5 top excuses

From Float-Tech

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Safe Boating Campaign

You can still have fun on the water while wearing a life jacket and boating responsibly. Here are the top 5 excuses not to wear a life jacket that are heard from boaters. Don’t let yourself or a loved one become one of the static’s this boating season.

Top 5 Excuses Not to Wear a Life Jacket

1. “I have life jackets on board.” Having life jackets on board the vessel is not enough. Accidents happen too fast to put on a stowed life jacket.

2. “I’m a strong swimmer.” Even a strong swimmer needs to wear a life jacket. During an emergency, clothing can become heavy or waterlogged while in the water.

3. “It’s too hot and doesn’t look cool.” Old-fashioned, bulky orange life jackets have been replaced with new styles, like inflatable life jackets that may resemble a pair of suspenders or a belt pack. These are much cooler in the warmer weather.

4. “It gets in the way.” There are life jacket styles available for any recreational water activity – fishing, water sports, hunting, paddling and more. There are even styles for pets!

5. “Nothing is going to happen to me.” Face it, accidents happen. Boating can be a fun, safe and enjoyable activity, but when the “Wear It!” message is ignored, the consequences can be grim.

Don’t forget that tomorrow is “Wear Your PFD to Work Day”

BK, because of your preaching I made the switch to inflatable life vests this year. I have not yet found a reason or need to take it off while on the water. It was a little stiff the first couple trips but it really broke in and loosened up and now I barely notice it.

The only question I have is if someone were to transport 70lbs of Spam in their boat, do you recommend a vest for the Spam?

Reason #6

-J.

^ Could have been a killer for a number of reasons.

Make sure your PFD will flip a person on they’re back in case you get hit by a tuna boat!

404 ERROR wrote:

because of your preaching

One down, few million to go.

BK, you converted me last year and I can’t thank you enough!!!!

I owe you a pill yet I believe. I’ve found them. Switching campers was a mess.

I don’t think I’ve met anyone that has switch to a inflatable that’s unhappy except for possibly Joe S. but there’s something goofy about his experiences.

SORRY BK………no way am i wearing a life jacket/PFD to work tomorrow. cause i’ll be wearing it fishin!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smart man for a union worker!

I appreciate you posting these tips. It makes me remember to be careful. I have had a couple close calls in the boat where crap happened real quickly and nobody expected it. Stuff happens.

People really have no excuse now that the inflatables are down to $80.

Seen this video several times. Anyone ever hear what happened to the cruiser that ran over that boat?

I wear my float tech that I bought from a crazy cat fish fisherman!! thanks again

Accidents happen. Happened to me a few summers back. I wasn’t wearing a lifejacket and I easily could have/should have paid the ultimate price for it. Lesson= learned. Wish it didn’t take an accident for me to realize the importance of wearing one. Hope others soon follow!

tbro16 wrote:

I wasn’t wearing a lifejacket and I easily could have/should have paid the ultimate price for it.

I’m not exactly IN the life jacket business but I do hear your ^ story over and over again.

Me? I never had a close call. Well, I guess there was one time that I was doing something or other in the middle of the boat, lost my balance and ended up falling on a customer (a guy) but I don’t really count that because I wasn’t in danger of a splash down.
I was and excellent swimmer in school. Took lifesaving classes as well. I started wearing the type III’s because of my very young daughter. I figured if she fell over, I would be the only one that was going to go after her and have a chance of not drowning.

Man was I happy when they came out with inflatables!

Pug found out how fast a person could get wet. I’m glad I can laugh about it.

Just because a person falls over the side of the boat doesn’t mean they’ll drown, but by golly it sure is easier to stay afloat while your blue jeans or sno suit fills up with water.

@rmartin go to that videos description and click on “MORE”.

That tells much more detail about the accident and the lawsuit.
It’s possible that the 75 year old may have died since the accident but I didn’t follow through checking up on that.

queenswake wrote:

People really have no excuse now that the inflatables are down to $80.

Exactly!

I was talking to my contact at Float Tech about a reason inflatables (no particular brand) would not inflate. He gave me several different reasons of user error but this one I have to pass on to folks looking for an inflatable.

Make sure it has a Auto Inflate label! Auto/Manual is ok too. Now this might seem like common sense but it happens!

Not to sound like I’m on a soap box. Could have happened to me a 100 times….

Reason #7. So drinking buddy don’t drown and you get tossed in the slammer.

4 days in jail for drunken Voyageurs boater whose best friend drowned

“Stan will have to live with this for the rest of his life,” the defense attorney said.

By Paul Walsh Star Tribune
June 7, 2018 — 10:02am

A boater who was drunk when his best friend fell to his death from their rocking fishing boat in Voyageurs National Park has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and been sentenced.

Stanislaw Kozaczka, 56, of Harwood Heights, Ill., admitted in St. Louis County District Court last week to a misdemeanor count of operating a boat while drunk on Sept. 20, when Wlodzimierz Dziechciowski, 66, of Chicago, fell and drowned in Lake Kabetogama.

Kozaczka had been charged with criminal vehicular homicide, a felony that would have likely resulted in prison time. Instead, Judge David Ackerson sentenced Kozaczka to 90 days in jail, then set aside 86 of those days and gave him credit for the four he already served. Kozaczka also was put on probation for a year.

In an interview after sentencing with the Duluth News Tribune, defense attorney Craig Cascarano called the death a “tragic accident.” Cascarano said the men were best friends and that Kozaczka has received support from Dziechciowski’s family.

“It was very emotional for everyone,” Cascarano said, “and Stan will have to live with this for the rest of his life.”

During a meeting at the Park Point Resort soon after the incident, Kozaczka told a sheriff’s deputy that he had had four to six 12-ounce beers throughout the day. A preliminary breath test at the scene measured his blood alcohol content at 0.105 percent, above the legal limit of 0.08 percent for driving in Minnesota.

Kozaczka said he and Dziechciowski had been fishing that morning and again in the afternoon, when they started back for the resort. He said Dziechciowski was sitting on a tackle box at the front of the boat. While turning toward shore, Kozaczka recalled, the boat crossed over another boat’s wake. The impact sent Dziechciowski into the water.

Dziechciowski left behind a wife, two children and three grandchildren.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

It’s possible that the 75 year old may have died since the accident but I didn’t follow through checking up on that.

Criminal case ended. He has since died.

Just sad.

Number 1 rule in my boat, every one wears a life jacket. I have both old style and inflatable. Remember inflatables don’t count unless your wearing it.

I wear mine 100% of the time now that I have an inflatable. I’m not a small guy by any means and I am at the point now I don’t even notice it is there.