A sad day

[KayakDan]

Has many here ever been in the water with a jacket on.

Actually, at the beginning of every season, we do a real, live POB drill where everyone goes overboard and is recovered.

Not to diminish Mike' s point, that you should know what it feels like to be overboard in a PFD and learn how to paddle, etc..

When we're sea kayaking,PFDs are mandatory,all the time. I wear a modified Type III,made for kayak guides. I spend a lot of time in the wate in a PFD,especially when doing instruction. I also end up in the water sometimes, when doing rolling practice. Sometimes ya miss one!

On the boat,we wear SOSpenders every time we are underway. I wouldn't begin to put up sail,without a PFD. When we sail in Maine,the water is in the 50s. You don't get much swim time in those conditions.

An important note for having people try a PFD. Lean back and relax.Your buoyancy is better,and you won't exhaust yourself so quickly. This doesn't work as well on Type I PFDs,however.

[eric3a]

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[gamriebay]

My present PFD's are the regular Wal-Mart universal fit models. I find them too restrictive especially for the original purpose I bought them for, that being canoeing.
I went to my local outfitters and was blown away by the price they are charging for kayak PFD's
However, I saw a couple of vests in the Cabela's Catalog which look like kayak PFD's only a whole lot cheaper. They are a non restrictive design and would certainly be a lot less constraining on movement. The product #'s are WT-94-3068 AND WT-94-2242 Cabela's calls them the Full-MotionSeries Vests.
Does anyone have any experience with these or have recommendations for/against using them?

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

I use the baby lifejackets on my kids until they are about 2ish and are well on their way to learning how to swim (they are pretty strong swimmers by the time they reach 3 typically). The only downside to the jackets in Florida during the warmer months is that the kids get overheated in them a bit. I don't make them wear them in the cabin but they always wear them in the cockpit. Amazing how many boats I see go by my house with kids that are 2-3 years old and don't have any PFD's on at all...which of course, is against the law too. And these are typically open fishing boats with very low gunnels.

I used to do a lot of windsurfing and I remember getting pulled down by the harness a couple times and being hooked to the boom under the sail. A couple of those experiences and you quickly learn to do a very fast detachment should you start to get into a bad situation!

[tidalwave]

I was a academic oceanographer, for thirty years, until my retirement.
Over and over again, my co-workers and I found that the standard studies of wave statistics never really covered what are now called 'rogue waves'
Standard studies always stated statistics such as: one-out-of-three waves should be 60% taller than their partners, and one-out-of-ten should be twice the size of the average.
In lakes and oceans, a wave can appear which does not match any predictions...it is really rogue and not predictable by any known means.
Obviously you wouldn't get a fifty footer on a two mile bay...but waves
can appear which are much taller than anything you might expect.

I never go out in my 26 at night without wearing my PFD and no crew or guests are allowed on deck without PFDs (at night).

I assume that a really big one is out there!

The time it takes to put on a PFD is very short compared to a MOB rescue or even worse, a MOB recovery.

[eric3a]

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[Lease]

It must be a great comfort to be in a substantial ship when weather like that is about.

I’m not sure if rogue waves are accepted by the met community, or just noted as a possible consequence of normal wave activity. Ever since the ’98 Hobart the Oz Bureau of Meteorology have been putting in a disclaimer on wave heights. Note today’s ocean forecast for south of Melbourne:

40:2:1:24:44S151E750:11:00
IDV21010
SECURITE
HIGH SEAS WEATHER WARNING FOR METAREA 10
ISSUED BY THE AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY, MELBOURNE
AT 1814UTC 18 DECEMBER 2006
GALE WARNING FOR SOUTHEASTERN AREA

Please be aware
Wind gusts can be 40 percent stronger than the averages given here, and maximum
waves may be up to twice the height.

Situation
AT 181600UTC: COLD FRONT ALONG 43S156E/46S158E/49S155E/49S151E MOVING
EAST/NORTHEAST 35 KNOTS.

Area Affected
WITHIN 50S145E/45S147E/43S155E/43S160E/46S160E/48S153E/50S150E/50S145E.

Forecast
SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS 30/40 KNOTS WEST OF FRONT.
WINDS GRADUALLY EASING FROM THE WEST.
ROUGH/VERY ROUGH SEAS.
MODERATE/HEAVY SWELL.
WEATHER MELBOURNE

[eric3a]

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