Two lives saved on the Fowey - lifejacket and a flotation suit did the business.

[Seajet]

Not sure I have much need of armour - I can't remember the last time I was beaten around the torso while sailing - but I agree buoyancy aids are definitely worth considering for use with the tender. As well as allowing you to swim and clamber more easily, a basic foam waistcoat is also less likely to be nicked than a shiny new automatic-with-harness yachty lifejacket. On west country charters we used to clank into pubs carrying a pile of lifejackets because we wouldn't leave them unattended at the landing pontoon - now with a stack of faded and paint-spattered (but sound) buoyancy aids on Ariam, I'm quite happy to leave them in the dinghy.



Lifejacket (if required) on the yacht, buoyancy aid in the dinghy. If conditions between yacht and shore are such that a 150N lifejacket with spray-hood seems appropriate, then the tender stays in the locker and we eat on board!

Pete

Pete,

I've tried going overboard from dinghies & cruisers.

While there's no doubt a lifejacket is tops for survival - especially one with a harness which allows one to be secured alongside then hopefully hoiked out - I do think buoyancy aids are a bit neglected.

They make good body-warmers too, allow more mobility and can be worn under normal clothing - say to the pub etc.

No way a substitute for a proper LJ if one is in deep err, trouble - but might be a handy thing to use casually when one might not want the clunkiness and value of a proper lifejacket.

I must say on my excursion over the side I found my LJ extremely inhibiting, swimming was near impossible; a fellow member found the same and ended up going straight down-tide and clinging onto a buoy.

Please don't think I'm anti-lifejacket, anything but, but I do wonder if buoyancy aids might be more user friendly to wear regularly when going ashore, at least for semi-fit people ?

 

[prv]

Pete,

I've tried going overboard from dinghies & cruisers.

While there's no doubt a lifejacket is tops for survival - especially one with a harness which allows one to be secured alongside then hopefully hoiked out - I do think buoyancy aids are a bit neglected.

I'm puzzled by this post. It seems to have been written in reply to one which pooh-poohed buoyancy aids and suggested that only a proper lifejacket would do, and then attached instead to a post which says the exact opposite.

Pete

 

[TradewindSailor]

I agree that buoyancy aids are far more suitable than life jackets for use in a dinghy, especially when single-handed: life jackets are very restrictive when trying to clamber back on board a dinghy ..... and I suggest it would be very unlikely that a swimmer would choose to reduce the buoyancy to close to zero to improve the situation. I have recovered people from the water that were wearing life jackets .... we had to turn them so their back was towards the RIB to get them in.

On the other point about inflatable dinghies, particularly RIBs : Down here in warmer waters we go swimming off our dinghies often, usually unencumbered with buoyancy aids or life jackets ..... but with swimming fins. Of the people I have spoken to that complained about not being able to reboard their dinghy ..... none had ever thought about letting some of the air out of one of the aft cambers to make boarding easier.

 

[LadyInBed]

Us old farts had no chance ! We found though that by carrying a strop with you it was quite easy to make a loop which you could put your foot through and climb in.
Chris

Yoy don't need to carry a strop, there should already be one on the dingy, it's called the painter!
Run it back and down through a side grab loop and tie a foot loop in the end of it.

 

[Seajet]

I'm puzzled by this post. It seems to have been written in reply to one which pooh-poohed buoyancy aids and suggested that only a proper lifejacket would do, and then attached instead to a post which says the exact opposite.

Pete

Pete,

sorry I sidetracked myself ! In my first post I'd mentioned that bouyancy aids make handy ' body armour ' against knocks, which you had wondered about.

Andy

 

[[70521]]

As I often motor out to the mooring in the dingy and use a swim ladder to get onto the boat I have a plan - I've decided that if I fall in then there is nothing I can do. Incoming tide I end up in Topsham or outgoing tide I hope somebody notices me as I float past Exmouth at 5 knots.

It might turn a few heads at the River Exe Cafe seeing that happen :encouragement:

 

[Searush]

As I often motor out to the mooring in the dingy and use a swim ladder to get onto the boat I have a plan - I've decided that if I fall in then there is nothing I can do. Incoming tide I end up in Topsham or outgoing tide I hope somebody notices me as I float past Exmouth at 5 knots.

It might turn a few heads at the River Exe Cafe seeing that happen :encouragement:

A waterproof hh VHF in your pocket with a fully charged battery might be a good idea.