Rescue off Port Hardy

[Rockfish]

Lights on life-jackets key to rescue of four plucked from ocean off Port Hardy

The boaters had been in the water for 45 minutes when they were rescued

www.timescolonist.com

Waterproof lights attached to life jackets was a good idea. Good they were able to stay together in a heavy sea state. Well done by all those involved in the rescue.

 

[Gallivanter]

So glad that everyone was rescued

 

[kaelc]

I’ve been meaning to get automatic lights for my life jackets and kids. Good reminder.

Pretty awesome response, I know how stretched everyone is especially the ambulance service in remote comminuties. Plucking multiple people out of the water and transferring them is dam hard. I have got one guy out in an inlet and it wasn’t an easy job.

 

[Foxsea]

I’ve been meaning to get automatic lights for my life jackets and kids. Good reminder.

Pretty awesome response, I know how stretched everyone is especially the ambulance service in remote comminuties. Plucking multiple people out of the water and transferring them is dam hard. I have got one guy out in an inlet and it wasn’t an easy job.

Very difficult to retrieve cold bodies from rough water. You risk going in yourself and they cannot help themselves. The physics are all wrong. I'm very sympathetic to those that work on the water throughout the winter.

 

[kaelc]

Very difficult to retrieve cold bodies from rough water. You risk going in yourself and they cannot help themselves. The physics are all wrong. I'm very sympathetic to those that work on the water throughout the winter.

Yeah, so important to have a life ring to throw and probably a dingy but most people would have trouble getting into a dingy themselves once cold. Would love someone experience to share the best way to help someone hypothermic, if you don’t have the right hoisting gear and two strong people to haul them aboard.

 

[Rockfish]

After 45 minutes in winter water they are lucky to be alive unless they were also wearing suits. If not, I doubt that after that, any of them would be able to use the standard boarding methods on their own (ladder, rope assist, using the motor cavitation plate to step up and over the stern etc. even with one or two strong fit adults hauling on them from the boat, and my gunnels are way to high. Best bet on my boat would likely be trying to slide them on to the pod which has a large wide flat top just a little above sea level and once they were out of the water, over the transom and into the boat.

 

[Aquaholic]

After 45 minutes in winter water they are lucky to be alive unless they were also wearing suits. If not, I doubt that after that, any of them would be able to use the standard boarding methods on their own (ladder, rope assist, using the motor cavitation plate to step up and over the stern etc. even with one or two strong fit adults hauling on them from the boat, and my gunnels are way to high. Best bet on my boat would likely be trying to slide them on to the pod which has a large wide flat top just a little above sea level and once they were out of the water, over the transom and into the boat.

Even after getting pulled out, they would be like patients in a hospital bed, would need to be undressed and wrapped up, not able to do anything themselves. Totally reliant on the skills and efforts of the rescue teams.

 

[Foxsea]

Yeah, so important to have a life ring to throw and probably a dingy but most people would have trouble getting into a dingy themselves once cold. Would love someone experience to share the best way to help someone hypothermic, if you don’t have the right hoisting gear and two strong people to haul them aboard.

I have a winch post on the swim platform typically used to lift our inflatable up, once in the davits. I have imagined, for retrieving a person, that I could cilp the winch strap onto their vest, then pull them, tethered, up onto the platform. I have a diesel heater on-board for warmth and a stove for a warm drink, to help somewhat until they can get to hospital. For the uninitiated, the core temperature is critical. Avoid much warming at the limbs. BTW: Men are banned from peeing over the side on our boat.

However, I'm off the water all winter so no help.

 

[CIVANO]

Might be worth having a 'come a long' on board long enough to wrap around a rocket launcher and extend into the water with a hook to grab the back collar of the life vest. Just thinking outloud but i am old and my young crew are strong but in their 60's. I am going to work on this. You could have one guy crank and another lift to get them high enough to get on board.

 

[Aquaholic]

BTW: Men are banned from peeing over the side on our boat.

