Having a good working relationship with your first mate is key in these stressful moments. Alex trusted you, followed instructions and used his then spare capacity to focus on the secondary agenda, but only informed you when you needed to know👍
Thank you for sharing a real life experience that reinforces not only the need for a well structured plan but also emphasizing maintaining composure to formulate alternatives when the initial plan cannot be executed for various reasons.
Applies to many facets of life.
A few questions come to my mind regarding your specific experience and your preferences. First, do you prefer the lookout/pointer to verbalize location & distance in addition to pointing?
Second, how would you have handled getting the crew member back on board if she was injured and unable to utilize the life-sling?
And, do you have any methods you utilize during COB training that somewhat raises the stress level of the crew during the exercise?
Thank you so much for creating this community where you share your knowledge and experience.
Thank you for being brave and joining the discussion! I love that. And with some great questions. Answers below:
1. Lookout/pointer verbalising info is great as it reminds the person in charge that they still have visual on the casualty. Silence leaves ambiguity. So every 30 seconds just a “I have visual” or “visual decreasing” is great. Even better would be an approximate distance and relative bearing to the boat “5 boat lengths at 7pm” - but that could be quite a big ask for someone under pressure!
2. If the crew member couldn’t utilise the life sling … well hindsight is a wonderful thing! I hope I’d have had the resolve to make these plans on the fly but I can’t be sure for sure. I am confident that within the crew we would have thought up something even if it didn’t come from me!
Reflecting now, my plan B would have been to essentially “lasso” the casualty; drop a large loop of a rope that would sink around their armpits. Plan C: Heel the boat (tightening the main sheet & crew weight over) harder to leeward, clip a crew member on to the jackstay, get them to lean over and see if they could clip the COB to the boat via their life jacket. Once clipped I’d have hoisted them or dragged them over the back.
3. To confirm I understand the question: would you like to know how to raise or lower the crew stress levels?
Thank you for your insightful answers to my questions. In regard to #3, I was curious if you had a method you utilize during COB drills to increase the stress level so the drill is as near as possible to a real life scenario.
High stress levels are not good learning environments. Be clear of the goal.
Are you pushing the team to see how they respond under high stress? 'The Test'
Are you rehearsing how to recover someone for practice: 'The Drill'.
Both are useful. The drill needs to be done a lot more frequently. The Test is pointless until the drill has become autopilot. Then the Test will reveal any gaps that need more practice.
The 'drill' - doesn't need to be stressful. But, there are a few things you can do to keep people 'on their toes'. Try throwing in a last minute 'unexpected' during each drill. Examples: casualty falls unconscious once they recover them; 'now figure out how to get them down below!' Or maybe - 'halyard snaps', 'lifejacket broken' etc.
The 'test' - this should be stressful. Don't manufacture the stress though. You are on a boat and there are plenty of stressful situations already at your fingertips. So, throw in an MOB drill perhaps during a spinnaker drop, or whilst reefing at night. Another idea: get one of your crew to choose when the MOB 'test' happens. That way you get to practice too. That one was inspired by a friend of mine.
Great rescue, glad it ended well for everyone.
Also, well written. My own heart rate went up reading it, despite the “spoiler”. :)
Thank you Aravind. Always grateful to receive notes like this. It keeps me motivated! Glad it was entertaining.
Having a good working relationship with your first mate is key in these stressful moments. Alex trusted you, followed instructions and used his then spare capacity to focus on the secondary agenda, but only informed you when you needed to know👍
Completely agree. We are only as strong as our support systems!
Nikki,
Thank you for sharing a real life experience that reinforces not only the need for a well structured plan but also emphasizing maintaining composure to formulate alternatives when the initial plan cannot be executed for various reasons.
Applies to many facets of life.
A few questions come to my mind regarding your specific experience and your preferences. First, do you prefer the lookout/pointer to verbalize location & distance in addition to pointing?
Second, how would you have handled getting the crew member back on board if she was injured and unable to utilize the life-sling?
And, do you have any methods you utilize during COB training that somewhat raises the stress level of the crew during the exercise?
Thank you so much for creating this community where you share your knowledge and experience.
Hi Mike,
Thank you for being brave and joining the discussion! I love that. And with some great questions. Answers below:
1. Lookout/pointer verbalising info is great as it reminds the person in charge that they still have visual on the casualty. Silence leaves ambiguity. So every 30 seconds just a “I have visual” or “visual decreasing” is great. Even better would be an approximate distance and relative bearing to the boat “5 boat lengths at 7pm” - but that could be quite a big ask for someone under pressure!
2. If the crew member couldn’t utilise the life sling … well hindsight is a wonderful thing! I hope I’d have had the resolve to make these plans on the fly but I can’t be sure for sure. I am confident that within the crew we would have thought up something even if it didn’t come from me!
Reflecting now, my plan B would have been to essentially “lasso” the casualty; drop a large loop of a rope that would sink around their armpits. Plan C: Heel the boat (tightening the main sheet & crew weight over) harder to leeward, clip a crew member on to the jackstay, get them to lean over and see if they could clip the COB to the boat via their life jacket. Once clipped I’d have hoisted them or dragged them over the back.
3. To confirm I understand the question: would you like to know how to raise or lower the crew stress levels?
Nikki
Thank you for your insightful answers to my questions. In regard to #3, I was curious if you had a method you utilize during COB drills to increase the stress level so the drill is as near as possible to a real life scenario.
Hi Mike. Interesting question.
High stress levels are not good learning environments. Be clear of the goal.
Are you pushing the team to see how they respond under high stress? 'The Test'
Are you rehearsing how to recover someone for practice: 'The Drill'.
Both are useful. The drill needs to be done a lot more frequently. The Test is pointless until the drill has become autopilot. Then the Test will reveal any gaps that need more practice.
The 'drill' - doesn't need to be stressful. But, there are a few things you can do to keep people 'on their toes'. Try throwing in a last minute 'unexpected' during each drill. Examples: casualty falls unconscious once they recover them; 'now figure out how to get them down below!' Or maybe - 'halyard snaps', 'lifejacket broken' etc.
The 'test' - this should be stressful. Don't manufacture the stress though. You are on a boat and there are plenty of stressful situations already at your fingertips. So, throw in an MOB drill perhaps during a spinnaker drop, or whilst reefing at night. Another idea: get one of your crew to choose when the MOB 'test' happens. That way you get to practice too. That one was inspired by a friend of mine.
Thank you for the insight of distinguishing between ‘The Test’ and ‘The Drill’. Very helpful and much appreciated.