What procedures do you follow with lifejackets when you have a crew?

[John the kiwi]

When racing round the buoys, our club has a "lifejackets shall be worn at all times " rule so no decision is needed.
When day-sailing i often have friends or family who are not sailors.
First, go to great pains to try and make sure one competent person could start the motor and drive the boat if i fell OB.
Second i wear my life jacket complete with PLB and handheld VHF as long as the boat is underway even in total calm summery conditions. (Whether solo or otherwise actually. My wife does want me back it seems so i owe it to her if nothing else.)
If I go OB at least i can set off PLB and call on VHF even if the amateur crew cant rescue me!

Then i explain the above to passengers, telling them that if it is calm and summery it is their choice to wear or not, and I can usually pick up a MOB. Well 2 goes out of 3 anyway!
If it starts blowing up there will be a point where I require life-jackets to be worn. The threshold is low - end of discussion.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

It is an absolute rule on our boat that lifejackets are on at sea when not in the cabin. While I think it would be improbable that anyone could fall out of the cockpit, it could happen, especially when manoeuvring in close quarters. Also the design of Capricious makes it easier for a short person to see if you're standing on the cockpit seats - visibility through the spray-hood is poor at best. However, the rule arises from a particular medical event in my past, when we thought that I was at risk of unexpectedly losing consciousness (I am not!). As our life-jackets double as safety harnesses, it is sensible to have them on anyway, so we can clip on easily. We recently invested in "3G" lifejackets to maximize the comfort of wearing them.

Modern lifejackets are so convenient and comfortable that I really can't see a down-side to wearing them, but it is easy to see prospective downsides to not wearing them!

 

[martinaskey]

We tend not to wear LJs for routine sailing in nice conditions - a relatively stable big boat with a low probability of falling in when the weather is good and we're pottering along. My boat rules are posted up and enforced ...........

Use of lifejackets and harnesses onboard Rumbuster
Lifejackets and leashes are stored opposite the toilet.
Check and adjust your lifejacket before setting out
You should put on your lifejacket when :
• you feel you ought to – never feel foolish to put it on even if others aren’t bothering.
• alone on deck for a watch
• the mainsail is about to be reefed
• night sailing or in poor visibility
• swimming would be a problem
o wearing full oilies
o if you are feeling tired or ill
o cold / rough conditions (air or sea)
• the skipper tells you to
• abandoning to the liferaft !!

You should clip in when
• you feel you ought to
• the mainsail has two reefs in
• night sailing
• on the foredeck if you are using a harness in the cockpit
• the skipper tells you to
.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Always when using tender.

We have an "always in the tender" rule, but generally use buoyancy aids for that, so that we have a bit of control if we do go in. Context dependent, though.

 

[prv]

Lifejackets optional unless the skipper says otherwise, in which case there are no options.

+1

I do emphasise that crew should ask for, or go and fetch, a lifejacket whenever they think they might want one, and if this is as soon as they come aboard then that is absolutely fine. I make clear that I do not want anybody sitting there thinking "I'd rather be wearing a jacket but I don't want to make a fuss". For inexperienced sailors I usually get them to put one on and adjust it to fit, before taking off again if they wish, to make it feel like a real option rather than just an "in theory". Some people opt for all the time, some not until told to, some in the middle.

I have buoyancy aids for the dinghy and wear them as a matter of course (albeit possibly not for a short transfer in swimming weather).

Pete

 

[lpdsn]

The most lax I have been was on my first trip from Langkawi to Singapore with a delivery skipper. We wore no lifejackets and often I would sit on the deck out of the cockpit on my watch at night keeping a lookout, looking at the stars etc. If I had fallen off no one would know as the other two were asleep below.

To be honest that would've been your own fault, unless you were never given a lifejacket in the first place.

I always give crew a lifejacket when they join, unless they've brought their own. I make sure they try it on and adjust it to fit. I then tell them to look after it and keep it with them.

Sometimes I decide the situation warrants insisting someone wears a lifejacket.

I never tell them not to wear a lifejacket.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

As with seat belts in a car, everyone, always, except when in the cabin.

+1. It's the law here, and you soon get used to it, same as seatbelts in a car. I learned my sailing in the context of a volunteer sail training organisation and was in tune with this regime from day 1, long before it became compulsory.
I would feel naked without it.
Clip on: always at night, when out of the cockpit in winds above F4, in the cockpit when winds above F6. This is on a 30ft boat.

 

[laika]

To be honest that would've been your own fault, unless you were never given a lifejacket in the first place.

On a first trip? Surely as a novice in any activity you take your lead from more experienced people around you. If the skipper doesn't wear a lifejacket or advise you to wear one you're going to follow his/her example even if a lifejacket has been allocated to you

 

[lpdsn]

As with seat belts in a car, everyone, always, except when in the cabin.

