Sailing is one of the interests Dr. Thomas V Taylor has outside of the surgery room.
It is very rare for a crew member to fall overboard when sailing on a small boat. If it does happen and you stay in the boat, you need to know how to sail alone and how to recover the person overboard. A broken toe strap is the prevailing reason for falling into the water from a dinghy. This is why, to avoid accidents, you always want to check your straps before sailing. Also, make sure to practice recovery techniques until you have enough experience to act quickly and efficiently during an emergency.
When someone falls from the boat into the water, you want to keep them in sight at all times and get them out as fast as possible. If you are the crew and you lose your helmsman, you need to immediately take control of the tiller. To be able to recover a person overboard, you need to sail slowly and be able to stop the dinghy where you need.
The most secure method of recovery of a person overboard is to sail away from the person in the water. This will give you space to turn the boat around and pick the person up. Make sure to not try to turn the boat around quickly and jibe because by doing this you are increasing the risk of capsizing, which can cause even more problems.
When you have enough room on the water between the boat and the person overboard, tack around and sail back, suggests Dr. Thomas V Taylor.