Safety first - A wakeup call

[akilbar]

I was at a pond watching some boats run on Sunday, waiting for the wind to die down to run my 21 rigger. A club member went out in the retrieve boat to retrieve his water dunked gas mono, so we all chatted waiting for him to get back in. We heard some yelling from down the pond and turned around to see the retrieve boat drifting across the pond, UPSIDE DOWN.

From the bank, there was no sign of the person in the boat. Several of us ran down the bank to a point where we were even with the boat which was moving pretty fast in the strong wind. Lots of thoughts raced through my mind, many very unpleasant. At one point I thought I saw a hand come out from under the boat but quickly it went back down. The temperature outside was about 80 degrees but the water was still pretty cold. A passerby in a semi was first to the waters edge, unloaded his pockets and splashed on in. Myself and another club member went in right after. Luckily the boat at this point was only about 50 feet from shore and the water was about chest deep. We struggled with the boat for a minute and pounded on it and yelled to see if the person could hear us, no response. When we got to where we could roll the boat, we did. Thank god up popped a tired and cold face but altogether no worse for the cause. Floating beside him was his water soaked boat, two oars, and 2 lifejackets which had been lying unused in the boat.

I am sure this served as a great wake up call to all of us that were there. My hands shook for probably 30 minutes, thinking how different it may have turned out. Please guys, I don't care how well you swim, put on a lifejacket when you go out to retrieve a boat. What if you whack your head and can't swim? What if someone went in the water trying to help and cramped up and was injured or even worse. I cringe at the thought of how this could have came out different.

Good boating and be safe.

 

[TomMoorehouse]

life jackets should be required and in the rule book for impba/namba/apba. I don't care how good of a swimmer you are..... you can't swim if your unconcience.

 

[[email protected]]

Amen to that! Your never to cool to be alive!

 

[Dorkhedeos]

you gotta wear a life jacket in chest high water? cant you walk? :blink:

 

[TomMoorehouse]

fall in the water...... boat hits you in the head..... your knocked out cold.... can you walk? I don't think so!

 

[Dorkhedeos]

I walk when im sleeping once in a while

 

[TomMoorehouse]

i can hold a conversation while sleeping.... if ya ever want the truth out of me just ask while i'm sleeping..... my wife knows this

 

[Don Ferrette]

you gotta wear a life jacket in chest high water? cant you walk? :blink:

You can drown in 2 inches of water if your knocked out cold........ :huh:

 

[Ron Olson]

I once heard that you can actually drown with only 2 tablespoons of water! Most drowning victims have little water in their lungs.

 

[Grimracer]

Ask my club members.. I have my life vest on each and every time i enter the retreave boat.. at 40 years old i feel like an ass but i would feel like a real ass if i was hovering above a casket wtin me in the thing with my wive and kid and freinds crying below..

Not over a toy boat...not me..safety first...

Grim

 

[Dorkhedeos]

arent you supposed to use a fishing rod?

 

[CySlyde]

on a sad note i was watching the news tonight, and two fishermen went out yesterday when it was real windy and 80 deg, they were on a piece of water i am familiar with... neither wore life jackets only one retunred after thier boat capsized.

i'm glad yoru bud is safe.. kinda a sobering story though.

 

[akilbar]

The lake is much deeper than chest deep. That is how deep it was when he got within 50 feet of the shore. It was well over his head where he went in. He was under the boat sort of paddling with his feet to get toward shore. He also was wearing knee high rubber boots. Makes it very fun to swim in those.

I will admit, I rarely wear a jacket but I am going to do it from now on. I have a 9 and 12 year old who I think would like me around.

 

[bzubee]

One other suggestion is to have a kill switch lanyard attached to you. No fun if the you tip over and the boat stays running.

 

[rcguy76]

I agree, life vest should be a requirement to be WORN when in any boat, anytime. Especially since the creation of automatic inflating PFD's, which are very low prifile and confortable to wear. Any Ron is right, you can drown in very very little water...a puddle two inches deep can take any unconscience life very quickly.

 

[Slideblues]

I agree completelly with wearning a vest and kill switch, Get tossed outta a Bass Boat

running **** near 70 sometime, Weeeeeeee..... I slid fer 60 feet before I stopped,

But I was bobbing like a cork head up

 

[Bob Kensill]

The only lifejackets made that will float an unconscious person face up are the ones used in full size boat racing! Don't think that you are safe wearing one of those "cheap" ski vests. If you are not a good swimmer,always wear a lifejacket and always go out in pairs to retreive your boat.

 

[Slideblues]

Yep, dont buy your safety equipment at Wal-Mart,

Here is one like I had from Lifeline Marine :

 

[zrwhat]

I could not agree more! I grew up on the lakes and was swimming and skiiing by 5, I'm now 30.

Last fall, I nearly drowned retrieving my gas cat from the middle of a farm pond. I stood up(dumb idea) to re-arange cat in the little 10ft. retrieval boat, it was all downhill from there. Of course I wasn't wearing a life jacket and went into the 50 something degree water fully clothed. When I hit the water, it completely took my breath away. I made it to the surface and realized that I could hardly breathe, let alone swim. It would have been no problem, if I would have had a life jacket on. Luckily my two buddies were on shore, they jumped in and swam me to shore. I will never retrieve a boat without my life jacket again!

Brent

 

[Ron Olson]

Mike, I saw that same article on WOOD TV-8. I don't know if they've recovered the body yet. It was too windy for rescue helicopters to aid in the search. Makes you wonder what in the Hell they were doing out in the water at 2AM.