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Crew Overboard for Couples: When your mate goes over - and you're the only one left
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A blustery day on the Chesapeake can be a great venue for teaching crew overboard techniques. The students were a soon-to-retire couple picking up their recently purchased Catalina 38 in the Delmarva peninsula, taking her 70 miles southwest to her new home in Virginia. Skies were overcast but not rainy and winds were twenty to twenty-five out of the northwest. The bay itself was a bit choppy but not bad, so I was somewhat surprised to find we were the only boat within sight that afternoon.
We had just covered the diagrams for Quick Turn and Quick Stop recovery and were about to start practicing them. No sooner had I mentioned to the husband that he assign a spotter than he said “Wait a minute. If my wife goes over, I’m the only one left. There’s no one to assign.” Thus began an hour-long debate in which I tried to convince my student to learn the by-the-book method to start, while he kept pointing out that the book method would not work for he and his wife, as it assumes a crew of more than two.
Sailing school methods assume a crew of three or more.
While I still believe he and his wife should have gone ahead to learn the prescribed methods, he did have a point. The courses and student books do not really address the needs of the cruising couple. How in the world do you do all that needs doing on a cruising sailboat in a crew overboard situation, while maintaining sight of the victim and getting her/him back aboard quickly and safely?
Late into that night, I struggled to adapt the methods so a crew of one could save the life of her overboard mate.
What follows in subsequent posts are observations and methods I've learned and adapted from teaching crew overboard techniques to hundreds of sailing students over the past thirteen years. The boats on which training occurred included sloops, cutters and ketches, racing boats to cruising vessels, 23 feet to 47 feet.
While methods must be adapted to each boat, the principles remain constant.
With preparation and practice, you'll be prepared to cruise knowing that you stand the best chance possible of recovering your mate.
A blustery day on the Chesapeake can be a great venue for teaching crew overboard techniques. The students were a soon-to-retire couple picking up their recently purchased Catalina 38 in the Delmarva peninsula, taking her 70 miles southwest to her new home in Virginia. Skies were overcast but not rainy and winds were twenty to twenty-five out of the northwest. The bay itself was a bit choppy but not bad, so I was somewhat surprised to find we were the only boat within sight that afternoon.
We had just covered the diagrams for Quick Turn and Quick Stop recovery and were about to start practicing them. No sooner had I mentioned to the husband that he assign a spotter than he said “Wait a minute. If my wife goes over, I’m the only one left. There’s no one to assign.” Thus began an hour-long debate in which I tried to convince my student to learn the by-the-book method to start, while he kept pointing out that the book method would not work for he and his wife, as it assumes a crew of more than two.
Sailing school methods assume a crew of three or more.
While I still believe he and his wife should have gone ahead to learn the prescribed methods, he did have a point. The courses and student books do not really address the needs of the cruising couple. How in the world do you do all that needs doing on a cruising sailboat in a crew overboard situation, while maintaining sight of the victim and getting her/him back aboard quickly and safely?
Late into that night, I struggled to adapt the methods so a crew of one could save the life of her overboard mate.
What follows in subsequent posts are observations and methods I've learned and adapted from teaching crew overboard techniques to hundreds of sailing students over the past thirteen years. The boats on which training occurred included sloops, cutters and ketches, racing boats to cruising vessels, 23 feet to 47 feet.
While methods must be adapted to each boat, the principles remain constant.
With preparation and practice, you'll be prepared to cruise knowing that you stand the best chance possible of recovering your mate.
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