Never Ceases To Amaze Me.....tragic

[Preytorien]

http://www.hc-reporter.com/tragedy-on-morse/

 

I can't figure the logic behind tubing/water skiing and NOT wearing any kind of PFD.

 

I know that I'm guilty of taking off my mustang once we're done running the lake, but I think I'll train myself to do otherwise. 

 

 

[FishHard247]

You wont find me on an inner tube behind a boat but Im guilty when in the boat on farm ponds of not wearing one.

[hoosierbass07]

 Man, what is this, like the third death now in Indiana from drowning on water?  I will admit I used to take my life jacket off sometimes when I'm kayaking but since I started paying attention to all these deaths here in Indiana I started wearing my all the time I'm on my kayak, particularly when launching and landing/getting off it.  

 

 It's hard to believe someone who is being pulled behind a boat would not have a life jacket on.  I can sort of see people not wanting to wear them in a big boat or stable little boat or even my stable sit-on-top.  But being pulled behind a boat on a tube?  You have to wear one.  I wonder how many of these Indiana deaths had alcohol in their blood.  

[Big C]

I live near Lake Lanier, and every summer there are so many boating related drownings.  It is literally 1-2 a week during the busy season.  Nobody wears life jackets, and there are tons of drunks...bad combination.  Lanier is such a dangerous lake, I don't even dare take my kayak out during they summer. 

[DocNsanE]

I would never go tubing without a life jacket -- especially if we are two on the tube! One bad flip, knock heads or a knee to the head and disoriented just long enough to gulp in some water... no thank you.

 

But if I am being honest, I too have been caught fishing without my jacket, even when drinking. Never again though. I made the mistake for the last time last year when I fell in after a day filled with gin tonics. I had a cheap rain poncho that was preventing me from swimming up properly and I just ripped it apart to get my arms free and was lucky enough to resurface. I have placed an order last week for a comfortable (hopefully) PFD and I will never go on the water without it (with or without alcohol). I have way too much to lose for the sake of wearing a life jacket.

 

You never think you need, until you do, and when that happens, it might be too late.

[Starchalopakis]

Not fishing with a life jacket is one thing, but  not wearing a life jacket while tubing, wakeboarding, skiing etc is just crazy to me.

[Thornback]

Once I launch my boat I put on my PFD before stepping in the boat and my buddies do the same. It stays on until I step back on dry land. I know that even though I can swim if I fell overboard with all my clothes on I could easily drown. When you are on the water you are in a hostile environment because you can't walk on water and you can't breath under water. It is beautiful early in the morning out on a lake or a river, but it's still a hostile environment. Please everyone wear a PFD. Besides if you wear one then you will never fall overboard soaking everything in your wallet

[Darren.]

Sad to hear, tragic, indeed.

 

PFD all the time on a kayak. When we've rented

boats for vacation, the kids always wore one, but

the adults didn't UNLESS they were going out on

a tube, skis, etc.

 

I drill it into my sons and their friends. Never, ever

go out on a yak, or in a canoe, without wearing a 

PFD all the time. And my sons are competitive 

swimmers.  None of that helps when one is soaked

and sinking if knocked unconscious.

 

If I had a bass boat today, I'd wear a PFD.

[WPCfishing]

PDF and floating seat cushions in my canoe. Plus, I passed on the kipawa prop. Got my money back. They can be dangerous on a Minn Kota motor.

[Fishing Rhino]

One thing that very few mention regarding pfd's.  They may not only save your life, but if you drop dead while fishing, and fall over the side, it will be much easier to find your body.  Think of your loved ones at home, family and friends.  Think of what it would be like for them to wait while recovery teams drag the bottom with grapples, in hopes of snagging your body.

 

There is no excuse for not wearing a pfd when you are on the water.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

i make my kids wear a pfd even walking on piers .i wear a pfd all the time on my yak and i also hook up the kill switch line while operating a boat.i can swim like a fish ,,when im swimming but when im boating yaking  im there to fish and move and anything can happen,i have 2 kids to feed and 3 grandkids to grow up with .i dont want to be talked about yrs from now ' dad drowned didnt have his pfd on ',if im goin out and im in the water its gonna be from the 10 foot bull shark i hooked in the potomac that pulled me from point lookout to  dc in 2 hrs .with battle scars and he is gonna die too lol

[Thornback]

I once knew a guy who worked the sheriff's dive recovery unit. He said half the fishermen's bodies he recovered had their fly open and were not wearing a PFD.  I think everyone understands what that means.

