Online Book: Person Overboard Prevention & Recovery

Assuming that we have decided to buy and use auto-inflated lifejackets, we have yet another decision to make: Which of the two available activation devices should we select, hydrostatic or dissolved tablet? John interviews an expert and makes a selection.

The Quick Stop person overboard recovery maneuver has become the standard taught in most every safety at sea seminar. But how effective is the method really likely to be, particularly for short handed crews offshore? John takes a look.

So now that we have bought AIS Person Overboard Alarms, all is safe and good, right? No, not really. We also need to make sure that we are going to get an alarm on the boat that will set a rescue in motion. And that’s a lot more complex than just relying on a beep from our AIS receiver or plotter. But never fear, John has done the research, come up with a good solution, sailed with it for a season, and even made a video of a live alarm test.

John believes that AIS person overboard beacons are the biggest advance in person overboard (POB) recovery in his lifetime.
That said, we have recently discover two issues that meant that for much (maybe most) of the first season after we fitted them to the Spinlock lifejacket/harnesses that we wear at pretty much all times when underway, they would not have self-activated.
And while most of the fault lies with us, our experience does bring to light two potential problems that others relying on the auto-activation features of the MOB1 beacon from Ocean Signal, particularly those who bought before mid 2018, need to be aware of.

A recent tragedy, together with excellent work by Drew Frye over at Practical Sailor, has exposed a dangerous weakness in a snap hook used on tethers by many offshore sailors. John explains the problem and calls on manufacturers to take the lead on getting these hooks off boats.

John and Phyllis believe that AIS person overboard beacons are the single greatest advance in recovery technology in their lifetimes. But which one to buy: SeaAngel or Ocean Signal MOB1? John compares the two and ends with a recommendation.