Another story to learn from

06Rinker270

This makes me want to go buy inflatable life jackets for the admiral and I right now and always wear them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/you-are-not-going-to-die-out-here-a-womans-terrifying-night-in-the-chesapeake/2016/06/29/21a9a24c-3e02-11e6-80bc-d06711fd2125_story.html?wpisrc=nl_optimist&wpmm=1

Black_Diamond

I use the inflateable PFD. Easy to wear. These are the nice ones, have to submerge to trigger, so spray/rain won't set it off. 

TonyWalker

These look like the ticket!  West Marine?  Cost?

Black_Diamond

I bought mine at www.landfallnavigation.com  Great place for Safety Gear.  I suspect someone has knock-off versions, Mustang Survival is top notch stuff. 

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/1fhydrostatic.html

$219 ea.  I can personally say they are light, not hot to wear, and comfortable.  I wear one every time I head out.  Best PFD is the one you will wear.  I ran for 8 hours straight last Wednesday and was never a bother to wear.  I tested an older version I have awhile ago, was time to replace the CO2 cartridge, so put it on and jumped in the pool, worked perfect, VERY bouyant!  Easy to repack too.  The only hitch with an inflatable PFD is you have to wear it to count as a PFD on-board and you have to be 16 years old or older too.  I've not seen a version for kids.

TonyWalker

Got it!  Thank you for the info.

Dream_Inn

Myself and my family all wear the inflatables.  You guys have all heard my story, and it sure opened our eyes as well as many others on our pier.  FYI, our kids wear the inflatables.  They are both tall enough (& proper weight) for them (ages 15 & 13). 

212rowboat

http://www.facebook.com/LittleCreativeIdea/videos/1696230293962059/

that is brilliant..... and my lil' gal will be wearing one by Saturday while she lazes on the beach... it's not a perfect nor rated solution, but it will be met with more approval from her than a vest... on the boat, she wears a vest... but this may work on the beach- if for nothing else, a bit of a peace of mind. 

Gregg

As I was always told,what is a life worth you always spend money on protection.i had a friend tell me when I did a lot of snowmobling a 10.00 dollar helmet was for a 10.00 brain.just my 2 cents

Black_Diamond

An old Power Squadron guy stated it like this: if you are in the water and in trouble and I pull up with the $200 inflateable pfd you said was too expensive: what's it worth to you now!

LaRea

In addition, let's not forget that the lack of a PFD didn't cause this accident.  

The root cause was the captain's failure to get his boat back to the ramp before sunset.  The woman was waving a pair of white shorts only 40 yards away from the boat, but he couldn't see her because it was too dark.  If the captain had pulled anchor 30 minutes earlier, his girlfriend wouldn't have ended up on the front page. 

The Post's story is written as a melodrama about the emotions of the moment and the troubled past of a pretty blonde in a bikini.  It totally ignores the real-life lessons that boaters should learn from the accident.  

jme097

@Dream_Inn do you have a link to your story (if it was posted on here?). I always carry 10 life jackets on board. Even though I have never had more than 8 people on board, you never know when you're going to need to throw one to someone in need. 

LaRea

Also, I didn't want to jump to any conclusions about alcohol being a contributing factor, but apparently she wrote on Facebook:  "I was being super careless and yes drunk and just kinda bobbled overboard."

06Rinker270

@Larea I agree.  All the backstory and creative writing stole the lessons that were to be learned.  I knew if I posted it around boaters they would look past all that BS and see what lessons were to be learned.  Post wants readers.

This weekend I wore my PDF the entire time I was captaining because of this story.  All aboard will as well.  I don't have inflatables but I'm getting them.  But for now the admiral will wear her PDF.  Few questions:

Does your admiral have her license and able to captain the boat to safety if you become hurt?  

Are the waste inflatables adequate for inshore?

LaRea

My wife took the boating safety course with me before we bought our first boat years ago.  She can pilot the boat in an emergency, although she doesn't get a lot of practice because I'm basically too selfish to give up the wheel most of the time.  

I have one of the belt-around-the-waist inflatables.  It wouldn't help me if I was knocked unconscious, but it's better than nothing.  

Also, for maximum safety, each PFD should be equipped with a safety whistle.  High-end inflatables like the Mustang have them; cheap-o foam PFDs do not.

MDboater

Black_Diamond said:

The only hitch with an inflatable PFD is you have to wear it to count as a PFD on-board.....

Does anyone know the thinking behind this?  

MDboater

LaRea said:

In addition, let's not forget that the lack of a PFD didn't cause this accident.  

The root cause was the captain's failure to get his boat back to the ramp before sunset.  The woman was waving a pair of white shorts only 40 yards away from the boat, but he couldn't see her because it was too dark.  If the captain had pulled anchor 30 minutes earlier, his girlfriend wouldn't have ended up on the front page. 

