Manoverboard
and Search Patterns
I
was asked "What is the purpose of the Mersar/Imasar manual?"
I
replied that it gave information to get hold of a person in the
water in any condition of visibility
I told this person it's not the ship your after or the liferaft
but the man inside it, you can always get another ship
A
friend of mine was asked this question during an M.C.A. oral
exam, what would you do if you saw a man fall overboard?
He
answered - you want me to tell you about all the technique of
retrieving a man from the water, he then told the captain I
would do all in my physical power to retrieve this man from
the water as if it was my own brother that was in the water
He
then told the captain, until I was in that position of trying
to get a man out of the water, I couldn't tell you what techniques
I would use, I would need to take the following into consideration
- the height of the waves, wind strength, tide and most important
the condition of the man in the water
Manoverboard
Turn
your vessel towards the side the man fell over, so your taking
your propeller away from him
Take
the man alongside your boat so the man is on the weather side
of your boat
If
you stop your boat, you will drift away from the man and not
run over him
Taking
a man on the leeside is not advisable - in saying that and under
extreme circumstances you might have too, if you see the man
is going under, you then have no choice but to take him on what
ever side is nearest him
Remember
to have heaving lines ready and if you get a chance throw anything
that floats towards the man in the water
Have
an old tyre with a long rope attached to it ready to lower into
the water - have the other end of the rope into a power-block
with a responsible man operating it to take the man out of the
water
Depending
on which side the man fell overboard, we will use your starboard
side for learning purposes just now and assume that your going
Due North (000 degrees)
Turn
your vessel hard to starboard until you see 060 degrees on your
compassThen alter hard to port until you see 200 degrees on
your compass (20 degrees short of your reciprocal course)
Then
square your helm to amidships
The
man should be on your stem
Keep
a good look out and slow your vessel down to minimum speed as
you could run over him
Parallel
Search with 1 or more boats
|
Search
with one vessel |
Search
with 2 vessels |
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|
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How
can do you do a parallel search with 1 boat you may ask? - easy
you do the same as you would do with 2 or more boats
Switch
on your quad computer or your video plotter, when you arrive
at datum, stop your vessel, put in an event mark using your
manoverboard button on the screen, now start your tracking on
the screen and watch the way your vessel is drifting due to
the wind and/or tide (This is where you should start to look
for the casualty) he will also drift the same way as the wind/tide
Watch
for any E.P.I.R.B. distress beacons in the area as well as S.A.R.T.'s
if its a vessel that has went down
As
long as you know where datum is (datum is where all the relevant
information from where the vessel/manoverboard was)
Start
your search upwind of datum and start a parallel search going
downwind towards datum
If
using 2 or more vessels then you can both open the search and
search a wider area
if
more than 2 boats, the other vessels will do the same search
your doing and carry on the next available track on the outside
of the last vessel
Sector
Search
This
is another search to find a casualty at sea
We
will assume that your still going due North (000 degrees)
Work
out what distances you will be going according to the weather
conditions (We are going to use 1 mile)
Start
at Datum and always go to starboard
Go
North for 1 mile
Alter
120 degrees to starboard, go down this track for 1 mile
Alter
120 degrees to starboard, do down this track for 2 miles going
through datum
Alter
120 degrees to starboard, go down this track for 1 mile
Alter
120 degrees to starboard, do down this track for 2 miles going
through datum
Alter
120 degrees to starboard, go down this track for 1 mile
Alter
120 degrees to starboard, go down this track for 1 mile
Alter
060 degrees to starboard and do the same all over again
How
do you know what search to do, and what distances would you
make it before turning your vessel?
There
are 3 things to find out
(1)
What are you looking for?
(2)
What is the weather and wave height
(3)
How long since they where last seen (where is datum)
If
its a man your looking for any search you do must be kept really
tight even in a nice dayIf
its a liferaft your looking for the search must still be tight
especially in a poor day, the height of the wave could easy hide
a liferaftIf
its a ship and depending on its size then the search can be opened
up
Strong
winds and tide will make the job of finding the causalities a
lot harderThe
wave height - a mans head will at the most stick out of the water
no more that 16 inches and that's with him wearing a life jacket
When
was the last information you received about the casualty, the
longer you take to get to datum the further he will be drifting
away from datum
Lets
assume you picked a distress from an EPIRB and your making for
it, you arrived at the EPIRB and the vessel has sunk, if you
stop your vessel and switch on your video plotter, now put in
an event mark and start your tracking, this will let you know
the direction the vessel/liferaft/men are drifting
This
should be your first leg of your search
If
you start a parallel search going down wind by yourself you should
be making your way down towards the casualty (Single boat parallel
search) |
