BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Low-head dam drowning on Yakima River, WA State

Per :
you are likely to drown without your pfd even out
of the dam..

Because of exhaustion? Cold water?

Recalling my surfing days (long, long ago... far, far away...) we went through
some fairly extensive rinse cycles without drowning. e.g. getting enveloped by
12-14 foot breaking waves and tumbled in the suds for what seemed like very long
times, getting knocked unconscious by one's own board, loosing teeth and
breaking jaws by "eating" a board, and so-forth. The only guys I knew of that
got killed managed it by getting slammed into the reef where the wave was
braking in extremely shallow water.

I've read of extreme surfers dying when they wiped out under 20+ foot waves and
were either knocked unconscious at depth or just held down too long.

In the environment I was in, wearing a PFD would've been considered - among
other things - counterproductive because it would have removed the option of
sliding under the base of a breaking wave or dodging an oncoming surfer,
outrigger canoe, jet ski... or whatever.
--
PeteCresswell