The most bizarre thing you've ever seen someone do on a boat.

[causeway]

I can't really see a reason NOT to wear a LJ. I've had to be resuscitated once as a child and I'd rather not repeat the experience.

 

[snowleopard]

Did he not jump in to assist the guy on the foredeck who (I think) went over with the rig?

I counted 5 on deck before the rig went and 4 after the helmsman jumped.

 

[snowleopard]

Here's another entry.

How to ruin a peaceful anchorage.

On one boat with a crew of the Scottish persuasion, they left the marina for the start of the ARC with a guy standing on the foredeck playing the bagpipes. We were in St Lucia 18 days later when they arrived. The same guy was on the foredeck and he was still playing. Now how's that for an incentive to sail as fast as possible?

 

[Lakesailor]

I counted 5 on deck before the rig went and 4 after the helmsman jumped.

Definitely 6 crew before the mast comes down.

 

[lustyd]

I can't really see a reason NOT to wear a LJ. I've had to be resuscitated once as a child and I'd rather not repeat the experience.

How about the fact that they make it bluddy hard to swim (back to the boat for instance)? or that floating on the surface is the last place you want to be when your RIB swings full circle of its own accord after the fail-on kill cord didn't stop the engine? No, kill cords are not fail safe. How about your friends LJ didn't inflate and you want to dive down and save them but can't because you're trapped on the surface? How about because you can swim and are in absolutely no danger whatsoever in the current sailing conditions?

I wear a seatbelt to drive from the bottle bank at the back of the carpark to a parking space at Tesco because the law forces me to, and because I don't want points and fines. Any reasonable person would consider that optional too. Nobody is saying that solo sailors in a F9 mid channel should go out in just their pants, they are saying that following a quick assessment of the risks, sometimes you don't need a helmet, gloves, steel toecap boots, lifejacket, face mask or any other equipment.

 

[doug748]

On one boat with a crew of the Scottish persuasion, they left the marina for the start of the ARC with a guy standing on the foredeck playing the bagpipes. We were in St Lucia 18 days later when they arrived. The same guy was on the foredeck and he was still playing. Now how's that for an incentive to sail as fast as possible?

I have often thought that if you were away to an early start and would rather not have anyone raft alongside, whilst you were in the pub..


..the thing to do is leave a set of bagpipes on deck.

 

[Greenheart]

How about...after the kill cord didn't stop the engine? How about your friend's LJ didn't inflate and you want to dive down and save them but can't because you're trapped on the surface?

'Trapped on the surface'. That's pretty funny. But I wonder if buoyancy aids might be recommended to yachtsmen for situations which don't quite warrant the discomfort and clothing-clutter of a life-jacket? Our buoyancy aids are the slender 50-Newton kind and no trouble at all to wear - which makes the reluctance to regard personal buoyancy as sensible whenever on deck, seem inexplicable. They're also easy to swim in.

You seem peculiarly pessimistic, Lusty. You would wilfully avoid wearing a lifejacket, just in case the lifejacket worn by somebody else (who had recklessly worn one), failed to inflate? And likewise, you'd avoid wearing one just in case the kill-cord failed? Surely if your lifejacket doesn't open, it won't matter when your kill-cord fails? Come to that, isn't it likely to be just your luck that your unattended RIB also fails to turn in a circle, and simply powers away into the distance...leaving you wishing for a bit of personal buoyancy? :biggrin-new:

...sometimes you don't need a helmet, gloves, steel toecap boots, face mask or any other equipment.

I thought this was about safety on board, not in a shipyard?

 

[AuntyRinum]

Whether a racing crew wears lifejackets or not is all down to the skipper and what standards he sets. A lot of Sunday racing crew, in fact, don't know one end of a boat from the other and are just happy to turn up once a week and be sailed around the ocean doing their particular job - winching, spinnaker pole, or whatever they've been told to do. That's the point; they have to be told what to do including wearing lifejackets.
Come to think of it, I've known many club racing owner/skippers whose sailing knowledge is limited to getting the boat to the start twice a week, racing around the cans as fast as possible, and then getting the boat back to the mooring. The concept of crew safety doesn't figure very highly, any more than good seamanship and an in depth knowledge of sailing does.

 

[causeway]

How about the fact that they make it bluddy hard to swim (back to the boat for instance)? or that floating on the surface is the last place you want to be when your RIB swings full circle of its own accord after the fail-on kill cord didn't stop the engine? No, kill cords are not fail safe. How about your friends LJ didn't inflate and you want to dive down and save them but can't because you're trapped on the surface? How about because you can swim and are in absolutely no danger whatsoever in the current sailing conditions?

I wear a seatbelt to drive from the bottle bank at the back of the carpark to a parking space at Tesco because the law forces me to, and because I don't want points and fines. Any reasonable person would consider that optional too. Nobody is saying that solo sailors in a F9 mid channel should go out in just their pants, they are saying that following a quick assessment of the risks, sometimes you don't need a helmet, gloves, steel toecap boots, lifejacket, face mask or any other equipment.

If your kill cord doesn't work you're doing it wrong.

You can always take the LJ off if you need to dive.

The point is there are always variables which you may not take into account.