Wasn't there a study that showed how many men drown with their pants undone, thereby proving that peeing overboard and falling in was a real concern?

 

[Gong Show]

Back collar of a life vest or any piece is clothing will not lift a person out of the water.
Might slide them in a transom door like a Marlin.
You need a rope or webbing strap to get under the armpits.
Lifting dead weight from the water is very difficult. Practice during a warm day, then imagine it when cold and rough.

 

[ship happens]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how they were still alive being in there for 45 minutes especially in this cold snap

 

[trophywife]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how they were still alive being in there for 45 minutes especially in this cold snap

they where very close to the window of death. you basically have ten minutes to get your heart and breathing under control. if you can roll up in a ball and still be head buoyant, you will be lucky to live past the first hour. extremities rendered useless first, then organs.

 

[seachicken]

I used to work with a guy that was on a crew boat up there that had a window blow out (or in) and they managed to limp it into Hardy somehow. When I heard the story I was baffled the engine kept running. With the amount of water that came in I would imagine they were almost as cold in the boat as they would have been in the water outside the boat.

 

[Rain City]

they where very close to the window of death. you basically have ten minutes to get your heart and breathing under control. if you can roll up in a ball and still be head buoyant, you will be lucky to live past the first hour. extremities rendered useless first, then organs.

I heard the body will actually stay "alive" long after you've passed out and things start to fail. Most of the time though people don't manage to keep their face out of the water once they pass out.

 

[ship happens]

they where very close to the window of death. you basically have ten minutes to get your heart and breathing under control. if you can roll up in a ball and still be head buoyant, you will be lucky to live past the first hour. extremities rendered useless first, then organs.

Really makes you think about buying lights for life jackets. I'm gonna order a dozen

 

[Sharphooks]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how they were still alive being in there for 45 minutes especially in this cold snap

I was thinking the same thing. All 4 of them should be out buying lottery tickets before all that good luck runs out.

A few decades ago I spent 5 minutes in the Bering sea clinging to a ladder. I was completely lucid from the shoulders up but my entire body wasn't wired to the brain pan anymore. All I could do was keep a death grip on the rope ladder and wait for someone to see I was missing

 

[Flashman]

I've been kicking around getting these for a while.

rescueME MOB1

The Ocean Signal rescueME MOB1 AIS Man Overboard Beacon is the ultimate solution for marine safety, specifically designed to aid in SOS situations.

oceansignal.com

Both a light and AIS transmitter. AIS receivers aren't very common on recreational boats, but any commercial or coastguard vessels will get the signal. They get folded inside an inflatable PFD and transmit automatically when the PFD inflates.

This is a great deal on them, as it comes with a class B+ transceiver.

AISLink Marine AIS System with Ocean Signal MOB | ACR Electronics

The AISLink CB2 Class B+ marine AIS system features faster reporting rate and higher output power than prior generation Class B AIS Systems. Combining with the Ocean Signal MOB Locator Beacon, this is the best AIS system that includes man overboard safety.

www.acrartex.com

 

[Foxsea]

Back collar of a life vest or any piece is clothing will not lift a person out of the water.
Might slide them in a transom door like a Marlin.
You need a rope or webbing strap to get under the armpits.
Lifting dead weight from the water is very difficult. Practice during a warm day, then imagine it when cold and rough.

Our Mustang vests have tether points so are suitable for assisting in retrieval. More common with sailors.

 

[Unreel]

These guys are so lucky its crazy. Someone made a near fatal mistake of deciding to go out on the water in a storm with high winds and big seas. Im not sure of the area but could this have been a fish farm boat? The fact they were taking waves over the bow big enough to take out their windows tells you everything you need to know here. They should never have been out there in the first place and the first few waves over the front should have been enough for the captain to turn around. At least they had time to put on proper life jackets otherwise this would be a very different ending. This story is all to familiar to those that work on the water. Huge respect to those that came to the rescue of these guys too.