Last Wednesday I was pottering on my boat on the mooring at Woodford Bay, a nice sheltered Sydney Harbour bay, with many moorings. I was head down in a locker, trying to sort out an engine speed control cable, when I thought I heard a cry of "Help". Woodford Bay is surrounded by many up-market homes with renos going on, and it is not unusual to hear tradies shouting to each other. Also my hearing is not wonderful, so I thought I misheard. However, it kept on, so got up to the cockpit and called out, and yes, it was someone in the water.
Luckily, the horseshoe lifering was to hand, so I threw it into the dinghy and rowed towards the sound. As I approached, I could see someone hanging onto the bottom of the stern boarding ladder of a Swanson 28. It was a solidly built older gentleman, and he had slipped and fallen in whilst trying to board his dinghy. The dinghy had tipped, and the bouyancy chambers had leaked, so now the dinghy was hanging vertically under water, attached by the painter to the boarding ladder.
My f/glass dinghy is not stable or big enough to allow boarding by a big bloke over the transom, so the only option was to tow the man to the shore, which was only about 150m away. He told me he had crook knees, and could not swim that far. The life ring was great, and calmed him down. He was able to hang on to my stern painter, and I could tow him to the shore, where he used the dinghy to help stand up and could wade ashore to a convenient seat. I was concerned about shock/hypothermia so I told him to sit in the sun and warm up.
I rowed back to the boat and retrieved his oars and very worn rubber croc type shoes, which were floating nearby. By the time I returned he was being attended by the boys in blue- someone must have also heard his cries.
Lessons:
* He was not wearing a life jacket as required by NSW law.
* Loose rubber shoes with worn soles are a killer on a boat.
* Make sure the bouyancy tanks on a dinghy actually work
* Last but not least, have a system which allows your boarding ladder to work when you are in the water. He had a fold-down ladder, which, if lowered down, would have allowed him to climb back on board his yacht. It was tied up at the top, way out of reach! These fold-down ladders are a topic on their own, as you want them secure, as people can step on the wrong rung when tied up, but also need to be able to be lowered from the water.

He was lucky it was a lovely day with no wind or tide, and somebody else around. The police could have called the water police launch, but who knows how long that would have taken.

Yara...Well Done on Your Quick Thinking and Assistance !!
You Were Luckily In a Place To Rescue The Guy From a Potentially Fatal Outcome..

Also Very Good Advice We Should All Heed!!

Another Act Of Being A Top Guy.. Another One For The Goid Kalma Bank !!

The Guy Should Buy You a Six Pack!!

Thanks For Sharing!!

I Appreciate Your Generously Of The Yachting You Sent Me, Free !!

Cheers Mate!!

Kind Regards,

Michael

Old mate was lucky you were there Yara ! & a good reminder re slip hazards, dingy bouyancy & most important reboarding, I believe in the USA it's mandatory to be able to reboard solo. And lets face it who wants to drown looking at the topsides
wishing there was a slip knot or something to release a ladder / duck board

LifeJacket !! - Best if a comfortable Bouyancy Vest = Hobie Kayaking Vest
- Noticed that Grith had crew wearing Hobies,out in the Whitsundays -
Always have my Hobie on as leaving shore,having had a similiar situation,and am not a good swimmer .
Gives you the option of floating ashore,rather than awaiting help/drowning !!
+ Beware of rubbery crocs,although the water crocs with velcro strap are ideal .

Mason

I reckon if you can't swim to shore, then an inflatable bouyancy vest is a must. I never wear one when rowing out to the boat because they are a pain for me when rowing, make it harder to board the boat from the water, and I can swim and board my boat from the water no worries. It's a stupid law I am happy to break every time I go out on the water. (The closest I came to drowning was because a life jacket caught me under a dinghy as a kid - centreboard down the front as I pulled the boat up). I have a good mate who always wears his lifejacket, because he is not fit and is overweight, so it is super important for him to wear an inflatable at all times. It is important to know what you can and can't do. But wearing shoes - that is a definite no no from me!The guy is lucky to be alive, so well done. Hopefully he wakes up to what he can and cannot do before he goes out again.

Great job! Hope you get an award or some recognition.

