Boating Season has Arrived: Are You Prepared?

Boating is supposed to be fun and relaxing. Most times it is. On occasion however, there can be an incident. Now when I say incident, I don't mean someone spilled a cocktail, or your wife forgot to pack the sunblock. That is for a different article. I mean one of your beloved friends or family members was leaning over to catch a wave in their hand, and toppled in. Have you considered what you would do in this type of incident? If you haven't, I am going to lay it out for you here. Who knows, I may be boating with you someday and I want to make sure you can pull me out of the drink when I go for that unexpected swim.

The absolute first thing to do is yell "Man Overboard". Please do this loudly. If I am floating back there, I want to know that you realized i am missing, as I am sure your children or buddies would appreciate this also. This will hopefully give a sense of security to your swimmer as well as notify everyone else on the boat that someone jumped ship. If there are other people on board with you, put them in action immediately. You need one of those people to watch the location and condition of this person. If you are lucky enough to have someone else on the boat with you, they need to get any available line and flotation device you have on board. If by some chance you lose site of your overboard person, this is when mayday and your ship to shore radio come in handy.

I find that the best and fastest way to make your way to the person is to do a 180. However you must be preparing for the pick up of this person while you are making this turn. You need to know what side you will approach on, put a life vest on yourself, and have your line and flotation device ready before you make it to them. Please make sure that you kill your engines. If you are pulling up on the side of them, do this previous to there location, let the drifting work in your favor. You must also consider the weather when deciding where to approach. Pay attention to the current, waves, and wind. If you fear the conditions may make it difficult to get to them, or have a fear of drifting in to them, this is when you need to use your line and flotation device. Throw it out to them and pull them in. They will thank you for it, trust me.

Once you get to your person or have pulled them safely to the boat, this is where the real difficulty begins. Getting someone back up into the boat after being tossed out and swimming for their life can make some people hysterical, traumatized, or just plain exhausted. Obviously the easiest way to accomplish the re-entry to the boat would be a boarding ladder or swim platform. Plan on them needing help to pull themselves onto these. Remember, they just got their exercise for the month waiting for you to rescue them. In the event that you do not have either of these two things on your boat, you will need to make some kind of harness or lifting device to pull them back aboard. Please make sure that whatever you have concocted to pull them up is tied securely on the boat somewhere. No one needs to see you fall on top of them after all you guys have already been through.

One last thing I would like to briefly cover. If you find you have tossed yourself overboard, do not panic. You will need to conserve as much energy as possible. With any luck you are wearing a life vest and appropriate clothing for the weather conditions. You need to stay calm and alert and make your way to safety. This is no time to be proud or worry about making a fool of yourself. Your life is in your own hands at this point. Think clearly and be aware of what is happening around you. If possible swim back to your boat or to land, but do it calmly, it will take more energy than you think.