Temporary Archive: Suzanne Brockmann's Message Board

The major public safety program at Sail Martha's VIneyard is the "Put it on!" (TM) program. A few years ago a bowman was flung off of a boat in the Newport to Bermuda race. The son of one of my board members jumped in after him and reached him but the bowman was unconscious. The woild be rescuers could not hold him up and eventually had to let him sink---had either been wearing life jackets, the guy would have lived--the Put it on campaign was born out of that tragity. High School sailors are required to wear life jackets. Adult sailors are not, but with recent advances in the suspender inflateables, most racers are starting to wear them regularly.
In the Navy, sailors wear lifejackets during general quarters (battle stations), when manning small boats, in adverse conditions or while conducted hazardous operations (all those colorful jackets on the flight deck are float coats). SEALs wear floatation whenever we are around water. It was a major concern for years, because the UDT life vest were great unless they had a hole--like from shrapnel--in them--so we shifted to solid vest which caused a significant problem with heat and mobility. We now use a system similiar to the inflateing suspenders. Float testing is a major must do for any operations where you might end up in the water--or under it--if you want to be under it you strive to be neutral and if you want to be floating--well, that is not something to just guess at!