This month's Pacific Yachting has an article on this. Seems if you have a
PFD that keeps you from breathing in a lot of water when you first go over
you might stand a chance.
"Bob" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello All:

All the advice I have read here sounds reasonable. Some, of course, is
personal preference. However what concerns me most is that nobody is
asking the single most important question.......... What temperature
water do you plan on using your PFD????

Before splitting a hair between auto or manual answer this, How long
can you last before lapsing into early stages of hypothermia?

80 degrees F
70 degrees F
60 degrees F
50 degrees F

If you do not know, ya better find out because the type of PFD used in
south FL will not keep your ass alive in the great lakes or any months
north of LA, CA.

Scenario..... fall over board. Water temp is 61 degrees. How long
before you start having uncontrolled shivers and can no longer grasp a
line?

Now calculate these factors: one beer + 61 years old + blood pressure
meds + smoker 10 years ago + 3' chop on the water. When was the last
time you ran 2 miles in under 15 minutes?
Still Bobbing