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Post by fish on Nov 19, 2023 9:45:17 GMT 12
From the Herald: Hauraki Gulf rescue: Yachtsmen pull hypothermic fisherman from water after kayak flips: A hypothermic fisherman who flipped out of his kayak and was tangled in gear was lucky to be discovered by passing yachtsmen and plucked from the Hauraki Gulf. The man had been in the water for an hour when he was pulled to safety by a group of men returning from a morning sail on Saturday. Gavin Woodward was on his way back to Milford Marina in Auckland on his Pied Piper Ratcatcher when he was called to assist another Pied Piper in the rescue. “We were on our way back and we saw another piedy Minstrel doing some circles around this kayak out from Castor Bay,” Woodward said. “There was a guy upside down in the water and tangled up in his kayak.” Brad Brown and Dillon Browne on Minstrel were able to get to the upturned kayak by dinghy and pull the man up out of the water. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/hauraki-gulf-rescue-yachtsmen-pull-hypothermic-fisherman-from-water-after-kayak-flips/S5LL3D7RFNBMPL2D67W2UGZ2EM/Points to note: 1) No flares were required 2) A liferaft was not required. They did use one of those foil ali blankets. I've got one on the boat somewhere, but I also have a load of warm blankets and bedding as well. Not sure you need a full Cat3 first aid kit to get a foil blanket. I think even Cat5 kits have something like that. Casualty had a LJ on. No mention if he had a means of communication on him. As he didn't use it we can assume he didn't. I have a kayak fishing LJ I use for my dinghy fishing missions. Has a waterproof marine VHF in the left chest pocket (which I've radio checked to make sure it works) and the fallback of a PLB in the right chest pocket. Noting he was tangled (highly likely falling out of a fishing kayak), divers always carry a knife to cut out of tangles. I don't carry a knife on me. Something I might think about. Plenty of knives in the boat, but if I flip it, they'd be about as useful as tits on a bull. This fancy LJ I've got has a special pocket for braid scissors (better at cutting fishing braid than almost anything). I might start keeping something for cutting on my person as well. In fact I'm selling a scuba BCD that has an ideal rescue knife I could fit to my dinghy fishing mission LJ. Might go swap that over now. PS, how many of you guys could recover a 100kg deadweight out of the water, up your topsides and into your boat? This is something I've always wondered about but have never tried. I have a MoB sling that I can hoist someone with if connected to a halyard and winch, but I've never tested the practicality. Who here has actually practiced recovering a MoB recently? |
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Post by chariot on Nov 19, 2023 10:21:41 GMT 12
I know a member of the maritime police who was involved in the body recoveries of some big Polynesian guys out of the inner Gulf. Said it was nearly impossible to get them on board and these were all fairly big cops.
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Post by sabre on Nov 19, 2023 10:40:39 GMT 12
Great result! Sounds like the fisherman didn't have long to go.. upside down apparently???
Bugger lifting someone on the boat. Absolutely paramount they stay on the boat in the first place.
Best bet for me without giving it too much thought would be the mainsheet disconnected from the traveller. It would probably need a lifting ring attached to the human though.
However I'm sure duckplucker will be along shortly to tell me how wrong my thinking is...
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Post by fish on Nov 19, 2023 10:47:36 GMT 12
I know a member of the maritime police who was involved in the body recoveries of some big Polynesian guys out of the inner Gulf. Said it was nearly impossible to get them on board and these were all fairly big cops. There was a MoB in a Weiti club race moderately recently (2 or 3 years ago now probably). The boat had a snaffu with a gybe and got a bit tangled up. The yacht itself couldn't get back to the MoB. I get mixed up on specifics, but the mark laying boat (a mid sized rib) first went to the casualty, then the committee boat. They had an absolute devil of a time getting the casualty out of the water. Casualty was full conscious etc, full sized adult male, but tired very quickly. They couldn't get the casualty over the tubes of the mark laying boat. It was all they could do to get him onto the duck board of the committee boat in the end. After that I went and got one of these rescue slings: www.hutchwilco.co.nz/products/hutchwilco-rescue-sling/Ideal for getting a MoB to the boat, you circle around them with the line out and pick them up like a water skier. The idea of the sling is it goes over their shoulders and you can winch them up. Like I say I've never tried it. A big step up on the standard lifering. Primarily what you need is a ladder with steps under water, so you can step up. I'm sure any diver understands this. We have a stern ladder which would be ok in flat water. I'd be really reluctant to bring a casualty near the stern in any form of chop, massive risk of head injury with the boat bouncing up and down. I got a rope step ladder to hang off the side, but it was fairly marginal cause the steps push away under the boat when you try standing on them, so you can't actually stand up. Uses loads of energy climbing up that on a calm sunny day swimming around the boat. I ended up ditching it, basically useless. I also have a boarding ladder for the dinghy. That is for snorkelling with the kids around reefs and stuff, but would also be ideal in the example of this fisho, as the dinghy is safer and easier to manoeuvre than a large yacht, and has far lower sides to get someone over. I have to be careful using that myself, as I can flip the dinghy standing on the ladder on one side. If I've been spear fishing I hand my dive belt off the other side of the dinghy to balance things up. It is funny with all the focus on flares and liferafts, but I know of more incidence where getting people out of the water was required, and the focus on safety gear / regulations is elsewhere. |
