What is your lifejacket policy?

[rafiki_]

That only happens in movies, a mans head is rarely on the end of his feet as he's jumping off the bathing platform.

It’s only got to happen once.

 

[Hot Property]

My brother fell off a pontoon from his Thames riverboat as he was fastening the canopy. Luckily he was wearing an auto inflate lifejacket.

He was stuck in the Thames mud and, whilst someone saw him fall in, they couldn't get to him as there was a high metal fence and locked gate.

Fortunately he managed to extricate himself from the mud by using the buoyancy of the lifejacket and wade to the riverbank.

He ( and I) always wear them when afloat.

It's not a hard concept to grasp...

 

[ylop]

I have a friend with small children, they all wear life jackets apart from him. He says in one of them falls in (his youngest is 5 ish) he'll forget his PW2 man overboard, and simply dive in, no life jacket means he'll swim faster.

He might swim faster, but unless he’s an unusually good swimmer and/or in very sheltered waters he’s risks - cold shock, not getting to them anyway (seeing the casualty when you are both at water level is very hard), not being able to get the casualty back to the boat, not being able to climb back on board, etc.

 

[Boathook]

I have a friend with small children, they all wear life jackets apart from him. He says in one of them falls in (his youngest is 5 ish) he'll forget his PW2 man overboard, and simply dive in, no life jacket means he'll swim faster.

So who is in charge of the boat after he dives in ?

Years ago had a discussion with brother inlaw who said he would dive in if his children went overboard. I told him that it meant 2 people to be rescued rather than one and that normally the person diving in was the one who didn't survive. Not to sure on the survival bit but it made him think about the consequences.
The kids (my niece & nephew) always wore LJ when underway and could swim reasonably well in seawater, and they had been taught to always hold on to the boat when moving around.

 

[Little Ricky]

So who is in charge of the boat after he dives in ?

Years ago had a discussion with brother inlaw who said he would dive in if his children went overboard. I told him that it meant 2 people to be rescued rather than one and that normally the person diving in was the one who didn't survive. Not to sure on the survival bit but it made him think about the consequences.
The kids (my niece & nephew) always wore LJ when underway and could swim reasonably well in seawater, and they had been taught to always hold on to the boat when moving around.

The who's in charge question, sensible as it is, forgets the instinct of the father saving his kid. He's not thinking of a boat bobbing on the water, he looking at his kid's head bobbing in the ocean.

 

[benjenbav]

The who's in charge question, sensible as it is, forgets the instinct of the father saving his kid. He's not thinking of a boat bobbing on the water, he looking at his kid's head bobbing in the ocean.

What’s plan B when the boat blows off downwind faster than any of them can swim and they’re out of reach of the shore?

 

[Little Ricky]

Ok Im out. Too many people trying and succeeding in being pedantic.

 

[Greg2]

Ok Im out. Too many people trying and succeeding in being pedantic.

Not sure it is pedantic for people to point out the obvious risks (some might say folly) associated with his plan. I take your point about the potential for an instinctive (but still foolhardy) reaction from a parent in the heat of the moment but to have a pre-determined plan to dive in after a casualty who is wearing a lifejacket as opposed to ensuring that they have trained / rehearsed MOB recovery techniques seems a bit odd and needless to say wouldn’t pass muster in any kind of formal training.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Ricky, the more people still on the boat, the better the chances of rescuing a MOB. Whatever your fatherly instincts, stay on the boat, steer it to the casualty. There simply isn’t a debate to be had.

 

[gjgm]

The NWSF does encourage those who use the water to visit their pages. Their aim is to reduce drownings by 50pct.
I found the reports surprising, suggesting I have my own bias and misinformation. Reading this thread, perhaps we all do.
Incidentally, the 80 to 90 pct drownings stat and non wearing of a PFD seems a fairly common global number, tho I was not able to find it or its meaning on the above web page.
There will always be very rare events that lead to tragedy, and I might imagine the Forum will work on the higher incidence scenarios.
There is a huge amount of info, though I only found one reference to PFDs, relating to 2010/13.
Of course PFDs can help save lives, and it is worth noting there are also severe life changing possibilities even if you survive.
I think the Forum can help people understand where the risks truly are.
Perhaps because of awareness,training, safety equipment,the accident incident level for ( leisure) at sea is extraordinary low- none for Sailing Yachts in 2024.
I encourage people to have a read.

 

[jon and michie]

I helped a body boarder who had fallen in the Hamble no lifejacket on - fortunately he was near my boat and pontoon - he first refused help to board via my swim platform ladder and then tried swimming against the current getting nowhere fast except tired then manage to get to the pontoon then for him to be informed that there was no ladder for him to climb - luckily he had a couple of pals on boards and managed to get him back on his board and get his breath back.
He went out with a jacket not expecting to end up in the drink - you cannot predict anything so be prepared

 

[Seastoke]

Back in the early nineties we had a 24 ft boat we were in Torquay marina , red hot day my son was leaning over the back of the boat playing with a toy boat on piece of string . I was on the bow messing with the anchor. Both our kids always had life jackets on , only 5 and 6 year old , the wife screams, Dax has fell in , so I dive in from the front looking under water for him panicking I had to come up for breath, thinking he was stuck under the Hull, I can hear wife shouting but I go under again needing air, I surface again and shout I can't find him , then I hear Daddy look up there he is smiling. The wife whilst I had panicked and dived in he had just popped back to the surface and wife got him by the scruff and pulled him out. We still laugh at my poor performance . So when peeps say lj is in the locker ready to put on , it's bollix. Can you imagine you are driving down a road slow suddenly a car pulls out on you , and see it is going to hit it 10 seconds would you have time to put your belt on.NO

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Back in the early nineties we had a 24 ft boat we were in Torquay marina , red hot day my son was leaning over the back of the boat playing with a toy boat on piece of string . I was on the bow messing with the anchor. Both our kids always had life jackets on , only 5 and 6 year old , the wife screams, Dax has fell in , so I dive in from the front looking under water for him panicking I had to come up for breath, thinking he was stuck under the Hull, I can hear wife shouting but I go under again needing air, I surface again and shout I can't find him , then I hear Daddy look up there he is smiling. The wife whilst I had panicked and dived in he had just popped back to the surface and wife got him by the scruff and pulled him out. We still laugh at my poor performance . So when peeps say lj is in the locker ready to put on , it's bollix. Can you imagine you are driving down a road slow suddenly a car pulls out on you , and see it is going to hit it 10 seconds would you have time to put your belt on.NO

And that’s the one time when jumping in might help. If the wife hadn’t got there first of course.

 

[Alicatt]

Back home, especially during the covid lockdowns, there were a lot of people heading out onto Loch Lomond on paddleboards without PFDs which lead to some incidents and losses of life