What Would You Do?

Every longtime sailor has considered the ‘what ifs’ of falling overboard at sea. And many of us take substantial precautions to up the odds of survival should we someday end up in the drink — such as wearing PFDs, insuring that lifelines and stanchions are sound, and keeping throwable flotation devices at the ready.

But have you ever considered how you’d save yourself if you slipped and fell in at your marina? A nearly tragic incident last week has put that topic in the spotlight. Late one stormy night, a heavy-set, middle-aged sailor slipped and fell in the water while checking his docklines, and became wedged between his boat and the dock, unable to pull himself out. Luckily, a couple of liveaboards heard his cries for help above the roar of the wind and rain, and pulled him out without injury.

Unless you’ve tried to climb up onto a dock finger from the water, you probably have no idea how difficult it is to do so — especially when the dock is rain-soaked and slippery. And unless you’re in excellent physical condition, it’s very tough — in fact, nearly impossible — to haul yourself up over the toerail of a boat from the water.

So we’d urge every boater to make a mental game plan for exactly how they’d save themselves if they suddenly found themselves treading water in our bone-chilling Bay waters. Very few marinas have emergency ladders at the end of docks, so your best bet would probably be to head for the closest powerboat with a swim step on its transom, or a sailboat with either a sugar scoop close to the water’s surface, steps up a reverse transom, or a permanently mounted swim ladder. 

Even if you feel that falling in at the dock is an ‘it-could-never-happen-to-me’ scenario, do us a favor and make an exit plan anyway. We really hate writing obits.