Bob,

Let's just allow that you are very correct about hypothermia.
Survival suits are standard issue during the late season here on the
Great Lakes. My personal opinion is that they will not save many lives
until they come up with a worksuit that is also a PFD and exposure suit.
If you are not wearing it when things go wrong, you will probably not
have time to put it on - ever.

My experience has been that, if your crew can find it, they can get your
body out of the water. I have it on very good authority that your
chances get very bad if your do not maintain your exposure to air.

I have seen individuals that were to all outward appearance COLD and
DEAD come back to life when warmed up. That is not intended to suggest
that I think that this is a good idea.

On more than one occassion (it's called frost biting along the east
coast) I have ended up in water that also had sea ice in it. Yes, the
cold is debilitating, but the navy May West that I used to wear would
keep me afloat even in foul whether gear until the crash boat got there.
On one occasion, they were a little late. I was no help getting me
out of the water, they took me straight to the club house dock, loaded
me in a dock cart and dumped me next to the fireplace.

But, if I had not been at the surface when they did get there, they
might not have found me for quite a while longer.

Matt Colie



Bob wrote:
Paul Nightingale wrote:

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.


Hi Paul:

I agree...." you might stand a chance...." I apologize if I sound like
a broken record here. I still have not heard anyone acknowledge or
mention water temperature here. I was in Seattle one year when the air
temp was 92 degrees F. So after only one beer and a burger my friend
and I jumped into the sound at a place called Shilshole (just west of
Ballard). While we were sweltering on the rocks when I hit that
beautiful crystal blue water....POW ! It took about 10 minutes and I
could barely haul out on a rock. That 55 degree water was Very
debilitating! That is why I say forget manual or auto. If in water
under 75 degrees I use an insulated Type V worksuit using a simple
harness. If I go over I do not want the added complications of
hypothermia during a retrieval.

So pleaes, please make PFD choices based on local conditions and use
not what some slick cataloge tells you.