Lifejackets important or not?

"To ASSUME makes an ASS out of U and ME" a wise sage once told me /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

She is a very good swimmer and I have no problem with her being able to swim.

Also my boating is mainly powercraft and not sailing vessels.

As someone righlty pointed out failing in the water round here is not about being able to swim but being able to cope with the cold water effect.

Even in the height of summer the water does not get that warm.
Cold water shock comes on very very quckly.
My choice for her to wear her jacket is to give her ever chance to survive should the unthinkable happen.

She has never come close to falling in but I like to be sure in my own mind that she will be ok if she did.

It is personal choice to wear or not to wear a LJ.

I totally agree that donig your sea survival course gives you a different outlook on some things.
Was a day well spent.

Oh and for Tom, am sure you are not easily impressed but:-

VSMM Voluntry Services Medical Medal
PBI Powerboat Instructor.

Best regards
 
I was talking about kids on a pontoon - in a dinghy heading in sheltered waters to a boat.... on trots. Provided they can swim they will be OK... For goodness sake lots like me grew up jumping off pontoons for a swim, capsizing dinghies pushing each other in -- if you are messing about by the sea on boats and pontoons being able to swim is, I would have thought a prerequisite!

The sea survival ingredient that is most important is being attached to the yacht!! - not falling in is the trick. In calm weather it is simple to pick somebody up from the sea quickly and if they can swim it makes it easy. In bad weather it is very very very difficult for lots of reasons.... A life jacket may or may not save your life in those conditions - possibly not.. A safety harness attaching you to a yacht in those conditions almost certainly will - because you are never separated from the yacht.

Do you know know how many people drown from falling overboard from yachts each year??? fingers of one hand....
 
Jon I posted the above before your appeared...

delighted and relived to hear she can swim and have no problem with you as a father deciding on life jackets at all times.... I would have thought that particularly on bouncy motorboats, falling in is a danger and she should be attached at all times it is on the move...

The hypothermia problem comes into its own when the weather and waves are bad.. and it takes more than 20 minutes (dead) to get back to them... Can take a lot longer than that in bad weather just to locate... I would maintain the most important aid to safety in bad weather is a safety harness!
 
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Do you know know how many people drown from falling overboard from yachts each year??? fingers of one hand....

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I believe statistics prove more people are drowned in cars than from boats. Do they not know they should wear lifejackets? I think What Car magazine owes a duty to their readers to show only pictures where the drivers and passengers are wearing lifejackets!
 
It's hard to believe some of the rubbish you read, mostly said out of pure ignorance I think. Of course it is better not to fall in in the first place but if you do and you think you are going to swim forget it. Try it with your oily skins and boots on - the cold shock will hit you like a hammer you will be coughing with salt water in your mouth nose and eyes thats if you didn't knock yourself out on the way over. The life jacket does the work keeping you afloat till/if you are picked up. Sailing conditions don't matter, people tend to wear the gear when they think conditions warrant it but you can go over when you least expect it - that's what makes some accidents so tragic. As for those who think it's a free world etc well go ahead and drown but remember someone else has to drag you out. Someone else has to undress you on a slab and someone else has to go to your house and tell your family you bought it. It's just like people who still refuse to wear seat belts in cars, incredible!
 
Re: Lifejackets worn in the tender

That is also my rule. Modern lifejackets with integral harnesses aree hardly an inconvenience.
 
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As for those who think it's a free world etc well go ahead and drown but remember someone else has to drag you out. Someone else has to undress you on a slab and someone else has to go to your house and tell your family you bought it. It's just like people who still refuse to wear seat belts in cars, incredible

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Its their job - its what they do... For goodness sake stop being so boringly PC. If its my life I reserve the right to live it as I like and want - unless it hurts somebody else... Laying bodies out on slabs is a normal everyday job done by millions throughout the world..

I am saying that hardly anyone ever goes overboard and drowns. Just does not happen often. More get hit by a boom - should we all were crash/boom helmets.. or only sail with a safety craft in attendance with medics on board.. Or cars should have a man with a red flag walking in front of them... Now that would seriously reduce death on the roads --- but ...

Prevention is better than cure and prevention is a life line attached to the boat... In dodgy weather
 
I would agree that being able is swim is enough with a couple of provisos. (a) They must be able to swim in the clothes they are wearing on the pontoon / dinghy and (b) It must be summer
 
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if you are messing about by the sea on boats and pontoons being able to swim is, I would have thought a prerequisite!


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I can "swim" about 10 yards - at a push maybe 25 if chased by a shark.

I am however always "bl##dy careful" about not falling in.

What does "bl##dy careful" mean in practice? Well, it means being aware of when you are taking a risk and deciding what actions are required to minimise the risk of falling overboard and then deciding what to do given the circumstances presented. Sometimes this involves wearing a lifejacket. Sometimes it doesn't.

- Sitting on the Head is probably safe enuf 100% of the time to dispense with the wearing of a life jacket, (unless you are a singlehanded in the shipping lanes........and are constipated and doing the Times crossword /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

- Taking a dump whilst sitting on the end of a 15 foot bowsprit in a force 10 is probably not safe 100% of the time, whether you have a lifejacket on, a safety line, an EPIRB, a survival suit, a blow up doll........and an RNLI life boat on speed dial.

Everything else is somewhere in between.


People do not drown from failing to wear a lifejacket, they drown from falling in the water.
 
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I can "swim" about 10 yards - at a push maybe 25 if chased by a shark.


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If I was being chased by a shark, I could probably walk on water for 25 yards!
 
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