Foredeck safety on our Bertram 31's

[Amberjack]

I posted about this to Peter Schauss' topic about top deck side rails but I think it needs a separate topic of its own. Maybe this discussion will keep one of the brethren out of situations like mine in the future.

First the story, then the lesson: We were headed up Malaspina Strait in 15-20 knots wind with a small adverse tidal flow so sea conditions were very lumpy. I tucked in behind an 80' pleasure yacht out of Nanaimo and rode his relatively smoother water to the north end of the strait to Grief Point where he veered toward Campbell River and we peeled off toward Powell River. As we pulled away the large boat radioed us that our front window canvas cover was loose and the snaps were beating against the plexiglass corner panels so after thinking about it (not enough apparently!) I throttled down to idle and my wife held the nose into the wind while I went forward to secure the canvas. It was still blowing with strong wave action but I figured I could get out to the foredeck and back if careful. I was working on the canvas when the boat started rolling really badly as well as pitching, possibly wake action from two boats that had been behind us. There is NOTHING to hold onto on the foredeck of a Bertram 31 so I wound up spreadeagled against the top deck brow until the rolling settled down although we were still pitching badly. The trip back around the deck house was just as deadly because as we all know there is nothing to hold onto as you go around the corner onto the side deck until you can reach the side grab rails. I figured there was a 1 in 4 chance of going over the side and if I did there was a good chance it would kill me. Its amazing how the brain speeds up and sorts through the options when under extreme stress. Unfortunately none of the options were good.

The lesson I learned: Make better decisions! It was only an old canvas windscreen cover and a few dings in the plexiglass wouldn't have been the end of the world. Sea conditions were marginal and there was no way anyone should have been on the foredeck. I thought I was smarter than that but I made an emotional rather than analytical decision and almost paid the price. I'm posting this so if any of the brethren find themselves in a similar situation they will make better decisions than I did. And I'm gonna add hand holds to the leading edge of the deck house.

[Tommy]

Doug, thank you for sharing this account as I’m sure it will cause others (including myself) to think twice in a similar situation. I guess your wife was traumatized as well. Glad you both are on this side of the event,

[Tony Meola]

Doug

When it is snotty, I have always found that if safe run down sea and slow down. With the deep V letting the seas pass under the stern i have found a nasty situation gets a little less nasty.

Then use the hatch to get in and out if not safe to walk down the sides.

Also please wear a life jacket. No matter what boat it is never safe going forward even in calm seas.

[mike ohlstein]

You're 100 miles off shore. The forecast was for a beautiful day, a beautiful night, and another beautiful day. You tie up to a lobster pot and two hours after the sun goes down, a storm the likes of which you hoped you would never see, hits.

Think it can't happen? Think again. Guess how I know.

When (before, really) it gets extra snotty, run a 1/2" line from a stern cleat to the bow cleat. If you need to go up to the bow, wear a harness (inflatable or not), and use an elastic safety line to clip yourself to the line. Actually you can run lines down both sides. That way you can go anywhere on the boat without worrying about ever finding yourself more than 6 feet from the hull. In any event, always wear the harness such that the rings are at your belly, not your back.

I know that guys with no bow rails think that they can do everything that might need to be done anywhere on the boat from the relative safety of the hatch.... but in fact, you can't. Not only that but on a low gunnel boat like the 31, it's possible to be thrown out of the cockpit. It's 4AM, there's someone puking in the head, and you have to take a leak. Attach yourself to the boat.....

[Tony Meola]

Mike

Do you keep that rope slack until you go forward, or does it lay on the gunnel when tight? Otherwise I would think that it would be in the way a while fishing.

[Charlie J]

mike
was this the last time I was out with you
that was a pretty shitty nite

[Rawleigh]

My boat has two SS grab handles located on the front corners of the cabin top, so that you have something to hold onto as you go around the curved part to the bow, as well as the usual SS rail down the die of the bridge.

[Amberjack]

Good comments and yes, we both always wear state of the art hydrodynamic PFD's whenever underway and also carry a LifeSling but once in the water things would have escalated dramatically. Water temp probably 55F, windy, lumpy--even though my wife is smart (smarter than me), a competent boat handler and strong she would have had to turn the boat, come up to me in the water, get down from the bridge before I drifted away again, then haul me--probably hypothermic by then--out by herself. Every year in the PNW we loose a boater, usually sailboat racers, who go over the side wearing PFD's but the crew can't get them back aboard in time.

The jackstay-harness solution makes a lot of sense but I don't want to string a system like that on my boat for very occasional use. From now on we'll stick with the simple rule of no one on the foredeck until inside the breakwater.

[SteveM]

Good advice Mike.
I could see setting up a line for when I cross the Gulf Stream and having a Safety Tether on hand.

It is not easy to retrieve something off the side of the boat in the ocean, let alone not have someone dedicated at the helm.

[mike ohlstein]

mike
was this the last time I was out with you
that was a pretty shitty nite

That was a good one Charlie, but I've been in much worse.

[mike ohlstein]

Mike

Do you keep that rope slack until you go forward, or does it lay on the gunnel when tight? Otherwise I would think that it would be in the way a while fishing.

I only string it up if conditions start getting hairy. My gunnels a totally clear. Fold down cleats and nothing else.

http://www.flattopcleats.com

[Tooeez]

It is surprisingly difficult to maneuver a boat close enough to a person in the water to recover them without running them over--and the snottier or darker it is, the harder it gets. Like most things, a little practice goes along way if the real thing ever happens. Way back when I worked on a rescue vessel, and we used to run regular drills to recover a MOB. I would grab a big fender, and without any warning would yell to the crew "Look, I'm this fender, and I just went overboard!", and throw the fender over the side. The goal was for the crew to get around as quickly as possible, and get close enough to hit the fender with a life ring without having the fender hit the boat.
I did the same thing on my boat with my 2 kids as they grew up, and with the wife. If you have a regular crew it's worth spending an hour on a nice day sometime to practice--you never know, someday you might be the fender!

[Yannis]

I was told by a friend who did Shipmaster in the UK, that they were told by their instructor that the chances of recuperating a MOB at night in a bad weather were close to 2%. Yikes....

[SteveM]

Mike,

Are your outriggers mounted to the fiberglass overhang?
I recently noticed a boat in Jupiter with this setup and I believe I would like to change my riggers to this.
Pic of boat here:

1. It's off the gunnels and sides where it's very tight to walk already. The added aluminum and the rigging I currently have really gets in the way of walking to the bow.
2. I now live near the Boynton inlet where it has an 18' fixed bridge, and I'd like to easily fold back my riggers instead of flopping them out.
Yeah, the current method of going through the inlet is to drop my riggers out. That inlet sucks enough, but you add the riggers out...and the drift boat is coming in hogging the whole inlet, it would suck. That inlet is only about 100' wide I believe.

[mike ohlstein]

Yes, they are. They don't have the stiffness of poles with guy wires, but I like the flex. They take 8 seconds to deploy (each). I think that they were white. I painted them black.