You could be becalmed and still trip and hit your head and fall in. In this situation the LJ still gives you a chance.

In the same way, a seatbelt may save your life when someone else runs into you. Something you have no control over. It may be a chore but the statistics tell the true story. Countless lives have been saved by enforced seat belt wearing.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

How about the fact that they make it bluddy hard to swim (back to the boat for instance)? or that floating on the surface is the last place you want to be when your RIB swings full circle of its own accord after the fail-on kill cord didn't stop the engine? No, kill cords are not fail safe. How about your friends LJ didn't inflate and you want to dive down and save them but can't because you're trapped on the surface? How about because you can swim and are in absolutely no danger whatsoever in the current sailing conditions?

I wear a seatbelt to drive from the bottle bank at the back of the carpark to a parking space at Tesco because the law forces me to, and because I don't want points and fines. Any reasonable person would consider that optional too. Nobody is saying that solo sailors in a F9 mid channel should go out in just their pants, they are saying that following a quick assessment of the risks, sometimes you don't need a helmet, gloves, steel toecap boots, lifejacket, face mask or any other equipment.

I usually only wear an LJ at night or when conditions are poor but it would be foolish to think that I am somehow safer when I am not wearing one. In every one of the scenarios you give I could, if necessary, remove an LJ whilst still in the water. If I fell in the water and was either unconscious or my boat was vanishing off towards the horizon it would be too late to put an LJ on.

 

[Sandy]

A life jacket is designed to do one thing and only one thing:

Keep the airway of an unconscious casualty above the water.

​

I am one of those sad individuals who wears one all the time on the water.

 

[Greenheart]

A life jacket is designed to do only one thing: Keep the airway of an unconscious casualty above the water. I am one of those sad individuals who wears one all the time on the water.

I wouldn't bet on you drowning any time soon, Camelia! :encouragement:

 

[EuanMcKenzie]

why is everybody ignoring the consequences of falling into the water in a hot country vs a cold one.

We wear them on most occasions here but the shock of falling into cold water is great

Falling off the boat when I lived in Hong Kong and could swim like a fish - different. Have I missed something here?

 

[Greenheart]

Falling off the boat when I lived in Hong Kong and could swim like a fish - different. Have I missed something here?

I reckon the majority here are mainly concerned with chilly UK waters. But how about if you couldn't swim like a fish? Not everyone can. Let alone people who go overboard after being clobbered by the boom.

 

[AuntyRinum]

How about the fact that they make it bluddy hard to swim (back to the boat for instance)? or that floating on the surface is the last place you want to be when your RIB swings full circle of its own accord after the fail-on kill cord didn't stop the engine? No, kill cords are not fail safe. How about your friends LJ didn't inflate and you want to dive down and save them but can't because you're trapped on the surface? How about because you can swim and are in absolutely no danger whatsoever in the current sailing conditions?...

You give the impression that you don't have much boating experience so are unaware of what happens to people when they go overboard. It's always helpful if people like you at least wear a non inflating lifejacket. The straps will make it easier for the RNLI to fish your corpse out of the water.

 

[Croak]

If your kill cord doesn't work you're doing it wrong.

You can always take the LJ off if you need to dive.

The point is there are always variables which you may not take into account.

You could be becalmed and still trip and hit your head and fall in. In this situation the LJ still gives you a chance.

In the same way, a seatbelt may save your life when someone else runs into you. Something you have no control over. It may be a chore but the statistics tell the true story. Countless lives have been saved by enforced seat belt wearing.

And a lot have been lost by wearing them.

 

[Croak]

How about the fact that they make it bluddy hard to swim (back to the boat for instance)? or that floating on the surface is the last place you want to be when your RIB swings full circle of its own accord after the fail-on kill cord didn't stop the engine? No, kill cords are not fail safe. How about your friends LJ didn't inflate and you want to dive down and save them but can't because you're trapped on the surface? How about because you can swim and are in absolutely no danger whatsoever in the current sailing conditions?

I wear a seatbelt to drive from the bottle bank at the back of the carpark to a parking space at Tesco because the law forces me to, and because I don't want points and fines. Any reasonable person would consider that optional too. Nobody is saying that solo sailors in a F9 mid channel should go out in just their pants, they are saying that following a quick assessment of the risks, sometimes you don't need a helmet, gloves, steel toecap boots, lifejacket, face mask or any other equipment.

+1

 

[DaveS]

And a lot have been lost by wearing them.

This is a point of view which I have often heard expressed, but usually without much supporting evidence. With a bit of imagination it is possible to think of scenarios where wearing a seat belt might make things worse, but it does need quite a lot of imagination. It would be very helpful if you could reference any evidence.

 

[Greenheart]

With a bit of imagination it is possible to think of scenarios where wearing a seat belt might make things worse, but it does need quite a lot of imagination.

+1 :biggrin-new:

 

[lustyd]

You give the impression that you don't have much boating experience so are unaware of what happens to people when they go overboard. It's always helpful if people like you at least wear a non inflating lifejacket. The straps will make it easier for the RNLI to fish your corpse out of the water.

I actually have plenty of boating experience, and always wear a life jacket where appropriate. These were a few examples of where they may not be helpful.