The Post's story is written as a melodrama about the emotions of the moment and the troubled past of a pretty blonde in a bikini.  It totally ignores the real-life lessons that boaters should learn from the accident.  

And traveling at 40 mph in rough conditions while your passengers are not safely seated.  The captain is 90% at fault here IMHO.

Black_Diamond

An inflatable pfd is a class II type or V depending on the vessel. 

Nice link on pfd types:
http://www.pfdma.org/choosing/types.aspx

MDboater

Black_Diamond said:

An inflatable pfd is a class II type or V depending on the vessel. 

So if I understand this correctly, on my boat (a recreational vessel) this does not need to be worn to be counted as one of the required wearable PFDs since it's a Type II PFD.

06Rinker270

LaRea said:

My wife took the boating safety course with me before we bought our first boat years ago.  She can pilot the boat in an emergency, although she doesn't get a lot of practice because I'm basically too selfish to give up the wheel most of the time.  

I have one of the belt-around-the-waist inflatables.  It wouldn't help me if I was knocked unconscious, but it's better than nothing.  

Also, for maximum safety, each PFD should be equipped with a safety whistle.  High-end inflatables like the Mustang have them; cheap-o foam PFDs do not.

Do you wear it underway? 

LaRea

I'll wear a suspenders-type inflatable if I'm on the boat alone.  Otherwise, usually no.

Black_Diamond

The CG guy told me it only counts if worn. I suspect it falls under the type V and a type II when worn?

Dream_Inn

All four of us wear our inflatables every time the boat moves.

@jme097, here's a very short version of my story.  My family and I headed out of the marine, thru about a 5 minute slow zone.  Before leaving, I did my normal checks of all fluids, start the engines with hatch up, all looked good.  When we throttled up to get on plane....boom!....my back engine hatch (entire thing) blew off the hydraulic lift, flipped back all the way and bounced off the rear swim platform seat and slammed back down.  From that point, my memory is a little fussy, but my wife yelled she saw flames shot as high as the hatch (about 5 feet) out of the engine room.  Luckily, both children had their life jackets on.  Even more lucky, they happened to be sitting up front with us (they would have been thrown into the water if they were in the back, or fell in the engine room if on the seat behind the helm).

We had to throw my son off the boat (he was a deer in headlights).  My daughter jumped off and then in seconds my wife and I had our lifejackets on that was right under her seat.  She jumped in the water with the kids.  At this point I had engines off (they probably turned off automatically) and since it was really windy, I put the anchor down.  Turned off all battery/electrical.  Tried to wave someone down to see my family in the water (I was still on boat cause I heard the automatic extinguisher go off).  One boat went right by my family in the water without stopping.  Then a fishing boat stopped, shut off engines and helped them on board.  Next they couldn't start, battery dead. I asked them to call it in (one bad move, I forgot I had a portable VHF on board for communications). 

ok, story going long here, sorry.  To summarize, we had a helicopter overhead looking for my family (they were on fishing boat), had a police boat go right past, finally coast guard showed up, fire tanker boat, tow boat, and a rescue boat.

I'll end by saying, come on, not going to happen to me.  I'm safety conscious, always always take care of my boat (and many other people's) and I feel extremely knowledgeable about boating.  I'll never make or tell anyone to wear a life jacket (& I don't like to preach about it)....but my story has many people on my pier, many boating friends, all wear inflatable life jackets now. (I personally know 2 people that died in boating accidents over the years, but that never had me decide to wear a jacket either)

randy56

dream, thats scary, I'm guessing it was a gas leak. Was it the same boat you have now? 400

randy56

@ Dream, thats SCARY! gas leak? was it the same boat you have now? 400

Black_Diamond

We have people drown almost every weekendby us. 16 y/o 3 weeks ago flipped a rib. No pfd. Be alive if he had wore one. 

Dream_Inn

It is the boat I currently own and yes, it was a leak on the high pressure side.  The explosion was just a quick vapor boom.  Believe it or not, damage was minimal compared to what it could of been.  Engine room/boat is in pristine shape after 10 weeks of repairs (some of that of course is just going thru insurance).

jme097

Wow @Dream_Inn thats crazy scary! Eye opener for sure!

06Rinker270

@Dream_Inn Very happy to hear everyone was safe.  I have to be honest ever since you mentioned this story I get nervous when people sitting on top of engine compartment.  Do you allow people now to ride on the hatch now?

Dream_Inn

thanks Patrick.  They do ride there, but probably not typically on take-off.  Believe me, I think about it each time I push those throttles forward.

NRath

I'm taking this to heart.  My son often rides on the sun pad/engine cover.  I'm going to have to change those habits.

raybo3

@NRath I have a rule on my boat. Everyone inside. I do not allow anyone to ride on the bow (or bow pad). I do not allow anyone on the swim platform. I see more people on the swim platform while docking their boat. That is so dangerous its not even funny. I tell everyone in the boat and stay in the boat. HeII I dont even let anyone in the cabin while docking.