Dinghy to shore drowning

".... unconscious in the water without a lifejacket." A tragedy for everybody and thoughts are very much with the family and crew.

Now where is my LJ? On board in its locker. I almost certainly would have done the same as him on the short trip ashore in Studland to pick up crew, particularly with an inflatable to provide positive buoyancy anyway. In fact very often have. Its never as safe as it seems....

Edit - and it occurs to me: Boat on a swinging mooring, LJ in its locker on board. So how do I get to the boat? In the dinghy of cour.... oh!
 
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Maddy Davey, Portland Coastguard Watch Manager said,

As summer approaches we want all boat users to keep safe when heading out on the water. Please wear your lifejacket on deck and when you are on a tender because sadly, these tragic accidents do happen even on short trips

Perhaps a reminder for anyone who does not follow the above advice! It is the relatives and friends left behind who end up being devasted when such an accident happens.
 
I've been going to & from moorings, not wearing a lifejacket, since 1970 or so.

Last year I decided to start wearing a lifejacket; last year I turned my dinghy over on the mooring and went in.

I am one of 4 experienced people at my club who have gone in from the dinghy, all solo...

We were very lucky, this poor chap wasn't; he wasn't doing anything outrageously daft, it was something I'd suggest all cruiser operators reading this have done. He didn't deserve this...

My sincere condolences to family & crew.
 
Seajet said:
I've been going to & from moorings, not wearing a lifejacket, since 1970 or so.

Last year I decided to start wearing a lifejacket; last year I turned my dinghy over on the mooring and went in....
Click to expand...
Forty years not wearing lifejacket, no problem
One year wearing lifejacket, that year you fall in.

Pure coincidence? Or is there some connection? I know I am even more careful riding a motorbike in jeans than in leathers, and it is often suggested that wearing crash-helmets makes cyclists less careful. Are modern sailing dinghies less seaworthy than their predecessors because clubs nowadays have fleets of RIBs instead of a single diesel-powered launches?

Do we take more risks if we have more safety equipment?
 
Tim,

not wishing to hijack this very sad thread, but I can assure you I wasn't affected by wearing a LJ, in fact by that stage of the season it had become routine and I was barely aware of it, I was quite surprised when it inflated !

I mentioned the timing to illustrate the fact I was very lucky with my decision.

As people will say, and it's true, the only good which can come of the tragedy at Studland is if it spurs a lot of people into wearing LJ's and being safety conscious, especially at places like this with a dark, wide rough open sea usually to leeward.
 
MrCramp said:
Maddy Davey, Portland Coastguard Watch Manager said,

As summer approaches we want all boat users to keep safe when heading out on the water. Please wear your lifejacket on deck and when you are on a tender because sadly, these tragic accidents do happen even on short trips

Perhaps a reminder for anyone who does not follow the above advice! It is the relatives and friends left behind who end up being devasted when such an accident happens.
Click to expand...

OK with the on a tender, I will even add when transferring, between vessels, But not always when on deck.
 
What is it the RNLI say........

" A life jacket is useless, unless you are wearing it" I really feel for the poor old fella, there but for the grace of, go I. A mate and I were having a conversation only the other day about this very situation, and after 50 odd years of messing about in boats, I seem to be finally getting the message, getting old does focus ones mind on ones own mortality, does it not?
 
I started to read YM in the late sixties and I very well recall a comment by JDS to the effect that more yachtsmen drown from the tender than from the yacht. It caused me to "get religion" and I won't set foot in my own tender without oars, a bailer, an anchor a torch, positive bouyancy and lifejackets all round.

On my river (the Deben) we seem to lose someone each year in this way.
 
timbartlett said:
Forty years not wearing lifejacket, no problem
One year wearing lifejacket, that year you fall in.

Pure coincidence? Or is there some connection? I know I am even more careful riding a motorbike in jeans than in leathers, and it is often suggested that wearing crash-helmets makes cyclists less careful. Are modern sailing dinghies less seaworthy than their predecessors because clubs nowadays have fleets of RIBs instead of a single diesel-powered launches?

Do we take more risks if we have more safety equipment?
Click to expand...

Partially if not largely agree.
Wrong thread for you (and others) to raise it.
And Seajet I'm +1 with you.
 
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very sadly we do hear of this sort of accident every now and again throughout the sailing season.

And a tragedy for those left to pick up the pieces after their loved one or friend has departed the world.

All i would like to comment is, BE SAFE, NOT SORRY...
 
Seajet said:
Webcraft,

the person you rescued was indeed a moron, drunk out of his skull and ungratefully abusive by the sound of it; I am sure you do not wish that remark connected with this case.
Click to expand...

At least he was blind drunk. It sounds as though the unfortunate victim in this case was sober but still chose not to wear a lifejacket for some reason.

- W
 
Very sad to hear this. I can honestly say I have never set foot in my tender without a lifejacket. Having young children means I have to set an example, even on my own I wouldn't dream of not wearing it. Most dangerous part of each outing is climbing down into the tender on my return, for me anyway. Im always alone as I drop passengers off at the marina before returning the yacht to its mooring.
 
The one and only time I have gone for an unplanned swim is from the tender. I had the wife and daughter with me so we all had LJs on. If I'd been on my own I might not have bothered. It was pure complacency - a transfer we'd done dozens of times before went slightly wrong.

Now it's always LJ on in the tender and take it off when I get aboard. As a previous poster stated, he wasn't doing anything outrageous and didn't deserve this. Tragic.
 
planteater said:
The one and only time I have gone for an unplanned swim is from the tender. I had the wife and daughter with me so we all had LJs on. If I'd been on my own I might not have bothered. It was pure complacency - a transfer we'd done dozens of times before went slightly wrong.

Now it's always LJ on in the tender and take it off when I get aboard. As a previous poster stated, he wasn't doing anything outrageous and didn't deserve this. Tragic.
Click to expand...

I did this the summer before last. I was getting into the rubber dinghy which was at the side of the slipway, the lower part of the slipway being occupied. As the knees aren't what they were, I dropped the last couple of feet. The result was my daughter, sitting on the bow was catapulted into the air and out. I rebounded similarly and out. Only swmbo, who is an accomplished horsewoman, stayed in the saddle.

Unfortunately we were just beside the ferry which was lined with spectators.
 
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