Safety tips for solo fishing at night

[the gecko]

Ive been reading the man overboard thread, and thinking how good this all is for 2 people on a boat...........but,

What safety tips do you bay fishos have for solo fishing at night?

OK, Ive got flares, epirb, strobe light in a grab bag, but theyre not gonna do me much good if I fall overboard in current. Ive got an inflatable pfd that I wear under winter clothing, but someone here told me this is dangerous cos it may restrict your breathing and suffocate you.

Apart from the new personal epirb that emits a signal on hitting the water (see other thread, its been invented, but is not retailing yet) what else can you do?

I remember someone saying they trail a rope out the back, but this is getting fouled up with my fishing line.

Theres gotta be some good ideas among the brains trust.............

cheers
Andrew

[PinHead]

be very careful is about the best advice..when I had the 14' tinnie and fished solo I did not stand up very often ...cuts down on the chances of falling overboard.

[frankgrimes]

Hi Andrew,

I fish solo 95% of the time out of my 4.5CC, and majority of the time it's at night - I wear a life jacket under my clothes, but like you, if you fall overboard, the grab bags tough to "grab"!! I have thought about wearing a light weight back pack, and placing the grab bag in that.

Like Pinhead has stated...not standing up certainly reduces the chances of falling overboard...but if your wearing a life jacket, and it does happen, it certainly increases your chances of survival.

Mick

[Kleyny]

When i fish by myself i try and keep a distance from land that i can swim.

I havent been out at night by myself yet.

neil

[dogsbody]

What if you made some sort of harness that you can clip to the grab rail of your tinny.In the event of falling overboard you wouldn't go anywhere.

Dave

[GBC]

I actually use the safety cutout lanyard when driving offshore solo at night. Often wear a lifejacket full time too.
My grab bag has the ebirb in it, rather than attached to the boat, so if I have to ditch in a hurry I only have to grab one thing - it contains ebirb, sea blitz, sea dye, first aid, mirror etc etc.
Hopefully I'll never need any of it.

[PaulMark]

Hi Andrew,
I know you like fishing River Heads,and as you'll know by now the current rips through there in both directions.I know of several drownings there and down in the Straits.Anyhoo, back to the matter in hand.What you need is something like a surfers leg rope I reckon.Long enough to keep out of the way and not hamper the fishing but there, tied off, if the unthinkable happens.And of course we all use the safety lanyard when we're on our own don't we;)
Paulo.8-)

[frankgrimes]

My grab bag has the ebirb in it, rather than attached to the boat, so if I have to ditch in a hurry I only have to grab one thing - it contains ebirb, sea blitz, sea dye, first aid, mirror etc etc.
Hopefully I'll never need any of it.

Yep, same here - My grab bag has epirb, torch, flares, and hand-held gps etc.

[frankgrimes]

My only concern with a lanyard-type tether to the boat would be if the boat sinks, id prefer not to be connected to it.

[the gecko]

Im not sure that i want to be tied to the boat. Its just another thing to tangle up when it shouldnt, although the harness idea could work.

The tips on not standing up is important. I remember I learnt early on 'one hand for the boat, one hand for yourself' this is invaluable. I always grab the boat while moving around.

Use a bucket for a piss, and not lean over the side is another tip.

Keep em coming boys......


Andrew

[sagair]

I think a decent light weight wet suit coat would be ideal with a life jacket [floatation device] if you went overboard at night time. Maybe your mobile in a water proof bag also or a water proof hand held like the Icom etc.
Best is 2 boats keeping each other in eyesite. cheers

[alleycat]

Perhaps if you stand while drift to throw soft plastics ect you could have a say 3 foot length of rope tied to rear but still in the boat with a loop on the end of it and use it stirrup style to get back in if you fall overboard, say you fell in it would be a matter of grabbing rope tied to rail, flip the loop into water under you and put foot in loop and upsa daisy you go..

[Getout]

Years ago the whole crew of a racing yacht was drowned when the boat sank and took them to the bottom by their safety harnesses. As a result of this tragedy, a new rule was made, to have a release clip at each end of the harness. If you are worried about being separated from the boat at night, one of these yachting harnesses might be the answer. They have the attachment point mid chest, so you get towed along with your face upwards.

[Fish Lips]

Another great thread!8-)

Good onya Gecko.
:)

[patrol50]

gday - when i fish out of my 3.75 bermuda vee punt tinny i have a pair of the 2.0 m air- o- floats fitted to it - just makes it far more stable and are really worth having - and while i have not fitted them to my 4.7 quin runabout yet i am seriously thinking of doing that for close in off shore fishing especially at night as the boat will be far more stable at rest or on the drift and also make it virtually unsinkable - all the other good ideas already mentioned are and wear a inflatable life jacket when on my own (even though i can swim reasonably ok) and i do hook up with the OB lanyard cut out and i usually have the mobile in a waterproof bag in one of my pants pockets - but the best idea is stay in the bloody boat - cheers rob

[TJ Bear]

I used to do a lot of solo game fishing out of a glass 4.5m centre console and I always wore my Inflatable PFD and had a bum bag with my waterproof handheld VHF and EPIRB in it. Always gave me a bit better sence of security and still floow the same procedure when fishing alone.

