Just Sitting on the Boat, and . ..

G

Good Grief

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/%e2%80%98you-are-not-going-to-die-out-here%e2%80%99-a-woman%e2%80%99s-terrifying-night-in-the-chesapeake/ar-AAhN1Tt?li=BBnb7Kz I don't know how many time we discuss this as we teach Boating Safety Classes, but sitting on a small boat's gunwale (or transom) vs sitting INSIDE the boat makes a difference.

Oh, and there's the "Always wear your lifejacket" thing.
 
Years ago we were drifting across a small bay in a fairly stiff breeze. The wife's hat went for a swim and before I could say a word she followed it. I had warned her about leaving a moving boat and hoping to swim back to it, but.... There was never any real danger as I could have cranked up the boat and went back, but I had a safety line with a float handy and just pulled her back. I'll never forget the look of surprise in her eyes when she realized that even being a few feet away from the boat she could not swim fast enough to catch it. Lesson learned the easy way.
 
- - - and congrats to John Woodrow Cox for a well written story.
 
A warning that I always gave to clients wanting to sit with feet dangling off the side of the boat was that if they went overboard while underway we would not be looking for a body but something the size of a soccer ball above the surface.
 
Best thing you can do is invest in some of the really comfortable inflatable life jackets. I wear them ALL THE TIME they are so comfortable you forget they are on. Not so for the old bulky orange ones.
 
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