ARC Portugal 2013 participants Steven and Annemarie Westwood, owners of the Moody 425 Freebooter were more than happy to demonstrate their homemade MOB device at Mayflower Marina on Thursday afternoon during their obligatory safety inspection prior to the rally. Rob Gaffney, chief safety inspector at World Cruising was intrigued to discover a piece of safety equipment he had not come across previously.
Steven Westwood explained he had designed the equipment himself with the help from a sail maker after he and his wife Annemarie had encountered an extraordinary event that took place whilst sailing their boat in the Channel Islands a few years ago. They had come across the unconscious body of a diver just off Guernsey, and on attempting to haul him out of the water to safety, experienced extreme difficulty in getting him on board. They called for assistance and eventually managed to get the diver out of the water. It was this experience, which shocked them both into doing some research into the MOB devices that were currently available. Feeling not quite satisfied with what they came across, they decided to take it upon themselves to design the Sea-Xit.
Having completed some trials and discussions with the Moody owners association they tried and tested a product until they were happy recovering a body from the water shorthanded. By using the boom to suspend the Sea-Xit, it creates a cradle when hoisting the casualty out of the water and prevents collisions with the boat's hull. It also has weighted lead stripping enabling the mat to submerge making it easier to get the device underneath a casualty.
Photos of the Sea-Xit are shown below, taken onboard Freebooter at Mayflower Marina, Plymouth.
