I just recently bought a couple of inflatable PFDs.

One of the standing orders on my boat is that if you
are on deck and out of the cockpit you must wear your
float.

But I'm curious about what the rest of you think.
Do you wear them or not?


--

Richard Lamb
email me:
web site: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~cavelamb

On 2/19/2011 7:37 AM, CaveLamb wrote:
I just recently bought a couple of inflatable PFDs.

One of the standing orders on my boat is that if you
are on deck and out of the cockpit you must wear your
float.

But I'm curious about what the rest of you think.
Do you wear them or not?


When single handing, I made it my business to clip on to one of two
jacklines I had rigged or another solid place. I used a harness with two
lines / clips so I could clip on, and then clip off of something else. I
saw no reason to wear a PFD while single handing.

Clearly this is a good idea for safety as is wearing a helmet when
riding in your automobile, but few do either because for most, it
reduces the experience. Clearly an incident may knock you off the boat
and knock you silly at the same time so a PFD can easily save your life
while others turn the boat and try for a rescue. So it's really a
personal choice.

Before you go further in this, though, I strongly suggest you try
retrieving someone from the ocean as if it were a MOB drill. Getting
someone on deck from most boats with significant freeboard is MUCH more
difficult than most people envision.

slide wrote:

Before you go further in this, though, I strongly suggest you try
retrieving someone from the ocean as if it were a MOB drill. Getting
someone on deck from most boats with significant freeboard is MUCH more
difficult than most people envision.



We practice all the time, slide.
But my boat has a sugar scoop stern with a drop down stern ladder.

Retrieving hats is harder...


--

Richard Lamb
email me:
web site: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~cavelamb

On 2/19/2011 10:30 AM, CaveLamb wrote:
slide wrote:

Before you go further in this, though, I strongly suggest you try
retrieving someone from the ocean as if it were a MOB drill. Getting
someone on deck from most boats with significant freeboard is MUCH
more difficult than most people envision.



We practice all the time, slide.
But my boat has a sugar scoop stern with a drop down stern ladder.

Retrieving hats is harder...


Sugar scoop would make it MUCH easier. If you turn it around, you need
so ask why anyone would NOT wear a PFD. Comfort and style would be the
only reasons. Frex, when we sailed (and will again) we tend to go naked
if it's warm enough.

slide wrote:
On 2/19/2011 10:30 AM, CaveLamb wrote:
slide wrote:

Before you go further in this, though, I strongly suggest you try
retrieving someone from the ocean as if it were a MOB drill. Getting
someone on deck from most boats with significant freeboard is MUCH
more difficult than most people envision.



We practice all the time, slide.
But my boat has a sugar scoop stern with a drop down stern ladder.

Retrieving hats is harder...


Sugar scoop would make it MUCH easier. If you turn it around, you need
so ask why anyone would NOT wear a PFD. Comfort and style would be the
only reasons. Frex, when we sailed (and will again) we tend to go naked
if it's warm enough.


Copy that!

Actually, there is a down side to the inflatables...
If one fell across something the old padded style PFDs
might prevent a cracked rib or worse.
An inflatable lacks that.



--

Richard Lamb
email me:
web site: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~cavelamb

On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 09:56:05 -0600, CaveLamb
wrote:

If one fell across something the old padded style PFDs
might prevent a cracked rib or worse.

Cracked ribs are certainly an issue but usually not fatal, and of the
two cracked rib incidents that I've observed, both happened below
decks. No thanks on the padded PFDs.

In calm, settled conditions, PFDs above decks are a bit overkill in my
opinion. Just about everyone I know uses the self inflating harness
type when offshore or in rough conditions. In my opinion every boat
should have a swim ladder. Our trawler has an interesting
arrangement where the ladder can be deployed by someone in the water.

On 2/20/2011 10:51 AM, slide wrote:
On 2/19/2011 10:30 AM, CaveLamb wrote:
slide wrote:

Before you go further in this, though, I strongly suggest you try
retrieving someone from the ocean as if it were a MOB drill. Getting
someone on deck from most boats with significant freeboard is MUCH
more difficult than most people envision.



We practice all the time, slide.
But my boat has a sugar scoop stern with a drop down stern ladder.

Retrieving hats is harder...


Sugar scoop would make it MUCH easier. If you turn it around, you need
so ask why anyone would NOT wear a PFD. Comfort and style would be the
only reasons. Frex, when we sailed (and will again) we tend to go
naked if it's warm enough.
I had a sugar scoop transom on my old Parker. Not only did it make it
easier to board the boat from the water but it allowed a place for the
water to run out of the boat when I took on the ocassional greenie over
the bow. Some naysayers poo pooed the transom arrangement but the good
folks at Parker boats informed me that it was a safety feature.

"HarryK" wrote in message
...
On 2/20/2011 10:51 AM, slide wrote:
On 2/19/2011 10:30 AM, CaveLamb wrote:
slide wrote:

Before you go further in this, though, I strongly suggest you try
retrieving someone from the ocean as if it were a MOB drill. Getting
someone on deck from most boats with significant freeboard is MUCH
more difficult than most people envision.



We practice all the time, slide.
But my boat has a sugar scoop stern with a drop down stern ladder.

Retrieving hats is harder...


Sugar scoop would make it MUCH easier. If you turn it around, you need so
ask why anyone would NOT wear a PFD. Comfort and style would be the only
reasons. Frex, when we sailed (and will again) we tend to go naked if
it's warm enough.
I had a sugar scoop transom on my old Parker. Not only did it make it
easier to board the boat from the water but it allowed a place for the
water to run out of the boat when I took on the ocassional greenie over
the bow. Some naysayers poo pooed the transom arrangement but the good
folks at Parker boats informed me that it was a safety feature.



Sugar scoop transoms are only successfully marketed to idiots. Why? Because
a boat that is really only 30 feet LOA can be cheaply marketed as a
33-footer by virtue of the extra LOA the cosmetic sugar scoop offers. IOW,
people are stupid enough to pay 33-foot prices for a 30-foot boat.

After it dawns on them that they were suckered, then they come up with all
kinds of after-the-fact rationales for why the rip-off sugar scoop is so
great. Just who the hell do they think they're trying to fool? LOL!

Wilbur Hubbard

single comment
replace
"CaveLamb" wrote in message
m...
slide wrote:

Before you go further in this, though, I strongly suggest you try
retrieving someone from the ocean as if it were a MOB drill. Getting
someone on deck from most boats with significant freeboard is MUCH more
difficult than most people envision.



We practice all the time, slide.
But my boat has a sugar scoop stern with a drop down stern ladder.

Retrieving hats is harder...


--

Richard Lamb
email me:
web site: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~cavelamb

In article , CaveLamb wrote:
I just recently bought a couple of inflatable PFDs.

One of the standing orders on my boat is that if you
are on deck and out of the cockpit you must wear your
float.

But I'm curious about what the rest of you think.
Do you wear them or not?

Wife and I wear ours at all times we're not below. I'm not convinced
we'd float for long once all our clothing layers and foul-weather gear
got water-logged. If I'm single-handing then I clip on when moving about
outside the cockpit, and the PFD doubles as a harness, so it is always
warn - though should be redundant if I'm clipped on.

Justin.

--
Justin C, by the sea.