Falling in

[blackrose]

As a non swimmer I am constantly amazed at the risks people take when on water.

 

Well, we're all constantly amazed that there are non-swimmers risking their lives on boats!

Edited July 4, 2011 by blackrose

[keble]

We could probably do with some lessons on getting someone out of the water. I was discussing this very subject with a fellow boater who was once a life guard. He explained a technique, which he had to use when his wife fell in; it involves pushing the victim down then catching them on the rise and crucially turning them. I think. I'll go and look on You Tube

[nb Innisfree]

I sometimes wonder if being able to swim is more risky, giving people a false sense of security, a healthy fear of water can be a life saver.

[blackrose]

I sometimes wonder if being able to swim is more risky, giving people a false sense of security, a healthy fear of water can be a life saver.

 

Really? So I wonder what the point of all those primary school swimming lassons was?

 

I don't think swimmers don't want to fall in either - but if you do then knowing how to stay afloat in deep water and get across to the bank can be a life saver too.

Edited July 4, 2011 by blackrose

[nb Innisfree]

Really? So I wonder what the point of all those primary school swimming lassons was?

 

I don't think swimmers don't want to fall in either - but if you do then knowing how to stay afloat in deep water and get across to the bank can be a life saver too.

 

I suppose school lessons are an attempt to reduce death by drowning, but that's my point, maybe being able to swim increases the chance of falling in, also we keep hearing of swimmers getting into difficulties and paying the price. Being able to get to the bank can be handy but not being in that situation in the first place is handier still, I wonder how many don't bother with a life jacket because they can swim. Just a thought that's all

[mrsmelly]

A few things to think about in the brief period between knowing that you have gone past the point of no return and actually entering the water:

 

[*]The canal is rarely that deep, so don't try swimming, STAND UP. (This may not be the case in rivers).

 

 

 

Try standing up in,

 

The Aire and Calder

The Stainforth and Keadby

Sheffield south yorkshire

New junction

Manchester ship

Gloucester and sharpness

Caledonian

Cranfleet cut

.....................................to mention but a few

[benfordboy]

A few things to think about in the brief period between knowing that you have gone past the point of no return and actually entering the water:

 

• The canal is rarely that deep, so don't try swimming, STAND UP. (This may not be the case in rivers).
  
• You won't be able to climb out onto the boat (unless it is very low sided and you have a ladder or suitable foothold already deployed).
  
• You don't want to go anywhere near the prop if the engine is running - even if it is in neutral.
  
• Wade over to whichever bank is easiest to get out of. In many cases the offside will be shallower.
  
• If you can't get out unaided, then stand in the shallowest water until help arrives.
  

David

 

(who once jumped off the back of a moving boat after a toddler daughter had just fallen in from the cabin roof)

 

Having spent Sunday aboard a Canadian Canoe aboard the Unnavigable section of the River Soar at Ratcliffe I can comment the following ;

 

We tipped it over & myself & my mate ended up in the Soar - Normally its 2-3ft deep in the Unnavigable loop so not too much problem (Yes I know you can drown in a saucer) However in the bit we went swimming it was close on 6ft - This was ok for me @ 6'6" as I could just stand on the bottom , however we were next to a old dredger which we clung to - It was impossible to pull ourselves out , my shorter mate was able to climb up me as I was stood on the river bed !

 

Whilst we were drying out , In the distance on the navigable section near the lock , a cruiser appeared with a lady stepping straight off the boat with a splash ! - The banks are high on the approach to Ratcliffe lock & there was no way she could get out (Our canoe was still submerged & useless) So after several boats had passed (None rendering assistance Nice !) She swam to the opposite bank where the floating pontoons are much lower.

 

She was still unable to pull herself out & her friend in the cruiser was starting to get distressed. I made my way down the bank & stepped in (It was around 4ft there) & gave her a lift up pulling myself out using the NB ropes moored there.

 

Even with a low level pontoon she could'nt get out - food for thought.

 

Im certainly going to add a ladder to the cruiser.

 

Shame on those that passed her in distress !

[saltysplash]

 

 

Shame on those that passed her in distress !

 

You can hardly blame them if they didnt like what she was wearing.

 

 

What I find strange is that seemingly hundreds of people take part in a potentially dangerous pastime and have never given any thought to their MOB (manoverboard) procedures and how they are going to get out if they get in.

 

So far touch wood ive not had occaision to fall in. Jumped in many times to have a swim and always where I can get back ashore without too much difficulty.

[dor]

I went in one Christmas Eve - the water was a bit on the cool side. Full immersion. For the first time I was grateful for the Shroppie shelf as it gave me a step to get out with. The benefit of the cold was it numbed the pain from two cracked ribs sustained on the way down. An hour later it was a different matter.