[Zodiac fisho]

[QUOTE=the gecko;1050903]Ive been reading the man overboard thread, and thinking how good this all is for 2 people on a boat...........but,

What safety tips do you bay fishos have for solo fishing at night?

OK, Ive got flares, epirb, strobe light in a grab bag, but theyre not gonna do me much good if I fall overboard in current. Ive got an inflatable pfd that I wear under winter clothing, but someone here told me this is dangerous cos it may restrict your breathing and suffocate you.

Hi Gecko,

Never wear your inflatable jacket under anything as you will not only do yourself some damage if you inflate it but you could also burst the bladder of the jacket.

The yoke style inflatables are great as they are light and you almost forget you are wearing them after a few minutes. The Stormy model has a pouch for a PLB.
The GME PLB with GPS is only about $660.
Another good idea is carry a cyalume type light stick in your pocket They give you 12 hours light, are small, lightweight and come in a range of colours and are pretty cheap.

[hakuna]

hi all, I have been fishing by myself at sea out to 50 fath Gold Coast, Ballina, Evans head for many years now, the biggest thing is to do everything methodically, the same way each time and think it through before you do it.
wear a life jacket. yolk or similar comfortable device
radio into the coatguard and tell them you are by yourself, you will radio in on the hour, each and every hour, trust me if your 1m late they are chasing you
Go where you say you are going and be back when you say you will be back.
When in doubt do not do it, no fish is worth the extra mile
Set your boat up so everything has a place, you need to know where everything is blindfolded and you can grab somthing without thinking, and always have a sharp knife in arms reach, especially lifting anchors/ fishing lines if they get caught around you, you will have very little time to react, and you will have many years of safe boating.
cheers

[patrol50]

hi tj bear - i like the bum bag idea - will adopt that so thanks and now wondering why didnt i think of that before now
cheers rob

[Scalem]

Just a quick skim over all your replies Andrew and it seems many thoughts are about falling overboard.... Being out solo at night can be hazardous for other reasons, see if I can throw a few real case scenarios
While travelling you can't see waves, particularly in Moreton Bay where a container ship miles away can throw up a big enough wave that will do your back in, if you hit it full noise. Keep traveling at night to a minimum and try anchor before sunset. If you really have to move, do it at half the speed you would normally.
If you are going to have a sleep always set the drift alarm on GPS and set two anchors, not one.
Have a float switch on the bilge pump
Often you can bring a fish into the boat and not know what fish it is until adequate lighting IN THE BOAT. I would always be careful what swings into the boat on the end of your line, and have a means by which you can prepare hot water or ice which are the best forms of neatralizing venom with species like catfish or happy moments which can look much like bream until its too late. I've cast netted for prawns at night and placed my hand very near a bull rout which would have been painful. Didn't see it!
Always have a full 1st aid kit on board, especially at nightWould not wear an inflatable under cloths unless prepared to see what amount of space a fully inflated jacket uses. You can test by using the manual blow up mouthpiece just to be sure. The canisters are $40.00 to buy ( had a friends' little delightful kid activate one of mine recently)>:(

Scalem

[Angla]

I actually use the safety cutout lanyard when driving offshore solo at night. Often wear a lifejacket full time too.
My grab bag has the ebirb in it, rather than attached to the boat, so if I have to ditch in a hurry I only have to grab one thing - it contains ebirb, sea blitz, sea dye, first aid, mirror etc etc.
Hopefully I'll never need any of it.

Hey What is this SEA DYE you talk of?

Cheers
Chris

[finding_time]

Sea dye is just that a dye that when opened spreads out on the water surface, it's a fair bit easier to see a dye slick a few hundred meters long than a person floating in the water

[charleville]

1. The first item on the list should be to only go to sea in a seaworthy boat. That may seem trite but I have been in an 30 knot unexpected squall on a dark night at Mud Island and it is not something that I would like to do in a shallow sided boat of any length.

2. Secondly, I have hooked on to too many unstoppables at night to ever want to end up in the briny no matter how good my life-jacket may be. Accordingly, it is handy to have things to hold on to if it does get rough. On my boat, that includes lots of grab-rails but also I have a very stout aluminium bait board at the rear of the boat that I have bounced off a few times and which has been very handy to grab hold of at chest height in rough weather. Standing up is fine - just know where there is something to grab on to if a wave hits unexpectedly out of the dark. I have filed the corners to make them rounded on that bait board because I got tired of being thrown against it and hitting the right angled corners with my ribs.

