not wearing life jackets

galadriel said:
Wearing a life jacket is part of this self sufficiency. If you fall overboard the the CG will rather you issue a MOB mayday as soon as it happens. Give the guys who turn up in either a SAR helio or life boat a chance to recover a survivor rather than a body. Even picking up a mooring, falling overboard without a LJ you can go into shock, a
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SO why not clip on?
 
radarman said:
What happens when your webbing jackstays break and you are not wearing a lifejacket?
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Easy - don't have webbing jackstays, fit wire (and yes, I do know that some people say wire rolls under your feet). Or, if you have webbing jackstays look after them properly - but it is a bit of a fag rolling them away whenever you leave the boat on its mooring for a few days. Or, wear a lifejacket and clip on.

I always liked the Joint Services Sailing rules, don't know if they are still the same - clip on - at night, when you are reefed, when the skipper says to, and when you feel you want to.
 
life jackets

it has got to be down to the person or we will all end up with life jackets,harness,crash hats,gloves,hi vis jackets,goggels,ear protectors,thermal suits,ect ect.
i used to work in the building trade in the end we had so much "safety gear"it was stupid
 
radarman said:
What happens when your webbing jackstays break and you are not wearing a lifejacket? An experienced sailor drowned last year on the Forth in exactly those circumstancies. With lots of Yachts around to try and rescue him. Unfortunately he could not be revived by the time he was rescued.
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Well it's a good idea to check the integrity of your jack stays. If you're clipped on these days a side effect is you will also be wearing your lifejacket.

If you think you need an LJ you might as well clip on IMHO. It does everything an LJ does and so much more.

Can you post me more details of the incident you refer to - even better a link.
 
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I can't preach or judge, as I would say it is down to personal choice (something we seem to have less and less of these days).
On my boat, as skipper, I have a general rule of if we feel the need for a reef, life-jacket goes on. Using the tender - lifejacket goes on.
These rules only apply to my wife and kids though. If you are onboard as a guest, I "advise" you to follow them but if you are an adult - it's your choice, if your under 18 - sorry, no choice.

I also have a few other rules that others may not agree with, such as
No alcohol until we are tied alongside, anchored or moored.
If we take the dinghy ashore, then we don't over do it on the alcohol front.

Maybe my "rules" are a little over cautious but I am in my first year of boat ownership and until I have full confidence in my own abilities, that's the way it is.
 
toad_oftoadhall said:
Well it's a good idea to check the integrity of your jack stays. If you're clipped on these days a side effect is you will also be wearing your lifejacket.

If you think you need an LJ you might as well clip on IMHO. It does everything an LJ does and so much more.

Can you post me more details of the incident you refer to - even better a link.
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PM sent
 
am i just getting old and too cautious ??!![/QUOTE]

I am sure any member of the RNLI reading some of these posts will be in horror at some of the comments.
One thing that most have forgotten is that under English Law 'you as the Skipper' are totally responsible for all the crew on your boat, so they will rightly hang you out to dry if anyone is lost overboard and drowns and found not to be wearing a LJ as has been seen recently in court.
Try explaning to a judge you give the crew an option to wear one or not!
If you disagree I suggest you just call any marine legal department!

Sorry on my boat I do not have rules, or 'Personal choice',
Simply if you don't wear a LJ you don't go anywhere!
 
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Caer Urfa said:
One thing that most have forgotten is that under English Law 'you as the Skipper' are totally responsible for all the crew on your boat,
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Can you quote this law? I seriously doubt it exists.

For a start there are no manning requirements of any kind of small pleasure craft <24m - so the law doesn't even require there to be a skipper.
 
simonfraser said:
am i just getting old and too cautious ??!!
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In 1972 a few friends and I took a friend's speedboat (a small wooden Broom and a Mercury 40 outboard) down to Llafranch, on the Bay of Rosas. One evening, just before sunset, I was driving with one friend skiing behind...he was swinging side to side to bring up his speed and the sea was quite choppy. Suddenly there was a loud 'crack' and the boat flipped upside-down in less than a second (or so it seemed). I was alone in the speedboat and was not wearing a life-jacket -- my last recollection was of the skier scowling at me as he passed, as I was flipping, as it was his boat!

I was able to swim out and get my breath, and bring the skier in. Then dive down and retrieve my life-jacket.

Had I been wearing the LJ at the time of the flip, I would have died, almost for certain.

The reason for the flip? The steering cable had snapped. Scary.
 
Caer Urfa said:
Sorry, as said just ask any Marine legal department, you as skipper are responsible for all the crew!
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Ok I'm assuming you're making it up but just in case you're not quote your source. Before you do that I'll quote mine (the MCA):

Dear Sir,

Thank-you for your telephone enquiry of today, I can confirm that for
pleasure vessels outside of the scope of manning regulations there are
no manning requirements.

In such a circumstance I suggest following the advice below i
determining whom is responsible for passage plans. The following text is
an extract of IMO Resolution A.893(21), which is available on the MCA
website by following the link below...

https://mcanet.mcga.gov.uk/public/c4/solas/index.html

In most deep-sea vessels the master delegates the initial
responsibility for preparing the plan for a voyage to the officer
responsible for navigational equipment and publications (hereafter
referred to as the navigating officer.) On smaller vessels, including
fishing vessels, the master or skipper may have the responsibility of
the navigating officer for voyage planning purposes. Prior to departure
the navigating officer will prepare the detailed voyage plan from berth
to berth in accordance with the Guidelines and to the master's
requirements. If the port of destination is not known or is subsequently
altered, the navigating officer must extend or amend the original plan
as appropriate.

Kind regards,
snip
UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency
105 Commercial Road, Southampton


http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.rec.sailing/msg/1cd14d008ec8ccb7?hl=en
 
Caer Urfa said:
Sorry, as said just ask any Marine legal department, you as skipper are responsible for all the crew!
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So if the crew fall over board they were disobeying instructions to stay onboard !

With regard to other posts they seem to assume that all lifejackets inflate when in the water. There are a lot that don't because they are faulty or require someone to pull the toggle. Wearing a lifejacket on my boat is an option for adults and a requirement for children. This assumes that adults know about danger and children don't. My rules do alter depending on the weather .......
 
peterdenning said:
So if the crew fall over board they were disobeying instructions to stay onboard !
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LOL! Brilliant!

Or you could be flexible and permit crew to fall overboard, but order them not to get cold or inhale water.

peterdenning said:
My rules do alter depending on the weather .......
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The wisest words so far.

Indeed, the whole answer to the question "Should a life jacket be worn" could be reduced to the words "It depends".
 
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My decisions onboard are influenced by many considerations - none of which involve a concern about the thoughts of casual onlookers / busybodies.
 
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