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Suddenly Overboard: True Stories of Sailors in Fatal Trouble
WHEN YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO DROWN WHILE BOATING: SAILING ON ROUGH WATERS OR DOCKING ON A SUNNY, CALM DAY? Rough waters may seem the clear choice to you, but docking on a sunny, calm day can turn just as deadly--all you have to do is fail to think. That is what happened to author Tom Lochhaas more than twenty years ago, when he fell off his boat in its harbor and struggled to get out of the frigid water, even with help from a friend. Without a personal flotation device, he'd become a soaked dead weight within moments. Complacency had turned a simple docking into a potentially fatal endeavor. Tom realized after this that he had to change his attitude about sailing safety.
With "Suddenly Overboard," Tom will change your attitude about water safety, sharing stories about sailors who experienced catastrophes when least expecting them and who were rescued, or who died, or who lived to tell the tale simply by good luck. Consider the facts: Only 22 percent of adults wear PFDs consistently while sailing . . . Only 50 percent of sailing fatalities happened while the victims were actually sailing; other sailors were docking or anchoring, etc., when tragedy hit . . . In 40 percent of cases, sailors drowned while their boat was still upright. . . .
Using stories from the U.S. Coast Guard and similar agencies in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere, Tom exposes the mundane yet fatal mistakes sailors make every day. You'll find yourself thinking, "If these are how most sailors actually die, then what if I was in that situation?" You'll suddenly realize that you are in these deadly situations every time you get on a boat. Reading "Suddenly Overboard: True Stories of Sailors in Fatal Trouble" will help you recognize and avoid unseen dangers and return to dry land safely.
With "Suddenly Overboard," Tom will change your attitude about water safety, sharing stories about sailors who experienced catastrophes when least expecting them and who were rescued, or who died, or who lived to tell the tale simply by good luck. Consider the facts: Only 22 percent of adults wear PFDs consistently while sailing . . . Only 50 percent of sailing fatalities happened while the victims were actually sailing; other sailors were docking or anchoring, etc., when tragedy hit . . . In 40 percent of cases, sailors drowned while their boat was still upright. . . .
Using stories from the U.S. Coast Guard and similar agencies in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere, Tom exposes the mundane yet fatal mistakes sailors make every day. You'll find yourself thinking, "If these are how most sailors actually die, then what if I was in that situation?" You'll suddenly realize that you are in these deadly situations every time you get on a boat. Reading "Suddenly Overboard: True Stories of Sailors in Fatal Trouble" will help you recognize and avoid unseen dangers and return to dry land safely.
208 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 24, 2018
Lots of good tales in this book, and some very sound advice.
A good read.
The moral is probably applicable to real life. People spend so much energy circumventing imagined dangers, and many of us will die in our cars.
A good read.
The moral is probably applicable to real life. People spend so much energy circumventing imagined dangers, and many of us will die in our cars.
February 18, 2022
'Suddenly Overboard: True Stories of Sailors in Fatal Trouble' is an oddly compelling, if at times, a bit morbid, book. Author Tom Lochhaas weaves together a collection of incidents, all of which have one thing in common -besides taking place on the water- and that is a potentially avoidable scenario.
Through the experiences recounted in the book, we are reminded that all it takes to drown is water. While that sounds like the obvious statement, it is the very fact that people often become complacent, and as a result, careless, that can make the difference between a pleasurable day of sailing, or a somber recovery operation. We read of sailors who, through oversight or complacency, didn't take precautions that might have changed the outcome of the story. Sailors who had PFD's (Personal Flotation Devices) on their craft, but were not wearing them, sailors who tripped, slipped, or fell overboard and were separated from their craft. Accidents with at times, tragic consequences.
On the more positive end of the stories, there are cases where lessons were learned before the situation had the chance to turn tragic. Stories like a sailor who had neither chart, nor required safety equipment, and attempted a night voyage in deteriorating weather. Thankfully in his case, he had a radio which he finally worked up the courage to use it - if you are in trouble, never hesitate to admit you need assistance! That seems to be a common theme in the book, either required safety equipment was missing, or it wasn't being used when it needed to be.
More than one story involves sailors who while experienced enough, fell overboard, leaving less experienced hands to not only try to regain control of the boat, but also try to effect a rescue. Sadly some of these situations did not end happily.
It's made abundantly clear that we should not be dismissive or ignorant of water, and that there is a reason we should religiously take safety precautions, such as wearing a PFD any time on the water. In some cases what seemed like non-life threatening conditions led to death through hypothermia.
