At the 2010 Safety at Sea seminar at Cal Maritime Academy, over 170 participants were schooled on everything from firefighting to first aid, crew overboard to crew underfoot. A full day included flare demonstrations, a helicopter rescue (demo), and watching Director Bob Gray jump in the pool fully clothed and try to get into the raft.
He got in, but reports that it was not the most fun of experiences and urges all not to (a) fall off their boats or (b) need a liferaft.
To help with that happy goal, we are having our second Prep seminar at Richmond Yacht Club February 27. Signups are now open.
Our thanks to the presenters and to our newest sponsor, Sierra Nevada Brewery, for helping making this a festive and instructive event.
Here's Bob's report:
Personal clothing and PFD
When I went into the water at the Safety at Sea Seminar, one purpose was to put someone in the water who was neither young nor in the greatest shape. I did verify that I knew how to swim and didn’t have any heart condition to make it dangerous. It was done wearing a PFD which I had never worn before. I didn’t know whether it was automatic or manual, and it was uncertain if the gas cartridge was new or going to work. It was properly adjusted to fit. The cartridge worked as it was supposed to (I didn’t need to activate the manual inflate).
I was wearing street clothing, something you might be wearing on deck on a nice day, no foulies, and walking style type tennis shoes with closed cell foam soles. The shoes had their own buoyancy and if I relaxed, in my position determined by the inflated vest, my feet would immediately float. This meant that a much greater effort was required if I wanted to tread water to maintain position.
The PFD was different from the PFD I use all the time. The inflated pieces were high, on the edges of my face. This is uncomfortable but I assume is designed to make your face ride as high as possible. The harness/belt stayed where it had been put before I went into the water. My personal vest has longer slightly smaller diameter tubes and the belt rides lower. Even when inflated the tubes on my PFD do not push that hard on your face although they have the same overall volume and amount of buoyancy. (I have gone into the water with mine just to test it, and me.)
When it came time to get into the raft, I had been floating with the uncomfortable thing against my face, and I was looking forward to getting into the raft. However the inflated pillows on my upper chest really made it difficult, and I was getting tired.
Also, once in the raft the compression on my airway by the PFD tubes was extremely uncomfortable, and I got out.
What does this mean to you:
All of this means that you should take your inflatable PFD, into the water, dressed as you might be on the boat, and determine if this is the right PFD for you. Having seen other PFDs and finding out how this particular one fits, you might realize that you need to change your style of PFD. By wearing your clothes you can determine if there are items that you want to leave home. Cotton clothes get immediately saturated, heavy, and offer no protection against temperature loss. Good clothing could give some limited protection from the environment without the immediate substantial weight of saturated cotton. The amount of temperature loss is something that would be dictated by whether the clothing maintains some kind of water flow barrier like exists with a wetsuit. Decent deck shoes would have made movement easier without the need to try and remove them. You will also find out something about your personal limits, and come away convinced that if you need to use the life raft step in from the boat if possible.
Robert B. Gray
