Real Life Lessons From A Nighttime Man Overboard Incident

Published: Wednesday, May 29, 2019
By: Ken Quant, Broad Reach Marketing

Nobody thinks they are going to be the one that goes overboard, but that’s exactly what happened to Meridian X crewman, Mark Wheeler, during the 2017 “Chicago Mac” race. In moments, he went from racing to survival as he found himself thrown overboard into Lake Michigan at night. Amazingly he was recovered, but his near-death story highlights many good lessons for boaters of all kinds.

That year, a strong summer cold front was predicted to intersect the racers during the first night of racing. Taking advantage of the warm southwest wind feeding that system, Meridian X had quickly made nearly 100 nautical miles up the lake the first day. Despite the usual thunderstorm-laden front being visible far to the north, a sudden sharp increase in wind speed hit the boat from an unseen dry microburst. A call for “all-hands on deck” was made to help douse the spinnaker.

Mark had just come off watch about 30 minutes earlier, so he was down below. Meridian X was doing roughly 18 knots as he quickly grabbed his life vest and headed up to help. As he went towards the transom to release a runner line, the boat went hard-over to starboard. In an instant, he went head first into the water.

According to Mark’s accounting of the events published in a SpinSheet article back in July 2017, the cold, dark reality quickly set in. Thankfully he had grabbed his inflatable life vest before coming on deck. However, the inflation trigger was set to manual because of numerous false activations he had witnessed, so he had to physically pull the lanyard to inflate the vest. It quickly filled, but because he had not taken the time to strap the vest on tightly, he needed to physically hold the tubes down with his arms to prevent them riding up over his head. He tried several times to properly buckle the vest but found it impossible.

With the winds blowing at nearly 40 knots, the water was extremely rough. Mark was forced to concentrate on breathing without ingesting water. He activated the brand-new safety light attached to his life vest, but found it would not stay lit and he needed to bang on it to keep it on. He later found out that the crew was able to see the flashing light for a short time, but quickly lost sight of it as they sailed away.

Unable to see any other boats and realizing that it would be a while before the Meridian X crew would be able to return, he took inventory of his equipment. Besides his failing safety light, he had a knife, whistle, and an AIS personal MOB transmitter. This transmitter would have been a huge help if only Meridian X, or any other nearby vessels, would have been equipped and monitoring their AIS receiver to electronically lead them to his location.

By the time Meridian X got their sails down they were over two miles away. They lost sight of each other and Mark was left alone hoping for rescue. After about 30 minutes, the wind calmed, but the seas were still very choppy. With a water temp in the upper 60s, his biggest concern became hypothermia. About that time, he noticed Meridian X’s white masthead light in the distance. His light had completely stopped working at that point, so he took to blowing the whistle about every minute. This simple safety item proved to be his savior.

Once Mark noticed Meridian X’s masthead light had gotten brighter, he knew they were closer so he started blowing the whistle almost non-stop. Astutely, onboard Meridian X they had the presence of mind to occasionally stop the motor and quietly listen to help lead them to his exact location. About 15 minutes later, they zeroed in on the sound and spotted him in the water. Moments later, he was back onboard!

Given the cold water, darkness, and the rough conditions, he was lucky to be alive.

Many lessons can be learned from Mark’s harrowing MOB incident and the crew’s response.

For the MOB:

Always properly buckle your life vest when on deck.
One hand should be gripping the boat at all times.
Always leave your inflatable life vest on auto inflation.
Remain calm and preserve your energy.
Always keep a whistle and working light attached to your life vest.
A strobe light is much easier to see than a steady light.
Do not count on personal AIS transmitters alone.

For the Boat and Crew:

If sailing, reduce your sail area before an approaching squall hits.
Immediately activate the DSC/Distress function on your VHF radio and designate someone to coordinate communication with the USCG and other nearby vessels.
If you are going offshore, spend the money and get an AIS receiver. A life is worth the extra expense.
Stop the motor from time to time to just listen and look.
Always monitor VHF 16 and make sure it can be heard by someone.
If equipped with an AIS receiver, remember to monitor it if you hear a MOB call because the person in the water may have a transmitter.
An official search protocol for assisting vessels should be established and announced.

**Photos are file images of Man Overboard situation**