Throwbag / throwline

[rogerblack]

I have started a new thread for this, although it was prompted by posts on another thread:
http://www.f-ribsandsibs.com/viewtopic. ... =40#p26137
I wanted to make it easier to find.

Douglas and Chris had brought up the subject of throwbags/throwlines and I mentioned on the earlier thread that I would order one, not only to keep with me when SIBbing but also when parked up in the car or motorhome by water, (sea, rivers & lakes) which we do a lot on our travels.

Douglas had recommended Peak as being a good manufacture and I found a discontinued 25M Peak BullBag (oooer missus!) for only £29.95 including postage from Escape Watersports. I ordered it late on Tuesday afternoon, it was shipped First Class Post yesterday and has arrived today (Thursday). I haven't yet tried it out in the traditional F-RIBS & SIBS method by lobbing it around the lounge (!) but it seems to be well made and good value for the money.

Here's a link if anyone else wants to take advantage if they're still available:
https://www.escape-watersports.co.uk/eq ... 25m-detail

You never know, for an outlay of less than thirty quid, you may be instrumental in saving someone's life one day!
Maybe even your own . . .

[Steve]

Nice one Roger - I'll take a look at that as it seems like a good idea!



Steve

[albasmac]

I have started a new thread for this, although it was prompted by posts on another thread:
http://www.f-ribsandsibs.com/viewtopic. ... =40#p26137
I wanted to make it easier to find.

Douglas and Chris had brought up the subject of throwbags/throwlines and I mentioned on the earlier thread that I would order one, not only to keep with me when SIBbing but also when parked up in the car or motorhome by water, (sea, rivers & lakes) which we do a lot on our travels.

Douglas had recommended Peak as being a good manufacture and I found a discontinued 25M Peak BullBag (oooer missus!) for only £29.95 including postage from Escape Watersports. I ordered it late on Tuesday afternoon, it was shipped First Class Post yesterday and has arrived today (Thursday). I haven't yet tried it out in the traditional F-RIBS & SIBS method by lobbing it around the lounge (!) but it seems to be well made and good value for the money.

Here's a link if anyone else wants to take advantage if they're still available:
https://www.escape-watersports.co.uk/eq ... 25m-detail

You never know, for an outlay of less than thirty quid, you may be instrumental in saving someone's life one day!
Maybe even your own . . .

Hi, I bought one from Shark attack waters ports.
https://www.sharkattackwatersports.co.u ... cba1185463
It's really good quality, a bit shorter at only 20m but also a bit cheaper. (plus a 10% discount on your first order)
The customer service there is also excellent. As they're a small family run business, you get to speak to the same person each time you call which is great if every you have any problems.

[DouglasW]

Hi Roger thanks for starting this off.

Yes it is a PEAK throw bag I have and use both on my F-Rib 330 and kayak but have modified it to also use as a quick release towline.

At the bottom end I have put a carabiner on to help clip into something on what I want to tow. It is a small stainless carabiner and the extra weight helps with throwing accuracy. Some people use plastic crabs in case you hit whoever you are throwing it at!

At the other end I have attached it to a waterski quick release attached to the boat. You can get cheap Chinese copies which do not release under pressure. This is the more expensive French made original.

Last summer I used this as a tow line to tow three windsurfers, 4 dinghies, 1 capsized cat (it needed righted first), 1 SoT double kayak and 3 boats with broken engines.

I also used it as a throw line from my F-Rib to rescue a kite surfer who had tangled lines in a F5 wind. He was being blown onto a rocky reef and I did not fancy taking the boat in that close. So I threw my tow bag it at him. He grabbed hold, clutching it to his chest and lay on his back and I pulled him out to the F-Rib. Having some saftey kit and knowing how to use it may not just save your own life, you might be able to help someone else too.

Even though he was a young fit guy in his twenties, he did not have the strength left to climb into the F-Rib. So I grabbed his BA straps and started to haul him in but a wave lifted the boat up just as I was leaning out and starting to heave him in. That nearly had me in the water too and definitely would have, if I had not let him go. Once in the boat he just lay on the floor totally done in.

It is situations like this, that I have personally experienced, which give me a great respect for the water. Indeed the RNLI have a current campaign #RespectTheWater

Douglas

[DouglasW]

Meant to say it also makes a great extension for the anchor cable but ultimately it is always instantly available to use as a throw line to someone in the water you cannot reach.

Douglas

[Paul B]

Remind me never to go boating in your vicinity Douglas, Everybody gets into trouble when your about you must be jinxed

[Martin]

You're like a one man band RNLI up there Douglas...
We'll have to start a contribution and get you a lifeboat


Joking apart, cracking read with loads of info guys

[rogerblack]

Hi Douglas, good to know that what I refer to as "Gurnard's Law", which states that everything carried on your boat must have more than one use, is actually a family trait!

