Life Jackets

As a life long swimmer, once-upon-a-time active SCUBA diver, also-once-upon-a-time certified life guard, I have developed a bit of a disdain for life jackets. Its not that I think they are bad, or never useful, anything like that. But I do tend to think that we rely on them too much. The idea that putting a life jacket on a child is somehow better than teaching that child how to swim is, to me, both inane and irresponsible. If one is not comfortable enough with the water to learn how to swim, perhaps one should not venture out on a small boat in the first place? A life jacket should be a secondary aid for someone who likes being in and around the water and has the skills to be comfortable in that environment, without a life jacket. And, given that I sail on a lake it is likely I could swim across on any given day, or at least swim half-way across, I tend to be a bit cavalier about having a life jacket near by. I mean, really, when the weather is so hot that about all anyone is wearing is a swimsuit anyway, there isn't a whole lot of difference between jumping off the boat to go swimming and falling off the boat to end up swimming. I recently watched 4 grown adults toss life vests into the water before they would jump in to paddle the 20 feet or so between our boat and theirs. Are you kidding me?

Last weekend we were coved out when a nice little (well, not so little) TRW rolled the lake in the dark, wee hours of the morning. Wind blew, lightning flashed, covers flogged, our little boat pitched and tossed...and I was out on deck dressed only in a light pair of pants. As I wrestled with the lines and pulled down the covers, it occurred to me that...

1) the water looked black and uninviting,
2) staying on the boat as it rocked and rolled was not a given,
3) being flung off the deck could easily include some kind of injury, (I'm still not sure that stanchions, vertical sharp metal sticks bolted to the deck, somehow add to the safety of a boat.)
4) swimming in a pair of pants would take some effort, (particularly in the waves that came with the storm),
5) finding a shore, even one as close at hand as we had in the cove, might not be easy in the reduced visibly of driving rain,
6) and that maybe I should have grabbed my life vest instead of my pants.

I still think life vests should be regarded as aids to swimmers. But I think I'll be keeping mine a bit closer to hand from now on.