Best Lifesling Tackle Attachment Point on CD-22?

Thanks for the pix and ideas. Merv, have you tested this in a self-rescue mode?

Just thinking out loud here -- how about an inflatable platform that you put under your feet or your butt while in the water and yank a lanyard to inflate?

Warren
 
Warren,

I have not tested it on myself or on anyone else, yet! No real excuse for not doing apart from cold water. But I guess if I could do it on the trailer it would also work at sea. The only issue I see so far is getting sufficient clearance for the POB's butt to be able to swing it inboard. If this proves to be a problem, there is always one higher rung on the radar arch I can try or I could have people sit in the lifesling if they were capable. A Bosuns chair would also work.

However I do like your idea of attaching an inflatable to someone's feet and then yanking on it and I do have a couple of test "dummies" I would dearly like to try it on !!! :twisted:

Ideally we would all wear full safety harness.

Bottom line for me is if the POB is in real danger, they should be happy even if I gaff them !!

Merv
 
New Year's Day - '69 or maybe '70 - Just outside Ala Wai Harbor (Honolulu, Hi) - we were hailed by a sailboat (est 25+ ft). 3 adults visible on the boat. As we approached they told us they had found a non-responsive diver floating in the water, and were UNABLE to get him aboard their boat. We eased alongside and got hold of this person. The sailboat folks told us they would radio for an ambulance to meet us if we could take this person in, and pulled away. (Small open boats didn't carry 2-way radios in those days.) We had a 13' Boston Whaler, and with 3 30-something scuba enthusiasts aboard, had no problem getting this long, lanky young man into the boat along with his double 72's and other gear. He was alive and groaned a bit but said nothing, and just curled up in the fetal position in the bottom of the boat.

We got back to the pier ASAP and the ambulance was waiting. I spoke to the EMT's and suggested this was a diving incident and to consider Sub Base, Pearl Harbor becasue a decompression chamber was available there. The EMTs took the guy and we said we would hold his gear for him. He seemed OK when he came to pick it up a week or so later.

After the inflatable (our 1st boat) and the Whaler, our boats had good boarding ladders and we were pretty good at helping diving buddies aboard if they needed help.

Fast forward to present - the northern Pacific is cold, the Loose Nut presents fair amount of freeboard when viewed from waterline on the wet side - We do have some stuff - like a rope ladder that has never been wet and some odds and ends of line - but when Whiskeytown Lake warms up a bit next spring we have promised ourselves to hit the water and learn what we really can and can't do in a MOB situation before we head for the big blue pond for the summer.

Thanks to the folks already working on this, we are watching your posts closely. Love these C-Brats for sharing!

Marcia
 
This is interesting stuff. I tend to boat alone alot so I focus on first of all how to stay in the boat and second how to get back aboard. There was an interesting article in Pacific yachting about how to make a plan. In the North West it has to be a 10 min plan. That is all you can count on your muscles working. After 10 mins you will no longer have the strength or muscle control to help yourself. Quite honestly there are so many variables it is impossible to forsee them all. Using a sling might work at the dock but what about 3 or 4 foot seas? Is someone at the helm or is the rescuer the captain in which case the boat is flopping around out of control while a someone is trying to hoist a 200lb guy aboard. Scary stuff.
Ryder
 
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