What would a lifejacket have done?

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
According to the paper this morning, the crew discovered at sea that all
the lifejackets were gone. They were presumably pilfered. Prefloats are
not part of the boating culture the way preflights are in aviation. This
is a good example of why they should be.

The lack of communication from the son was also reported to be because of
low batteries. Sea and wind conditions were pretty gnarly and we all know
how much more likely engine problems are in rough conditions.
A charging problem might easily go undetected on a shorthanded boat in
this weather.

An emergency battery that can be easily switched into the radio circuit is
something I'm going to install. It may be a dry cell set that won't self
discharge and can be completely isolated from the rest of the system.
With our little diesel, it might even start the engine in a pinch.

This accident is starting to sound a lot like many aviation accidents,
experienced pilot, challenging weather, high work load. A couple of not
immediately critical items (lifejackets, charging problem?) get over
looked and things snowball.

--

Roger Long