Useful tips there and thankfully they're not included on the 'Don't Do" list on the side of my BullBag.

My big red BullBag!

You'll see that it has a metal D ring on the bottom rather than a rope loop. I noted your mention of using a plastic carabiner to avoid damaging the person you're throwing the bag at, good point. However the ones I've found on Amazon so far seem very poorly made - do you know of a reliable type & source or should I just stick with SS?

[DouglasW]

Hi folks it is just a very busy bay in summer. There are over 1000 holiday caravans and chalets in the immediate area of Fleet Bay and most have some sort of boat. Each summer there are innumerable incidents. My late father and...

...late uncle were also boat mad and each spent 50 years pulling people out the water and towing boats back to shore..

There have been a number of drownings from small boats there (all were wearing floatation devices) and although the RNLI have had an Atlantic class inshore boat at Kirkcudbright since 1972, the boaters (including one man from our caravan site) were dead before the lifeboat arrived.

The Kirkcudbright Atlantic 85 searching the shore of Fleet Bay on 20th August 2017. They were looking for the crew of a capsized boat which had been washed ashore and found by a walker. Several of us who had heard the VHF traffic assisted in this search. Fortunately he was found on the shore by the local coastguard team. He suffered only hypothermia.

Kirkcudbright RNLI station is 20 km from Fleet Bay so the local caravan site owners got together and raised money for a seasonal private IRB which is based at Mossyard at the mouth of the Bay. Even so, the voluntary crew all have jobs and it still takes time to get it launched. My caravan overlooks the water and I am out on the water most days April-October anyway. My F-Rib is ready to go, on a large wheeled trolley which sits at the top of the beach. I can launch it on my own in minutes. The reason I bought a 15HP engine to augment my 6HP was I tried to pull in a Dart 18 that had capsized last May. The 2 sailors were both in their 50's and despite wearing wetsuits they could not climb back aboard after righting it. My 6 did not have enough grunt to pull the cat, two big men hanging onto it against a force 4 to 5 offshore wind and an outgoing tide. (I had forgotten this rescue, I actually pulled in two Dart 18s after they capsized last year.)

Hi Paul, if you think about it for a moment, you have got that the wrong way round. Those boaters were lucky I (and other boating friends and relatives) was/were there to help when they needed it. They were the ones that were "jinxed" through lack of preparedness for the conditions they met. Mostly it is just a tow back to shore with no harm done. But in 1990 I saved a swimmer who was on his last gasp, I heard his croak as I was passing on my windsurfer. Not one of them expected any trouble when they launched/went swimming.

Here is another example from 2nd August 2013. It is the view from my caravan. I was not on the water that day as my arm was in a sling after a shoulder operation. You can just see the inshore rescue boat from Mossyard in the centre assisted by the Sea king helicopter above. It is blowing force 5/6 and it was an ebb spring tide. The wind against tide conditions prevented the Atlantic 85 getting round the exposed coast from Kirkcudbright. They were searching for a boater who had fallen out of his boat. They never found him. It was a lovely calm sunny day at the beginning of August when he set off without a care in the world. Almost certainly he never thought he would fall in.

#RespectTheWater

Douglas

[DouglasW]

My neighbour at Fleet Bay has a small SIB/9.9 combination. He is a lurker here but has sent me two photos of me rescuing someone who fell out of a RIB on the 26/7/17.

He was 17 and it was his father's RIB. He had been driving it alone at top speed doing big circles and jumping across his wake at right angles. The inevitable happened and he fell out. He was not wearing a kill cord and the RIB disappeared across the bay and ran itself up onto the beach, fortunately there were no swimmers on the beach as it was a cold day.

I did not see it happen and the first I knew of it was when my neighbour banged on the caravan door. With binoculars we could just see his head about 500m off shore. He was not waving. I put on a shorty wetsuit and raced down to the beach.

Once on the water I found it very difficult to spot him, It was an ebb spring tide so I worked my way down tide from where I had seen him from above. I missed him and certainly did not hear any shouts. I worked my way back up and spotted him this time.

He was completely done in he could not speak. He was wearing a very thin wetsuit and a buoyancy aid. He was so weak he could not grab onto my boat and I had to make several slow approaches (It was windy and I had not dropped my bow canopy) before I was able to grab him and heave him into the boat. He could not talk and just lay shivering in the bottom. I took him back to the beach he had launched from and met a rescue boat that had just been launched.

He of course never thought he would fall in the water that morning because the chance of falling out of a small open motor boat is so small. My neighbour who saw it happen said he was in the water for 40 minutes before I pulled him out. Despite the wetsuit the cold had got to him.

My uncle in the photo in the above post bought the Steady for his 75th birthday and used it for 10 seasons. The Gurnard will correct me if I am wrong, but he had put well over 60 crosses on his bow in those years. One cross for each rescue.

Have a fun but safe season in 2018.

Douglas