Seat belts in a car are a very good idea if you're outside the cabin. Otherwise you'd have to hang onto the windscreen wipers very tightly.

 

[lpdsn]

On a first trip? Surely as a novice in any activity you take your lead from more experienced people around you. If the skipper doesn't wear a lifejacket or advise you to wear one you're going to follow his/her example even if a lifejacket has been allocated to you

Maybe a first trip but it wasn't exactly a spin around the local bay, so you imagine the OP wasn't a completely niave beginner out for an hour or two.

 

[paulieraw]

Our general practice is:

Always at night (and hooked on regardless of weather and whether in cockpit or not)
Always when using tender.
Usually on as soon as we start putting reefs in.

Bright sunny warm day with warm sea temperatures and lots of people on deck, we don’t bother with life jackets on at all. (But on our boat there’s a dinghy on davits with outboard on and ready to launch at all times)

This is bassicly what I have always done, plus when sailing alone I always clip on out of the cockpit no matter what the weather, as its easy to slip and it always happens when least expected.

 

[dunedin]

I suspect that those who say ‘lifejacket always on outside the cabin’ don’t sail in the Mediterranean or Caribbean. Drifting about in the bay of Palma trying to catch the sea breeze as it builds? You’d look and feel a fool wearing a life jacket. Same bay in 30 knots and I’d be lj on and reaching to clip on before I climbed out of the companionway.

Hence why our simple rule is that lifejacket is optional IF you have already jumped in voluntarily for a swim that day, and the weather is gentle.
Otherwise lifejackets (with integral harness clips) on at all times underway. We do have lightweight lifejackets, for gentle summer use, as well as full on ones which have extra weight of sprayhood, light and MOB1AIS beacons.

If have good quality lightweight gear and use regularly it is no discomfort at all. Grew up sailing dinghies with lifejackets and it is the same as a seatbelt in a car - some old grumpies complain about them but the rest treat as just common sense.

PS Have you weighed your oilskins, even dry? Could probably be more comfortable and less weight in high tech sailing gear and lifejacket, than old tech sailing gear with no lifejacket. We very rarely wear oilskins.

 

[RupertW]

Hence why our simple rule is that lifejacket is optional IF you have already jumped in voluntarily for a swim that day, and the weather is gentle.
Otherwise lifejackets (with integral harness clips) on at all times underway. We do have lightweight lifejackets, for gentle summer use, as well as full on ones which have extra weight of sprayhood, light and MOB1AIS beacons.

If have good quality lightweight gear and use regularly it is no discomfort at all. Grew up sailing dinghies with lifejackets and it is the same as a seatbelt in a car - some old grumpies complain about them but the rest treat as just common sense.

PS Have you weighed your oilskins, even dry? Could probably be more comfortable and less weight in high tech sailing gear and lifejacket, than old tech sailing gear with no lifejacket. We very rarely wear oilskins.

I'd give up sailing if I had to follow those rules - a lot are sensible but having to wear a lifejacket underway might not matter if you are already in a fleece or jacket but if you normal sailing gear is a pair of shorts of less it's uncomfortable and restrictive, even more than wearing an unnecessary T shirt. Once we are into a reefing situation, so say Force 5 and above I will usually wear an LJ/harness, clipped on when out of the cockpit but I go sailing to enjoy the weather and I carefully explain to all guests that sailing is one of the safest sports so no matter how tippy it looks they should just relax and just avoid falling overboard or getting hit by the boom.

 

[thinwater]

It's been years, other than in the kayak, and only then if it rough, I'm far out, o it's whitewater. Sorry, but this thread is under represented with reality. And by the way, how many PFDs do you see in sailing magazine photos?

That said, I do wear a harness and tether frequently when solo, cold water, or rough. I also frequently wear a dry suit if the water is cold and it is either very rough or I am solo. A PFD is not going help much if I'm solo and the water is cold.

I should also mention that it's generally harder to fall off a multihull. No leaning. I also run high lifelines.

 

[sarabande]

TW

over here we have the RNLI acting as a pressure group-cum-nanny, saying LJs all the time. At that point my non-conformist ancestry chips in and says "I decide, not a desk person a hundred miles from the sea." There are times when a LJ is an encumbrance and a danger (two forumites here will have heard me say on separate occasions something like "Excuse me but I can't reach the jammed rope while wearing a LJ. Just to let you know that I am taking it off, and it is my personally determined risk so to do. Guv."

Of course I wear a LJ when the risk is there. One even travels in my emergency box in the car, just in case...

