Posted by Dan Lind on September 21, 2011 at 15:28:51 user captain.
The recent discussion abot safety and the upcoming S & A movie prompts this.
I was in the HULLABALOO (a 10.6' RIB) powered by SAPPHO (A ten HP- Honda) The Unreliable - returning to the swim grid / stern of the MARGOLETTA.
I've done this a million times before, but it is often tricky when the wind and/or tide are playing tricks.
Oh yes, I was wearing a new, and recently tested, inflatable life jacket.
Well, in reaching for the swim grid - about ten feet long and two feet above the ocean, something happened. I fell backwards, but not out of the dingy, with wrong end of me in the ocean. A neighbor across the ways saw the incident and sounded the alarm.
I was pulled out after awhile, not breathing but I'm told alive-ish. The trigger on the automatic life jacket needed to be in the ocean to trigger, but it wasn't.
I was rushed to ER and ICU where I spent the next 24 hours.
So, be careful about automatic life jackets, and if wearing one, always fall in feet first.