Ice!

[Ramage]

These are not rowing eights, they are traditional cutters. They are big, heavy sturdy boats with fixed seats.

http://www.14thrichmondsbc.org.uk/viking_boats.html

 

[Mirror Painter]

I admitted earlier in this thread to only just having ordered my first LJ, (because of this thread). My young son has always been required to wear his life jacket on the boat. He is always proud of the whistle on his jacket and tells people it's in case there is an emergency.

So, this evening I was in the living room showing him my 'proper sailors' (forgive me), self inflating jacket. I was telling him that when he can swim properly we can swap his bulky LJ for one like mine. He replied with, 'Not sure I want one like yours, the whistle is tiny' and yanked on the manual inflation toggle.

It didn't go off but I'm still shaking a bit...

 

[Brayman]

But it is self inflating, isn't it?

 

[Mirror Painter]

But it is self inflating, isn't it?

Yes when wet - but also has a pull toggle for manual inflation - or to frighten fathers.

Edit to add - he didn't pull it hard enough to set it off - just hard enough to cause panic.

 

[FishyInverness]

At this time of year, in these conditions on marina pontoons or working anywhere near the water - I can't recommend a thermal flotation suit enough. Cheap at around the £100 mark and they are so multipurpose it's unreal!

Was wearing mine over at Kishorn yesterday on a bit of a spare hand for our mechanic fitting a Honda BF90 to one of the aquaculture workboats - mainly because it was Bloody Baltic! (we were about 20 metres from the water so I wasn't likely to be using it for the floaty bit!) but it also doubles as a decent set of overalls and provides floatation if the worst comes to the worst and you go in.

In this kind of weather, not only does it keep you toasty warm, it insulates if you fall in, giving you a minimum 1 hour survival time and provides approximately 68 newtons of buoyancy - enough to keep you on the surface while you orient yourself for a nearby ladder, for example.

The fladen scandia's are also high-vis yellow on the shoulders and head - i've taken to keeping mine in the car in case of a breakdown up on the Slochd or out in Wester Ross somewhere!

The fishfarm guys up this way face a disciplinary if they take theirs off when on site!