and into the dry coveralls in no time flat.

Best,
Frank

p.s. Thanks for the tip on the Tef-Gel. I've used it one the boat and bike as well.
 

Starduff

Member II
Winter Safety & Boat Checks

David,

That was a close call. Glad to hear you are Ok.
On another note, here in the Hudson Valley of NY the boats come up on the hard for the winter. With all the snow and ice, and the heaving from freezes and thaws, it is important to frequently check your boat covers (if it is covered) and cradle or (especially) jack stands.
As for safety; if alone, it pays to carry a cell phone or at least let someone know where you will be. A friend was checking his jack stands (for slippage or tightening) last year. He was alone at the Chelsea Yacht Club boat yard when he slipped on ice near his boat and broke his hand and wrist. He was lucky to be able to get to his car and drive to the hospital. It could have been worse. We all now go with others or carry a cell phone if alone when checking on our boats. And, always let someone know where we will be. Forewarned is forearmed!

Richard
 
Last edited:

gareth harris

Sustaining Member
This is the best online diagram I can find for survival times:

http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/marine/precedentes-earlier/m93w0003/m93w0003.asp#C

In the temperature you are describing, you would only have a few minutes until you would be unable to pull yourself out of the water, so the biggest lesson would seem to be to know exactly where the nearest ladder is to your boat - and that is a great idea above of having your own.

Gareth
Freyja E35 241 1972
 

Starduff

Member II
Here is a possible solution. Available for boats, dinghies and docks.

Bill,

Interesting ladder. Nice and compact for storage and easy to use. Great if you don't already have a ladder. But wouldn' you have to deploy it like a regular ladder before falling in the drink? Or are you able to deploy it by grabbing hold of it from the water?

Richard
 

boethius27

Member II
And then there are us crazies who live aboard in Boston all winter. Neither of us (my wife or myself) have fallen in yet, but we live in a marina with about 75 year round liveaboards. I've seen a fair number of people fall in now, both in winter and in summer. Sometimes it has been so cold that the submersee is immediately too stunned to get out. There are a number of boats around here with swim ladders down, but not nearly enough. Although a few good shouts is likely to raise somebody out of their boat. We have a couple emergency whistles tied to the end of the surrounding finger piers.

On the other hand, my friends have a competition going about trying to quit smoking. Whoever smokes more than X number of cigarettes on any given day gets pushed into the water by the winner of that day's competition. Luckily, Jenny and I don't smoke so we don't get pushed in. It's pretty funny when the same guy has to go swimming a couple times in a row though. The one guy tried to hide a wetsuit under his clothes one day when he knew he was to be knocked in! haha. A liveaboard community is a fun community.... if mildly haphazard and dangerous!
:egrin::egrin::egrin:
 

WBurgner

Member III
Deploying Ladder

The last rung (yellow) is pushed towards the dock to release the cascading ladder. If the rung is too high I suppose a line could be attached, but it would still need to be able to move the rung towards the dock to release the ladder.


I have not seen it work, but that is how I interpret what I see in the add.
 
Top