The moral of the story is all too clear by reading the back cover:
"With Suddenly Overboard, Tom will change your attitude about water safety, sharing stories about sailors who experienced catastrophes when least expecting them and who were rescued, or who died, or who lived to tell the tale simply by good luck. Consider the facts:
Only 22 percent of adults wear PFDs consistently while sailing...
Only 50 percent of sailing fatalities happened while the victims were actually sailing; other sailors were docking or anchoring, etc., when tragedy hit...
In 40 percent of cases, sailors drowned while their boat was still upright..."
Chilling statistics to consider. Mr. Lochhaas demonstrates adeptly, why safety precautions MUST be followed all the time; because accidents don't knock before arriving, and they don't give you time or opportunity to react after the fact. Wear your PFD! Read this book! It will open your eyes to situations you may never have thought twice about before, and it may save your life or a sailor you know if you heed the lessons told by Lochhaas!
Through the experiences recounted in the book, we are reminded that all it takes to drown is water. While that sounds like the obvious statement, it is the very fact that people often become complacent, and as a result, careless, that can make the difference between a pleasurable day of sailing, or a somber recovery operation. We read of sailors who, through oversight or complacency, didn't take precautions that might have changed the outcome of the story. Sailors who had PFD's (Personal Flotation Devices) on their craft, but were not wearing them, sailors who tripped, slipped, or fell overboard and were separated from their craft. Accidents with at times, tragic consequences.
On the more positive end of the stories, there are cases where lessons were learned before the situation had the chance to turn tragic. Stories like a sailor who had neither chart, nor required safety equipment, and attempted a night voyage in deteriorating weather. Thankfully in his case, he had a radio which he finally worked up the courage to use it - if you are in trouble, never hesitate to admit you need assistance! That seems to be a common theme in the book, either required safety equipment was missing, or it wasn't being used when it needed to be.
More than one story involves sailors who while experienced enough, fell overboard, leaving less experienced hands to not only try to regain control of the boat, but also try to effect a rescue. Sadly some of these situations did not end happily.
It's made abundantly clear that we should not be dismissive or ignorant of water, and that there is a reason we should religiously take safety precautions, such as wearing a PFD any time on the water. In some cases what seemed like non-life threatening conditions led to death through hypothermia.
The moral of the story is all too clear by reading the back cover:
"With Suddenly Overboard, Tom will change your attitude about water safety, sharing stories about sailors who experienced catastrophes when least expecting them and who were rescued, or who died, or who lived to tell the tale simply by good luck. Consider the facts:
Only 22 percent of adults wear PFDs consistently while sailing...
Only 50 percent of sailing fatalities happened while the victims were actually sailing; other sailors were docking or anchoring, etc., when tragedy hit...
In 40 percent of cases, sailors drowned while their boat was still upright..."
Chilling statistics to consider. Mr. Lochhaas demonstrates adeptly, why safety precautions MUST be followed all the time; because accidents don't knock before arriving, and they don't give you time or opportunity to react after the fact. Wear your PFD! Read this book! It will open your eyes to situations you may never have thought twice about before, and it may save your life or a sailor you know if you heed the lessons told by Lochhaas!
Read
February 22, 2013From my review on Sailing Anarchy:
“August, 4 miles off Hyannis in a 30′ Schooner
“Ready to try steering for a while?’ he said after a time.
“Sure Grandpa.”
“Come around over here. I’ll stand behind you to guide you.”
Ethan stood and moved across the canting cockpit to join Grandpa at the wheel. When he had it in his grip, Grandpa let go and stepped back. Just then a bigger wave hit the boat and in the sudden lurch Grandpa lost his balance and tilted back, falling, and was pitched backward off the boat.
In horror Ethan let go of the wheel and turned around. Grandpa was in the water some 20 feet back already. “Throw me a cushion!” he shouted.”
This is an excerpt of one of many true stories in Tom Lochhaas’ new book, Suddenly Overboard, which will be published in May 2013. Lochhaas was prompted to collect and document these stories after anecdotally learning of the drowning deaths of several sailors in New England that never made the press. As he looked deeper into USCG accident reports, Lochhaas was shocked to find the underreported statistics of boating and sailing fatalities in the US and abroad. Here are a few from his book:
An average of 700 boating fatalities occur every year and 83% of the sailing related cases are from drowning, according to the US Coast Guard. 89% of the drowned victims weren’t wearing life jackets. At the time of death, only 50% of the sailors were actually sailing, some were docking, motoring around the harbor, at anchor, swimming, etc. In about 40% of the cases, “sailors drowned with the boat still upright and usually nearby after unexpectedly, for a variety of reasons, ending up in the water. “
This book is not just about wearing a PFD, it’s about the off-chance that an experienced sailor or crew goes in the water, either by choice or by accident, and how prepared the remaining crew and MOB are for a swift rescue.
