Doc on Deck

Preparing for, implementing crew overboard recovery

Doc on Deck

By Gino C. Bottino, M.D. 

For the last 10 years, most authorities have agreed on the main principles in preparing for, and implementing, a crew overboard recovery. The five phases of recovery are

  • establish and maintain visual contact,
  • provide flotation immediately,
  • stop the boat as soon as possible,
  • maneuver to approach the victim, and
  • effect recovery over the side.
  • All five should be done as quickly as possible.

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life jacket wear is crucial to boating safety

Always wear your life jacket on the water

A life jacket is your best insurance for going overboard

By Anthony Pozun

Steve Denniston, I and three other non-experienced adult sailors were aboard Capt. Ken Graf’s boat at a mooring in Northport, New York. The mainsail was up, luffing violently, and the boom was moving. Steve went forward to release the mooring lines, but the boat was sailing back and forth, making it difficult. He wasn’t wearing a life jacket.

Ken engaged the engine to push the boat forward to make it easier to release the lines. Despite the boat’s violent motion, Steve managed to release the lines. As he returned to the cockpit, the boat jibbed violently downwind; the boom swung across, striking him in the head and throwing him into the water.

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Boaters save a man overboard

Boaters save a man overboard

By Mike Moye

We had not taken our boat out much last summer, so we decided to take My Sharona to the Golden Isles Sail & Power Squadron/26 get-together at Brunswick Landing Marina. On the return trip to Jekyll Harbor Marina, the unthinkable happened.

Imagine the splash made by something falling from 185 feet above the water. We had never seen anything like it. From the helm Sharon spotted a stopped vehicle at the center span of the Sidney Lanier Bridge. Realizing that someone had fallen or jumped off the bridge, we went into rescue mode. We’re not trained first responders or Coast Guard rescue swimmers, but we had decades of boating experience as well as many United States Power Squadrons courses on boat handling and safety at sea at our disposal.

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