Being on a boat involves learning a whole set of new skills, and one of those is pretending that beyond the guardrails there is a hundred foot drop. That analogy makes new or inexperienced crew think hard about the need to develop a minimum three point grip or practise the use of two hook tethers, but there may come a time when you have to lean over to grab a loose line, or an out of control sail It's the crew's decision whether to wait to put on a LJ, or JFDI. But if the skipper says, "Leave it, get a LJ." that's a different matter.

 

[Bristolfashion]

Always when underway or in tender. Clip in when alone in the cockpit at night. Plb carried always at night / any hint of poor conditions.

Each skipper must make their own rules, but personally I can't see why anyone wouldn't wear a pfd. We see way too many people without them in marginal/deteriorating conditions. Surely the last thing you want is to have to decide when to require them worn, find the one that fits you, nag the person that hasn't put it on yet etc. Worst still would be the emergency dash forward- do you delay to find a pfd or risk It?

Buy a modern, comfortable pfd and wear it, I say.

 

[thinwater]

"... I can't see why anyone wouldn't wear a pfd....."

* It's hot. Maybe not so much in the UK, but it is a broad world.
* For fun summer sailing, the water is warm and I swim like a fish.
* It's in the way and uncomfortable. Even inflatables are a bother to me.
* I don't see risk the way you do.
* No, I'm not going to fall of. Could happen.
* A tether is more useful in many circumstances. Do you really believe that your green crew will find you at night in cold water. Do you really believe a ship will find you when you are solo? They won't.

As I said, I gladly wear one in white water and I wear a drysuit in the winter (do you?--I think not doing that is unsafe.). The difference is that in white water the danger is clear, and that a drysuit adds real safety without adding discomfort. But I know dry suits are expensive.

So if you can't think of the reasons I think you have not tried to think of the reasons. In fact the title of the thread implied that they are not always worn.

 

[Bristolfashion]

"... I can't see why anyone wouldn't wear a pfd....."

* It's hot. Maybe not so much in the UK, but it is a broad world.
* For fun summer sailing, the water is warm and I swim like a fish.
* It's in the way and uncomfortable. Even inflatables are a bother to me.
* I don't see risk the way you do.
* No, I'm not going to fall of. Could happen.
* A tether is more useful in many circumstances. Do you really believe that your green crew will find you at night in cold water. Do you really believe a ship will find you when you are solo? They won't.

As I said, I gladly wear one in white water and I wear a drysuit in the winter (do you?--I think not doing that is unsafe.). The difference is that in white water the danger is clear, and that a drysuit adds real safety without adding discomfort. But I know dry suits are expensive.

So if you can't think of the reasons I think you have not tried to think of the reasons. In fact the title of the thread implied that they are not always worn.

Nice!

I live in Australia and recently sailed up to Bowen in the tropics. Hot, but I still wore my pfd. The pfd incorporates a harness, so there's little faffing around to attach a tether.

As you can imagine, there is relatively little call for drysuits in most Australian conditions as water temperatures are fairly balmy. You'd probably boil in a drysuit in most Australian winter conditions. We always evaluate the required safety gear to match the worst expected conditions.

Pfd plus plb plus strobe gives a very good chance of recovery, even when solo or with a green crew.

People fall in all the time.

Still, I did say that it was up to the individual skipper. I just don't see any good reason to add to the risks associated with sailing. Friends of mine have circumnavigated and never wore one. Each to their own. The OP was asking what others did and that's what I do - it's not a thread asking what other people should do or requesting reasons not to wear a pfd.

 

[thinwater]

Nice!

I live in Australia and recently sailed up to Bowen in the tropics. Hot, but I still wore my pfd. The pfd incorporates a harness, so there's little faffing around to attach a tether.

As you can imagine, there is relatively little call for drysuits in most Australian conditions as water temperatures are fairly balmy. You'd probably boil in a drysuit in most Australian winter conditions. We always evaluate the required safety gear to match the worst expected conditions.

Pfd plus plb plus strobe gives a very good chance of recovery, even when solo or with a green crew.

People fall in all the time.

Still, I did say that it was up to the individual skipper. I just don't see any good reason to add to the risks associated with sailing. Friends of mine have circumnavigated and never wore one. Each to their own. The OP was asking what others did and that's what I do - it's not a thread asking what other people should do or requesting reasons not to wear a pfd.

I also wanted to make it clear that I do not avoid safety. The jacklines are permanently installed and frequently used. I could ask how many people have fixed jacklines. However, the most important factor will always be mindfulness.

 

[Bristolfashion]

I also wanted to make it clear that I do not avoid safety. The jacklines are permanently installed and frequently used. I could ask how many people have fixed jacklines. However, the most important factor will always be mindfulness.

Yep, I'd certainly agree with that. Paying attention to safety is the key thing - as you say, mindfulness. I also have jacklines rigged- if you need to go forward in less than ideal conditions, they're excellent.