The stories are almost painful, making it difficult to complete in one sitting, but they are compelling enough to pick up the book up again and again. It is not too hard for a sailor to quickly discern in the telling what is going to happen, yet it is the recounting of these varied and mostly tragic stories that the idea cements of how easy it is to fall off the boat and perish, particularly in cold water.
Lachhaas not only documents the racing accidents that happened in the past few years, in the Fastnet, off of San Francisco, in Annapolis, in Lake Michigan, but also tells stories that do not get press, and there it is revealed how easy it is to become suddenly overboard. The biggest lesson here is don’t fall off, and if you do, are you and your crew prepared to rescue you. Read this, but if your parents don’t sail, don’t let them touch it (unless you’ve got safety gear on your Christmas list).
“August, 4 miles off Hyannis in a 30′ Schooner
“Ready to try steering for a while?’ he said after a time.
“Sure Grandpa.”
“Come around over here. I’ll stand behind you to guide you.”
Ethan stood and moved across the canting cockpit to join Grandpa at the wheel. When he had it in his grip, Grandpa let go and stepped back. Just then a bigger wave hit the boat and in the sudden lurch Grandpa lost his balance and tilted back, falling, and was pitched backward off the boat.
In horror Ethan let go of the wheel and turned around. Grandpa was in the water some 20 feet back already. “Throw me a cushion!” he shouted.”
This is an excerpt of one of many true stories in Tom Lochhaas’ new book, Suddenly Overboard, which will be published in May 2013. Lochhaas was prompted to collect and document these stories after anecdotally learning of the drowning deaths of several sailors in New England that never made the press. As he looked deeper into USCG accident reports, Lochhaas was shocked to find the underreported statistics of boating and sailing fatalities in the US and abroad. Here are a few from his book:
An average of 700 boating fatalities occur every year and 83% of the sailing related cases are from drowning, according to the US Coast Guard. 89% of the drowned victims weren’t wearing life jackets. At the time of death, only 50% of the sailors were actually sailing, some were docking, motoring around the harbor, at anchor, swimming, etc. In about 40% of the cases, “sailors drowned with the boat still upright and usually nearby after unexpectedly, for a variety of reasons, ending up in the water. “
This book is not just about wearing a PFD, it’s about the off-chance that an experienced sailor or crew goes in the water, either by choice or by accident, and how prepared the remaining crew and MOB are for a swift rescue.
The stories are almost painful, making it difficult to complete in one sitting, but they are compelling enough to pick up the book up again and again. It is not too hard for a sailor to quickly discern in the telling what is going to happen, yet it is the recounting of these varied and mostly tragic stories that the idea cements of how easy it is to fall off the boat and perish, particularly in cold water.
Lachhaas not only documents the racing accidents that happened in the past few years, in the Fastnet, off of San Francisco, in Annapolis, in Lake Michigan, but also tells stories that do not get press, and there it is revealed how easy it is to become suddenly overboard. The biggest lesson here is don’t fall off, and if you do, are you and your crew prepared to rescue you. Read this, but if your parents don’t sail, don’t let them touch it (unless you’ve got safety gear on your Christmas list).
August 13, 2014
Reality check? Author Tom Lochhaas doesn’t take anything for granted when it comes to sailing and neither should you. Be you an experienced sailor, or someone just starting out, this is a sailor’s bible you won’t want to leave home without. Twelve Chapters filled with a plethora of stories of tragic sailing accidents where he picks apart each tragic incident and points out what went wrong and how many of the tragedies could have been prevented, often times as easily as wearing a personal floatation device (PFD).
“One of you old farts remember sandwiches?”
Read the full review at http://www.musingwithcrayolakym.com/b...
“One of you old farts remember sandwiches?”
Read the full review at http://www.musingwithcrayolakym.com/b...
January 17, 2013
A 'How To' book of keeping yourself and loved ones safe on the water taught via vignettes of those who didn't.
July 27, 2014
Great book for someone looking for a reason not to waste money on a boat
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews