Man Overboard Recovery — The First Seconds, the Turn Back, and Getting the Casualty Aboard

What the rule requires

The first few seconds decide the outcome, so the first actions belong to whoever sees it, not to the coxswain.

The crewmember who realises someone is over the side does three things: spreads the alarm by repeatedly calling out MAN OVERBOARD with the side — "MAN OVERBOARD, PORT SIDE!" — throws a ring buoy with strobe light or anything that floats over the side as quickly as possible, and then maintains sight of the person while pointing open-handed and moving to where the coxswain can see them, calling out the person's condition Boat Crew Seamanship Manual (M16114.5C) Ch. 16 — Recovery Methods ¶1. The buoy is not aimed at the person; it does not need to go anywhere near them. Getting it in the water fast is the point, because it marks datum and because a delay of seconds puts it that much further from where they went in Boat Crew Seamanship Manual (M16114.5C) Ch. 16 — Recovery Methods ¶2. Throwing it at them risks further injury.

The coxswain's four tasks

There is no fixed order. Turning back is the usual first move, but if traffic is heavy, turning endangers others, and the situation dictates the sequence.

Turn toward the side the person fell, which swings the stern and the propellers clear. Off the bow, turn either way to kick the stern clear. Off the stern, the eddy current at the transom can hold them tight against it, and additional power with the rudder hard over either way pushes them clear.
Mark the position by pressing the memory or man overboard button on the GPS or LORAN-C receiver, establishing datum electronically. With no such receiver fitted, use every other means — dead reckoning, visual landmarks, radar.
Sound five or more short blasts on whistle or horn. Vessels nearby may not read it as a man overboard, but they will register that something is wrong.
Confirm a flotation device is in the water.

Speed does not increase during the recovery turn. A burst of speed catches the remaining crew off guard and can put a second person over the side, and if the boat was running fast when it happened, slowing before starting the manoeuvre is often the better move. Carry out the turn at a safe speed to give the recovery crew a stable platform.

Crew duties and the pointer

The pointer is normally the crewmember who made the initial report, stationed on or near the bow if weather permits, holding constant sight of the person, pointing continuously, and calling out their physical condition. The coxswain manoeuvres on the pointer's hand signals. That crewmember is relieved of any other duty that could distract them — a head in the water is lost in a moment even at short range on a small boat.

Alongside the pointer: a recovery crewmember preparing a heaving line, and a surface swimmer made ready as needed with another crewmember on the tending line to the swimmer's harness whenever the swimmer is in the water.

Before commencing the approach the coxswain briefs the crew on how the recovery will be made and on which side, a decision driven by wind, sea or surf conditions, the boat's manoeuvrability, and any restriction on manoeuvring space.

Communications

Notify the Operational Commander as soon as circumstances and time permit. If the person has not been located and recovered and other boats are needed, transmit the emergency signal Pan — in sets of two, for three sets — on channel 16 or 2182 kHz, followed by identification, position and a brief description. MAYDAY shall not be used; that call is reserved for grave and imminent danger. After returning to datum and completing a quick scan, if the person is not found, drop a datum marker if one was not dropped initially and commence a search pattern, continuing until the Operational Commander directs otherwise.

Propeller discipline

Never have the propeller turning when the person is next to the boat. If power must be applied with them close aboard, turn the bow toward them, swinging the stern and propellers away Boat Crew Seamanship Manual (M16114.5C) Ch. 16 — Recovery Methods ¶4. If the person drifts aft of the boat, do not back down to reach them; swing around and make another approach. Any time someone is in the water near the stern, the propellers stay disengaged Boat Crew Seamanship Manual (M16114.5C) Ch. 16 — Recovery Methods ¶3.

Your PIW has drifted about fifteen feet aft of the recovery area. One astern bell would bring them alongside. What do you do?

Do not back down. The propeller could injure them, and in a seaway the discharge from backing may push them further off. Swing around and make a second, slow, deliberate approach. One correct approach made slowly beats several quick attempts.

Telling it apart

The three low-visibility turns

At night or in reduced visibility the general procedure is unchanged — shout, strobe-fitted float over, keep pointing, MOB button, sound signals — and then the coxswain returns to datum by an Anderson, a race track, or a Williamson turn. What separates them is what you still know: whether the person is in sight, and whether you know when they went over.

Anderson turn — the fastest recovery method, and not meant for a single-propeller boat. Rudder full over toward the side they fell, power up on the outboard engine only; about two-thirds of the way around, back the inboard engine two-thirds or full; stop engines when the person is within about 15° of the bow, then ease the rudder and back as required for final position.
Race track turn — its value is the final straight leg, which makes the approach calculable. Full rudder toward the side they fell and increase speed if conditions permit, full rudder round to the reciprocal of the original course, steady up briefly, then full rudder in to the person.
Williamson turn — for darkness or restricted visibility when the exact time of the incident is unknown. Properly executed it puts the boat on the reciprocal on its exact original track, so the search starts on the track the person fell from rather than a parallel one. Speed does not change during the turn; a speed change brings you round onto the reciprocal displaced from the original track line, and the person may then be too far off to find. Any speed adjustment is made before the turn begins.

One qualification on the Williamson: it may be of little value to a boat with a small turning radius Boat Crew Seamanship Manual (M16114.5C) Ch. 20 — Heavy Weather Piw Recovery ¶13. Its whole product is track accuracy bought with time and sea room, and a boat that can spin in its own length does not need to buy it.

Leeward approach against windward approach

The names describe where the resisting force lies relative to your bow at pickup, not which side of the boat the person is on. Candidates lose points here more than anywhere else in this topic.

Leeward approach — bow facing into the greatest force of oncoming resistance, which may be wind, current, seas, or any combination. Approach rapidly, then reduce wake and slow enough to stop headway with a short backing burst, so the person ends up next to the recovery area with the boat dead in the water. Engines in neutral for the recovery. Severe conditions may dictate this approach with the bow dead into the seas simply to keep control of the boat.
Windward approach — wind coming from astern, used when the person is in a confined space and a leeward approach is impossible. Manoeuvre upwind and up-current, engine in neutral, drift down so the boat sets onto the recovery side without drifting over them.
Stop, pivot, return — the option in a restricted waterway: stop, back and fill round, and work the boat to the weather side of the person so wind and seas set the boat toward them rather than away.

A combination of the two may be needed, notably when recovering multiple people in the water.

Working a question

Night, visibility poor. You are underway on course 340° at 12 knots when the after lookout reports a crewmember missing; nobody saw the fall and the time is unknown.

Spread the alarm with the side if known, get a float with a strobe over the side, and station a pointer. These happen regardless of which turn follows.
Mark the course you were steering when the alarm went up: 340°. Press the MOB button to fix datum.
Time of the fall is unknown and visibility is poor, so the turn is a Williamson — it is the one that will put you back on your own track line to search.
Compute the reciprocal before you need it. 340° is more than 180°, so subtract: 340 − 180 = 160°.
Choose a turn direction. Either serves; if the side is known, turning toward it kicks the stern clear. Turning to starboard, add 60° to the original course: 340 + 60 = 040°. That is the compass reading at which you shift the rudder.
Hold your speed through the turn. Twelve knots in, twelve knots round.
At 040°, shift the rudder hard to port and come round to 160°. Steady on it. Sound five or more short blasts, and inform the Operational Commander as soon as you can.
Nothing sighted on 160°? Continue along the track to the point where the member was last known to be aboard, deploy a second datum marker there, and commence a search pattern. Transmit PAN-PAN if you need other boats.

Had the original course been 080° and the turn to port, the rudder shift comes at 080 − 60 = 020°, and the reciprocal is 080 + 180 = 260°.

Getting the casualty aboard

The person's condition — conscious, unconscious, injured — governs the method. Generally the pickup is made at the lowest point of freeboard and away from the propellers Boat Crew Seamanship Manual (M16114.5C) Ch. 16 — Recovery Methods ¶6.

A conscious person able to move freely takes a heaving line or float line cast on the coxswain's command and is hauled in by the crewmember tending it. If they need help over the rail, two crewmembers each place one hand under an armpit and keep the other hand on the boat, or use a recovery strap, a piece of line, or a boarding ladder. Where one crewmember must do it alone: position them facing the boat with both arms up, reach down with arms crossed, grasp both wrists, and lift straight up while uncrossing, which extracts them in a corkscrew motion. Where freeboard is too high for a safe hand recovery, a rescue strap or line goes under the armpits in horse-collar fashion, crossing the chest, under each arm and up behind the head, padded if padding is to hand.

Buoyancy makes a person light in the water. Clear of it they become dead weight, and an injured person needs handling accordingly.

For an unconscious or injured casualty the coxswain designates a surface swimmer, who dons PPE appropriate to conditions and a swimming harness with a tending line, coiled and attached at the back of the harness for quick deployment. Once the swimmer has a secure hold, the crewmember tending the line hauls both back to the boat. A flotation-equipped stokes litter is used only when the person is seriously injured and seas are calm.

In heavy weather or surf a surface swimmer is a last resort: it strips an already minimal crew, and the chance of the tending line fouling the propeller rises sharply Boat Crew Seamanship Manual (M16114.5C) Ch. 20 — Heavy Weather Piw Recovery ¶2. In those conditions the boat is worked down-swell of the person, turned quickly to put the bow into the swell with the person ahead — a break taken on the beam may roll the boat — and the final approach made at bare steerageway, timed to a lull Boat Crew Seamanship Manual (M16114.5C) Ch. 20 — Heavy Weather Piw Recovery ¶1. All way must be off before they reach the recovery area, because you cannot hold a handhold on a moving boat and backing down at that moment is dangerous.

Where candidates lose the point

Turning away from the side the person fell. It reads as the way to open distance from the hull. It puts the propellers where the person is. Turning toward the side kicks the stern away, and that is the whole reason for the direction.
Choosing an option that backs the boat down onto the casualty. Shortest route on paper. The propeller rules it out, and the correct answer is always to swing around and re-approach.
Reading "leeward approach" as "person recovered on the lee side" or "approach from downwind of the boat." The definition is the bow into the greatest resisting force at pickup — wind, current, seas, or a combination — with the boat dead in the water and engines in neutral.
Increasing speed for the turn. Urgency makes it attractive, and one distractor usually offers it. It destabilises the platform, and in a Williamson it displaces the reciprocal off the original track line, which defeats the manoeuvre.
Anderson turn on a single-screw boat. It is the fastest method and candidates reach for it on that basis. It is not meant for a single-propeller boat; it needs one engine ahead and one backing.
Williamson turn when the person is in sight in clear visibility. The Williamson answers a specific problem — darkness or restricted visibility with the time of the fall unknown. In sight and in the clear it merely costs time and sea room.
MAYDAY instead of PAN-PAN. A missing person feels like grave danger. MAYDAY is used only when the boat is threatened by grave and imminent danger; the man overboard call for assistance is Pan, in sets of two, three sets, on channel 16 or 2182 kHz.
Assuming the casualty can help. A person suffering hypothermia or exhaustion may be unable to take a line or hold one, and a heaving line used in surf is itself risky.

Check yourself

A crewmember goes over the starboard side at 18 knots in clear visibility and is kept in sight. What are your first two helm-related decisions?

Slow down before manoeuvring — at high speed it is often best to reduce first — then put the rudder over toward starboard, the side she fell from, to swing the stern and propellers away. Speed is not increased during the turn.

Night, restricted visibility. Course 205°, a crewmember is found missing at muster and the time of the fall is unknown. You elect to turn to port. At what compass heading do you shift the rudder, and what course do you steady on?

Williamson turn. Turning to port, subtract 60°: shift the rudder when the compass reads 145°. The original course exceeds 180°, so the reciprocal is 205 − 180 = 025°. Steady on 025° and search along that heading; if nothing is sighted, run to the point she was last known aboard and drop a second datum marker.

You are single-screw and the person is in sight in daylight. Anderson turn?

No. The Anderson is not meant for a single-propeller boat. Make the turn to the side they fell with the rudder hard over and additional power if conditions permit, come all the way round to approach with the bow into the wind and current, run in rapidly until close, then make a slow deliberate approach and stop alongside.

The person is in a confined space and you cannot bring the bow into the weather. How do you make the pickup?

Windward approach: manoeuvre upwind and up-current, engine in neutral, and drift down so the boat sets onto the recovery side. Do not let the boat drift over them.

A quick scan at datum has not found the person and you want other boats on scene. What do you transmit, and what follows?

PAN-PAN in sets of two, for three sets, on channel 16 or 2182 kHz, followed by the boat's identification, position and a brief description. Not MAYDAY. Then drop a datum marker if none was dropped, commence a search pattern, and continue until the Operational Commander directs otherwise.

Towing astern at slow speed, a person goes over from your boat. Name three considerations specific to the tow.

If another boat is nearby, have it make the pickup; the towed boat itself may be able to steer on the person and recover them, with your boat helping by slowing or steering toward that side. Make no sharp turns — the tow can trip the towing boat by pulling it sideways — and keep the towline from sinking and fouling the rudders or propellers. Dropping the tow may be necessary, in which case have the tow anchor if possible, and in restricted waters anchor as soon as it is released.

Freeboard is too high to lift an exhausted but conscious person by hand. What do you rig?

A rescue strap or line under the armpits in horse-collar fashion, crossing the chest, passing under each arm and up behind the head, padded if padding is available. Remember they are dead weight the moment they clear the water.