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Post by fish on Nov 19, 2023 10:48:43 GMT 12
 Sabre, do you have a lifting ring though? This is what I have. I just need to try it out. Maybe this summer when we are swimming around the boat in a nice sunny anchorage. Same price as a standard lifering, but far more useful, esp for getting the MoB back to the boat. Yes, I think the fisho was got lucky there. He is listed as being in a serious condition in hospital. Must have got a lot of water into the lungs. |
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Post by sabre on Nov 19, 2023 10:58:58 GMT 12
View Attachment Sabre, do you have a lifting ring though? This is what I have. I just need to try it out. Maybe this summer when we are swimming around the boat in a nice sunny anchorage. Same price as a standard lifering, but far more useful, esp for getting the MoB back to the boat. Yes, I think the fisho was got lucky there. He is listed as being in a serious condition in hospital. Must have got a lot of water into the lungs. No I don't. Would be keen to hear how you get on with it once you have tried it out though. |
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Post by fish on Nov 19, 2023 11:05:53 GMT 12
I'll have to try it out. Obvious advantages for looping around a casuality and bringing them too the boat, rather than trying to move the boat up to the casuality, drift down on them gently but not run them over. I think just for that feature they are worth it, with the added bonus of the option to use as a lifting ring. Smart Marine have them for $150 (compared with $100 for a standard lifering). www.smartmarine.co.nz/product/4439/man-overboard-set-rescue-sling-limited-offer |
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Post by DuckMaster on Nov 19, 2023 11:09:51 GMT 12
Ohhh I like that... Does that meet the Regs to replace the horse shoe? Or do you need both? sabre using the mainsheet and the boom sounds like an awesome idea. I had never considered that. Probably cause all my mob practice has been done with the main hoisted... We have used the main sheet and boom to remove the engine. So would easily work for a person in a mob situation. I have only ever used the boom topping lift. Never in anger, only in practice. |
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Post by fish on Nov 19, 2023 11:27:14 GMT 12
Ohhh I like that... Does that meet the Regs to replace the horse shoe? Or do you need both? sabre using the mainsheet and the boom sounds like an awesome idea. I had never considered that. Probably cause all my mob practice has been done with the main hoisted... We have used the main sheet and boom to remove the engine. So would easily work for a person in a mob situation. I have only ever used the boom topping lift. Never in anger, only in practice. If something works, I don't give a fuck about the regs. But yes, I have a standard horseshoe on one side and this one on the other. I have never given the regs any thought on this to be honest. I'm not Cat 3 now, and haven't been for a long time - can't afford the life raft servicing ;-) Haven't done a race that requires a dan bouy and light for over a decade. Dan bouys are a different proposition again, and are designed for marking a position in big swell (generally offshore). I used to have two horse shoes and a throw line. The horse shoes got sun-faded and I felt they warranted replacement, hence I paid the extra $50 for one of these. I'm sure if it has the specified reflective tape on it, it would qualify as the required lifering for the regs. You don't need a drogue and light on it, cause it can't drift away from the boat and get lost in the dark like a standard lifering. I don't keep the throw line on deck anymore either. They were less than useless for throwing when I'd tried it. I don't think it's possible to have something that throws well and floats. You need some weight to get something to throw, especially not to get caught in the wind and bugger off sideways. Of course if it has weight in it, it wont float. Hence the rescue sling and rope to motor around and loop up the casualty. I've always assumed I'd use a halyard rather than the mainsheet and boom. A), I can't disconnect my mainsheet that easily (and I think it is very dangerous being able to disconnect the mainsheet), B) I'm not sure how you would control the boom and keep it out over the casuality. With a halyard it is a straight vertical lift. Yes, the casualty would be pulled in beside the topsides, but that is where you want them, so they can get back onboard. My halyard winches are at the mast, so I can be midships near where I'd lift a casualty up and manage things short handed (I'm normally short handed). I'd go midships cause there is less hobby-horsing risk like at the stern. |
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Post by chariot on Nov 19, 2023 12:02:48 GMT 12
Picked a guy up in Caruso Passage years ago who had jumped off the back of a fizz boat to retrieve a fishing rod. As we approached him, he started swimming towards our boat so I made it clear not to do that and I would let our inflatable drift down to him and he should climb into that. All went well and we took him back to his wife a kids on his boat. 10 minutes later a 20 knt sea breeze kicked in. If that had happened when he was in the water it could have been a different outcome.
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