I row out while wearing a $60 Watersnake inflatable. I don't find it restricts rowing and I hardly notice it. Why would you wear crocs instead of aqua shoes? Mine cost $10 from BigW and they're comfortable and grippy. First thing I do is attach one of these ladders to the rails. At least I have something to grab if I topple over.
www.ebay.com.au/itm/295526726308

On the boarding ladder subject last week as I was getting off boat the top step of my boarding ladder broke, then my feet fell through it onto the next step which broke and I went through them all until I was hanging onto toe rail knee deep in the drink. If not for my gf already being in the dinghy and swinging it under me I would have been swimming fully clothed. Lucky she was in a good mood. Now I'm looking for a decent boarding ladder solution if anyone has suggestions. Maybe a rope one but they are awkward. There are steps on the stern but it's hard to swing your feet up high enough to use them. It can be done,, I tried it. But difficult. Need a better way.

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Silent Hunter said..
Great job! Hope you get an award or some recognition.

I row out while wearing a $60 Watersnake inflatable. I don't find it restricts rowing and I hardly notice it. Why would you wear crocs instead of aqua shoes? Mine cost $10 from BigW and they're comfortable and grippy. First thing I do is attach one of these ladders to the rails. At least I have something to grab if I topple over.
www.ebay.com.au/itm/295526726308

Rope ladders or the strap type on eBay are OK if you can reach the gunwale with one hand. Otherwise if you try them in a bit of current or waves you don't have a chance. I have one of those combination fender step ladder units that are OK if the lower edge is kept just above the water. I tried it with a rope strop on the bottom down about 400mm to get my first foot hold but in current it was no good. What ever method you use there is a need for upper body strength and a need to have a good first hand hold. In cold water you might only get one chance to pull yourself up so it pays to give yourself the best possible chance.
I can climb up my windvane self steering gear but it still takes a lot of upper body strength and when you get old you don't have the stamina to fool about!

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Trek said..
On the boarding ladder subject last week as I was getting off boat the top step of my boarding ladder broke, then my feet fell through it onto the next step which broke and I went through them all until I was hanging onto toe rail knee deep in the drink. If not for my gf already being in the dinghy and swinging it under me I would have been swimming fully clothed. Lucky she was in a good mood. Now I'm looking for a decent boarding ladder solution if anyone has suggestions. Maybe a rope one but they are awkward. There are steps on the stern but it's hard to swing your feet up high enough to use them. It can be done,, I tried it. But difficult. Need a better way.

A sliding or swing down ladder is really the only solution. The first step needs to be 40 to 50 cm under the water. A lanyard down low on the stern to release the ladder.
This is my mates Cole 42 with a very clever fold down alloy unit he has welded on to the stern

Well done, Yara; I had to do a similar rescue at Batemans Bay a few years ago and as in your case, the guy was too big to get into the dinghy so had to hang on while I motored it. Interestingly he was able to re-board his boat via its metal ladder although he hadn't been able to swim well enough to stop himself getting swept to sea.

Being on a boat when you can't swim to shore or re-board by yourself is effectively like working at height, in that a fall creates a serious risk of injury or worse. If people could be relaxed in that situation then they're braver than I am.

Incidentally, I was Google drowning incidents this morning when I saw a forum comment from a guy who ran the US Sailing's rescue medal programme. He noted that the old claim that most sailors who die from drowning have their flies undone is complete bulldust - in a study of US Sailing's MOB rescue database of 200+ incidents not a single one involved a hint of someone piddling over the side.
That seems right since, I have never ever been able to find any evidence or source for the claim. The fact that writers repeat something so wrong constantly says something about the careless way many people study safety when sailing.

Thinking about swing-down rigid boarding ladders, I have come to the conclusion that you need two rope or bungee restraints-one one either side.
I have yellow paint on the moving rungs to differentiate the correct rung to use when the swinging part is up. However, it is possible for someone to step on the wrong rung, so it needs to be secure. Only one restraint could come loose, so two is a factor of safety. Simple ropes with their knots close to the water are relatively easy to undo. Multiple rope turns mean that the force on the knot is small, which should also make it easy to undo.

BTW the Swanson 28 is a very high freeboard boat, so reaching up to the gunwale is almost impossible from the water.

On my stern I have one of those cheap plastic steps halfway up the Port side. Gives you something to hold onto while your in the water and gives you the chance to pull yourself up to reach the toe rail. That"s my boat to the right above. The toe rail is still a reasonable height above the water and if your old and overweight your going to be in trouble.

I have used these a few times when pushing off the beach . A light bungee cord holds it folded as shown but can be folded into the cockpit as well. J

While I was out sailing yesterday I was flicking through an "Afloat" magazine and came across an ad that might interest people.

www.sosmarine.com/product/sos-recovery-ladder/

It might provide some inspiration to create your own!

Inflatable vests are great, but less useful if they're the manual version. I wouldn't feel safe unless they're auto inflate, and regularly serviced.
Manual inflate mechanism won't work to well if you manage to knock yourself unconscious on the way into the drink.