[A-Jay]

 I've commented on many of these threads in the past but the subject matter is Important.

 

Three decades of Search & Rescue presented me with far too many of these tragic stories.  And that's exactly what they are - Tragic.  Because such a huge percentage of them are preventable.  No one goes out for a day of fun in the sun and expects to lose a loved one or perish themselves.  It always seemed so surreal searching for one or more lost souls, often in less than 10 feet of water, with the sounds of laughter and the smell of sun tan lotion filling the air as family & friends enjoyed a good time on the water. Then it is all suddenly shattered as one of them slips beneath the surface, often never to be seen again - EVER.

 

You want reality - try handing the cold, limp & lifeless body of a 12 year old girl to her parents on the beach . . . . .

 

Just incredibly sad.  Please wear a Life Jacket.

 

A-Jay

[Thornback]

You want reality - try handing the cold, limp & lifeless body of a 12 year old girl to her parents on the beach . . . . .

If that message don't convince people to wear a PFD then nothing will.

.

From the net: In 2011, 32 boating people fell overboard and drowned. Over three-quarters of those drowning victims were not wearing life jackets. According to state data, the most likely to die on the Sunshine State’s world-famous waters are men 35 and older who are not wearing life jackets and have no formal boating safety education.

[Ski213]

I've commented on many of these threads in the past but the subject matter is Important.

 

Three decades of Search & Rescue presented me with far too many of these tragic stories.  And that's exactly what they are - Tragic.  Because such a huge percentage of them are preventable.  No one goes out for a day of fun in the sun and expects to lose a loved one or perish themselves.  It always seemed so surreal searching for one or more lost souls, often in less than 10 feet of water, with the sounds of laughter and the smell of sun tan lotion filling the air as family & friends enjoyed a good time on the water. Then it is all suddenly shattered as one of them slips beneath the surface, often never to be seen again - EVER.

 

You want reality - try handing the cold, limp & lifeless body of a 12 year old girl to her parents on the beach . . . . .

 

Just incredibly sad.  Please wear a Life Jacket.

 

A-Jay

What a shame.

Folks if you need any additional convincing after reading A-jay's post then I don't know what to tell you.

I generally don't wear one when I'm not running and I should. I've heard all kinds of excuses for not wearing one even when running the water. "I'm a strong swimmer". That's the most common. You're not a strong swimmer when you're unconscious, injured, or even just disoriented. It's one thing to know that in three seconds you're gonna have to swim. It's another to be thrown out of a boat or off a tube or whatever and in a split second you're in the water at speed, or even just falling overboard, upside down panicking and everything else. You suck down a liter of water and now even if you know where you are and what you need to do there's a good chance you can't. It's scary.

I think we tend to spend more time picking out culling tags than picking out a quality life jacket that is first off effective and secondly comfortable enough that we actually will wear it. I'm as guilty as anyone. It's easily the most important piece of equipment we use in a day on the water. Thanks to this thread for the reminder.

[SirSnookalot]

You would be hard pressed to see any one wearing a PFD down here in the ocean.  Kids by law under 12 need to wear one, seldom do I see that as well.

[hoosierbass07]

I once knew a guy who worked the sheriff's dive recovery unit. He said half the fishermen's bodies he recovered had their fly open and were not wearing a PFD.  I think everyone understands what that means.

 

 

  You'r on to something there.  I fish from a kayak I can stand up in and I started going to the bathroom while standing in my kayak this season.  I've quickly discovered that if I ever do fall in it's going to be from using the bathroom while standing or getting a lure out of a tree while standing.  I wanted to take my life jacket off during those times but I made myself keep it on because I know things get very tipsy when going to the bathroom or getting a lure out of a bush/tree limb (which seems to be happening to me more and more).