erice 732 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 A Northland man survived hours in the water after he was swept off the back of a yacht while relieving himself with his ship-mates sleeping below decks. Langs Beach man Todd Vercoe, 36, was forced to swim to shore after he fell off the back of a yacht he and two others were sailing to Tutukaka, near Whangarei, on Saturday evening. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/1003304 ... -for-hours Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 One very lucky Guy. He must have been a very Powerful swimmer to cover 5 to 6Kms in 2hrs. I think we should nominate him for the Olympics This does bring up an interesting angle to the argument of Lifejacket. I don't know about you guys, but swimming 5Km with a lifejacket on would be impossible for most. Unless it was a deflated inflatable. But if it was inflated and he bobbed around out there for the same period of time before rescue, I doubt he would have survived Hypothermia and it would have been much harder to have been spotted. Getting himself to shore certainly saved his life. Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,584 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 On deck alone a harness would be a better idea. Link to post Share on other sites
Grinna 2 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Rule #1: Don't leave the boat As far as lifejackets go, I have a personal preference for manual inflation PFDs so that you have an option of inflating them when and if you want. I know others here may have a differing view. It is interesting to note that Coastguard units insist in their on-water people wearing inflatable PFDs but they all manually inflatable. Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I agree Grinna! My manual jacket has all the extras - hood, knife, light, PLB etc, and you can swim in it, but more efficiently without it. Be a brave call to discard it if in the water though! ALWAYS clip on when on deck alone! That's the rule, but I'm sure we have all broken it on occasion. He was very lucky he was a good swimmer and not further out! Link to post Share on other sites
waikiore 399 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Yes it seems that they were close enough in, sometimes the motion when motoring can be more treacherous than when under sail... The old bucket in the cockpit of course is a safer option than perching on the gunwhale for a slash when you are alone. Link to post Share on other sites
John B 106 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Someone must know what sort of boat it is by now? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 One good thing about outboards in cockpit wells, the wells are very multi purpose and at times a very handy option when talking safety. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 The price you pay for pissing over the transom! Why do so many sailors not use the "head" they payed for and spend hours maintaining.? A three metre walk would have been easier that a 6 k swim. Link to post Share on other sites
Chewing Gum 17 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Happened to Chris Bouzaid from memory. Around NZ we used a one litre milk bottle with the top cut off and attached to a piece of line. Link to post Share on other sites
John B 106 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 What with the stuff article saying yacht/ sailing and "motors" and 5 or 6 k, and the Herald saying 1 k A much more sensible article here . Steel yacht , so a cruising type and very unlikely to have a race boat type open transom. I wonder if he hopped out on a boarding platform. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advo ... d=11253421 Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,584 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1tgvo ... lets_sport scary sh*t Link to post Share on other sites
Battgirl 23 Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Yes BP a great reminder that its always best to stay onboard the boat scary stuff for sure Link to post Share on other sites
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