3. It can be very sensible to be aware of where you are at all times. It is possible to get very disoriented at night in rough weather and if you are trying to steer your way home by looking at the arrow on the GPS, that will not work if the boat is constantly being thrown around simply because the GPS arrow will be oscillating back and forward as the boat gets thrown around. Better to be conscious of a well lit radio tower or something similar that you can steer towards. Thank goodness for the 4KQ radio antenna on St Helena Island. :)

4. Of course, you won't want to be hanging over the side unnecessarily. ie use a bucket for toilet requirements.

5. I like to have a pretty good look at anything that I bring into the boat on the end of my line. As may be seen from the picture under my signature, I have caught stonefish in the Bay. Whilst I hook on to lots of bits of reef from time to time, I do check that they are just that before I touch them to retrieve my hook at night time.

6. I am of two minds about using the personal strap to the kill switch on the motor. Whilst it is handy to have the motor switched off if one gets thrown out of the boat, too often when I have used it at night, I have forgotten that it is on after turning off the motor and then moved within the boat away from the helm which results in the kill switch being activated without my noticing that I have done so. When I subsequently try to start the motor, the motor will not start. That can be very alarming on a bad night and sometimes it can take a while to realise what has happened.

7. Further to Item 6. above, it is much better to not be thrown out of the boat en route at night. That means that one should slow down in fear of hitting a submerged object. Plus, I like to anticipate what might happen if I do hit something insofar as I ensure that I am positioned to withstand being thrown forward so that I am not likely to break a rib on the windscreen surround structure.

8. On my boat, reflections from the forward nav lights do bounce back to the helm off the front deck. Accordingly, to minimise distractions that will reduce my night vision, I have shrouded the rear of the nav lights with black rubber. This has been very effective. Likewise when traveling, I turn off unnecessary internal light sources such as the sounder. I also despise and loudly abuse people in unlit boats out on the Bay.>:(

9. I wear an inflatable life jacket at all times and always on the outside of my clothing. I usually wear six layers of clothing on a cold night and even though I am a pretty big bloke, I have no difficulty in strapping on my inflatable life jacket over the top of that clothing. I don't think that an inflatable life jacket will function properly under clothing.

10. As would be expected, I have all the expected safety gear in an easy to reach grab bag and with multiple torches on board. That is all good if one has time to grab it but the big danger is being thrown out with no time to grab that stuff. Hence the above comments.

11. I make good use of the log-in procedures with local VMRs and volunteer coast-guards.

12. I keep a supply of spare fuses, duct tape, WD40 and a comprehensive tool kit on board.

13. I look at the weather on the internet before I go and if in doubt, I don't go out!


.

[Kevin Garrett]

Hi gecko,
The following are some tips worth considering.
1=Learn to swim
2=Always use your kill switch on a lanyard
3=Always try to stop with your vessel Never try to swim for it.
4=If you don't wear a Life jacket place it on the back of your seat.
5=Make sure you read the instructions on how to activate your Flares.
6=Make sure your Jacket has reflector tape on it.
7=Keep as low as possible in your vessel at all times.
Hope this helps
Cobia Kev

[cormorant]

Attach water activated lights to life jacket , safety canister and epirb if it isn't a auto on one. No use being in the dark and not being able to find objects that will float away from a capsized vessel for instance.

I have a small knife , whistle, torch , compass, auto water imersed light , a glow stick in the pocket,and a safety webbing/ rope cutter attached to my inflatable PFD vest to cut free if I am tangled or to cut a line with something i don't want on board. I like the idea of the portable VHF in a bum bag , phone in waterproof ,and some sea sick tablets. I leave a spare couple of jackets where they would float off as well not stored in the cabin and clip the safety canister to one..

I have reflective tape under the name of my boat and also on the underside of the bow The boat has a radar reflector and a spotlight. The bitter end of my 100m reef anchor has a 6inch bouy on it with reflective tape and rope flaked into a open crate normally on deck. This might set and give me a stationary point to hold onto.

Name and boat rego is on all equipment, floats , cushions and all electronics etc have state and drivers lic number engraved.

Night fishing due to extra strain on batteries even though I have a good battery set up I always take an extra and spare torch batteries a swell. If a battery is going to let you down it will be a cold wet night when you are using lots of electronics and starting and stoppinga bit

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Can someone summarise all these points from everyone and put them edited in the original post - it's a great reference and checklist and people can then apply t to where and how they go fishing in the size boats they use. It will save all teh repeats you get in a long thread and make it more readable??

[GBC]

Angla,

as FT stated, it's for daytime S&R. About the size of a box of pills, is fluro green and makes a highly visible slick on the ocean.