Prevention

It is possible for a person to fall off a canoe unnoticed and drown or be lost at sea. In general every crew member must know how to swim and be comfortable enough in deep water to remain calm if he or she fell overboard.

PVS requires crew members to be able to swim at least 500 meters in deep, open water, and to stay afloat at least one hour in the water.

While on the canoe, the following guidelines could prevent you from falling overboard and increase your chances of being rescued if you do fall overboard.

Stay within the safety railing. If you have to go outside the safety railing (e.g. to relieve yourself or to adjust lines), put on a safety harness and attach it to the canoe.

The safety harness is fallible. One of your hands should be holding onto the canoe whenever possible.

Anytime you go outside the railing, especially when it is dark, let someone know. When working outside the safety railing, make sure someone on deck is watching you as you work.

Be aware of where your buddy and fellow crew members are and what they are doing; warn them if something they are doing appears unsafe; watch them when they go near the edge of the canoe.

Wear a life vest in rough weather, or at all times, if you are not sure about your ability to swim and stay afloat.

Emergency Procedures

In case a crew member falls overboard, the following procedures should be followed:

The person who falls in the water should do the following:

1. Alert the crew. Shout for help, when your head rise above the surface, so that youy don’t swallow water. Don’t panic.

2. Be aware of fish hooks and fishing lines dragging behind the canoe. You could be injured by the line or hook if you grab onto a line. On the other hand, the line is connected to the canoe jerking on the line could alert the crew that you are in the water. It’s a judgment call on your part.

3. Don’t exhaust yourself trying to swim to the canoe—the canoe is usually moving faster than you can swim.

4. Stay downwind of the canoe if possible, as this makes it easier for the canoe to come back to you.

5. If a person overboard ring and pole have been thrown into the water, swim to the ring and pole as quickly as possible and attach the life ring to yourself. The top strobe light should have been turned on by the person who threw the ring into the water; once you attached yourself to the life ring, turn the second strobe light on to signal that you are securely attached. (If the person who threw the ring into the water forgot to turn the top light on, you should try to turn both lights on, as this is the signal for the crew to pull you back to the canoe.

6. Stay afloat. Conserve energy. Let your crew members do the rest.

The crew on the canoe should do the following; steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 are done simultaneously:

1. SOUND THE ALERT & POINT TO THE SPOT: When you see someone fall overobard, alert everyone by shouting as loudly as possible, “MAN OVERBOARD.” Keep shouting until the rest of the crew responds. The first person to see the person fall overboard should be watching and pointing at the person or at the spot where the person fell in. Never take your eyes off the person or the spot. You should yell, “I’m the spotter.” This relieves you of doing anything else but spotting.

2. DEPLOY THE LIFE RING AND MARKING POLE: The closest person to person overboard life ring and pole (but not the spotter) should grab the pole and ring, turn on the top strobe light and throw the pole and ring into the water as quickly and as close to where the person fell in as possible. If this is done quickly enough the pole should mark a spot very near to the person in the water. The person who deployed the pole should now move to where the spool of line is, the end of which is attached to the man overboard pole. Be sure that the line is deploying smoothly. If the line snags, then the pole is being dragged in the back of the canoe and is not marking the spot where the crew member fell in.

3. RADIO FOR HELP: The radio operator should alert the escort boat of the situation immediately; he or she should keep trying until the escort boat is contacted.

4. STOP THE CANOE: While the spotter, the radio operator, and the person paying out the line attached to the pole are occupied with their tasks, the rest of the crew must stop the canoe by taking the following actions:

5. Turn the canoe into the wind (person on the steering sweep)

6. Release the sheet lines

7. Close the sails and lower the spar and boom to the deck

8. RETRIEVE THE PERSON: Maneuver the canoe toward the person in the water; or let the escort boat retrieve the person.AT NO TIME IS ANYONE TO LEAVE THE CANOE WITHOUT PVS APPROVAL TO SWIM AFTER THE PERSON OVERBOARD.

   If the canoe has deployed a safety line and life ring, the captain will issue the command to haul them in, once he confirms by sight that the person is on the life ring, or he sees that the two strobe lights are on. If the person in the water appears hurt or unconscious, the captain may decide to put a swimmer in to assist him or her.