All Hands on Deck - Crew Overboard Procedures
"I watched with horror and stunned disbelief as the wave carried her aft. I leaped after her. She was already most the way off the boat when the backs of her legs snagged the upper lifeline. A split second later I had a death grip on her thighs. I tried to drag her back into the boat, but I couldn't overcome the force of the water." - John Kretschmer from Sailing a Serious Ocean After reading many sailing blogs and books and talking to lots of people, I'm pretty certain that the following three fears are prominent among many sailors: 1) Big (really big) waves 2) Sinking/capsizing 3) Crew overboard Today I'm going to summarize our crew-overboard procedure. I'm doing so both to share it with you and to make sure it's clear in our own heads and hopefully refine it based on feedback from readers. First, let me say that I truly believe most crew-overboard emergencies can be avoided completely by careful planning, safety equipment and aware...