 

A friend's wife went in off the back of a boat once - she stepped off the bank onto the boat, only the boat had drifted out. When my friend tried to pull her out he dislocated her shoulder. She hasn't been boating since.

 

Fleece jackets become enourmously heavy when soaked in water.

[Chertsey]

A few things to think about in the brief period between knowing that you have gone past the point of no return and actually entering the water:

 

[*]The canal is rarely that deep, so don't try swimming, STAND UP. (This may not be the case in rivers).

 

 

 

Try standing up in,

 

The Aire and Calder

The Stainforth and Keadby

Sheffield south yorkshire

New junction

Manchester ship

Gloucester and sharpness

Caledonian

Cranfleet cut

.....................................to mention but a few

 

To be fair, many of those navigations are in fact rivers.

 

I once got in voluntarily, on the Middle Level, and it was almost impossible to get out again, despite the fact that the water was warm and I was dressed for swimming. I could not haul myself onto the boat using either my arms or a rope, despite (this was Warrior) the low tug deck. Nor could I be pulled out whilst facing the boat; I had to turn my back to it and have PB and son take one arm each (and I'm not exactly massive). Couldn't get to the bank because of reeds.

[Tiny]

The old boy of 3 bypass ops who moored in our marina fell off his boat through the ice. He then climbed out (no idea how as the boat and landing stage were ice covered and the water is deep. Just after this we met him, soaking wet in the freezing air, racing to get in his car and drive to town to have the soaked sim card in his phone checked. Health wise he was rarely well yet that he shrugged off and lived another few years.

 

Me, I slipped on the landing stage landed on the edge of the boat with hand between arse and boat - thus breaking one finger and damaging my back so I was on massive pain killers for a year and still (many years on) find it hurts if I bend as (I am told) the softe stuff between the plates of the spine got squashed and so the thing is not supple as it was. (My pain killers involved getting up at midnight for 6months and eating a jam sandwich as they would have nasty effects if taken without food. As for the back the book I read listed treatments but suggested that they were worse than being in pain as the spine is a touchy thing.

[muddywaters]

You can hardly blame them if they didnt like what she was wearing.

 

 

What I find strange is that seemingly hundreds of people take part in a potentially dangerous pastime and have never given any thought to their MOB (manoverboard) procedures and how they are going to get out if they get in.

 

So far touch wood ive not had occaision to fall in. Jumped in many times to have a swim and always where I can get back ashore without too much difficulty.

Funny you should say that, but I always thought we are going a little OTT but every time we go out on a hire boat on the first day we always have a practice MOB drill.

Which is basically one of us shouts splash and the other throws the boat into neutral and touches the buoyancy ring

[Bobbybass]

Funny you should say that, but I always thought we are going a little OTT but every time we go out on a hire boat on the first day we always have a practice MOB drill.

Which is basically one of us shouts splash and the other throws the boat into neutral and touches the buoyancy ring

As the OP of this thread....I think that is a brillaint idea.

When I have visitors...I always run through where fire extinguishers and fire blanket are...and what to do in case of fire ( Jump out side hatch quick !!)...athough guests think this is overkill.

My wife and I always 'life jacket up'...when approaching locks...

I will add a MOB procedure to that. On my experience...it needs some careful thought before it happens.

 

Back from Blackburn hospital...as its day 3 and I am in pain with the chest...and my leg is now totally black below the knee. Luckily..it was thought nothing is broken..just severely bruised...desp[ite me smacking it hard and having 'brittle bones'...

 

bob

[robdalej]

My other half went in afew yearsago in Market Drayton at the time we had a tug with a low front deck and, as we approached the mooring, she went to step off to tie us up there was a tyre attached to the mooring which she slipped on and in she went, I was at the other end and i still shudder to think ,had I not heard her shout and put the engine in reverse she could have been seriously injured. Luckily we had a friend on board who managed to pull her out. Always makes me wary now when nosing a boat into a mooring and make sure the boat is stopped before anyone gets off

[David Mack]

A few things to think about in the brief period between knowing that you have gone past the point of no return and actually entering the water:

 

[*]The canal is rarely that deep, so don't try swimming, STAND UP. (This may not be the case in rivers).

 

 

Try standing up in,

 

The Aire and Calder

The Stainforth and Keadby

Sheffield south yorkshire

New junction

Manchester ship

Gloucester and sharpness

Caledonian

Cranfleet cut

.....................................to mention but a few

 

 

OK, so I should have said "This may not be the case in rivers and larger canals". But, apart from locks, it is mainly true of the central canal network where most boating activity happens.

 

David