Get a camoflague or "Sands of Iwo Jima" life jacket.



"Guy Aerts" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 04:17:45 GMT, "silverback"
wrote:

I've seen pictures of you sailing... you don't wear a life jacket at all
times. I do.... despite the fact I'm ten times a better swimmer than you
could hope to ever be. That being said... kids copy what they see. Get him
a
comfortable vest and make sure he puts it on at the same time you do...
upon
boarding any boat.

CM


Poor advice. The vest goes on before they set foot on the dock. Docks are
perhaps a greater hazard to little kids than a boat. There are no rails or
lifelines, and someone carrying a cooler or sailbag can turn to look at
something and knock a toddler off a dock without even realizing it. If the
kid
goes off the dock and comes up under it, you've got a serious situation
all of a
sudden. How fast can you find them when they are jammed up between some
blocks
of styrofoam under water?

My other advice is go to the store and let Thomas pick out a PFD HE likes.
Maybe
Spiderman or Spongebob or something will make him WANT to wear the
jacket...
even around the house.




"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
groups.com...
Today we went out in fairly light cool breezes with just the main.
We're trying to get Thomas used to the boat and so far it's going
great. He seems to really enjoy himself on deck, though we must watch
his exposure to the sun. His balance is really amazing...perhaps this
is something toddlers can do well, but my best friend's two year old
has a hard time on deck compared to Thomas. Thomas also automatically
seems to understand the one hand for the boat-one hand for yourself
system as he makes his way around. It's great fun to watch!
But today he put up the biggest fuss of all time when we put his
lifejacket on and he kept taking it off. It finally got to the point
where we just put a Stearns belt on him, but that's not the right PFD
for a toddler. He also wears a harness so he can't fall off the boat.
We all wore vests and that was working up until today. He really has
fun on the boat...but hates the PFD, though it fits him properly.
Suzanne thought it might just be too warm and he's aware of such things
now.
We obviously need to get this working right before we take weekend
trips with him.

Ideas from the "sailing with kids" camp are welcome!



RB
35s5
NY