I'm not here to tell anybody what they should or shouldn't do, just wanting to share my personal experiences again as a reminder of the outcomes of wearing vs not wearing PFDs when things go wrong. In 2006 Rik Wimp and I went over in my 30 Skater at the Big Cat Poker Run. We were both wearing Mustang Survival auto-inflate vests and velcro lap-belts which kept us in our seats when the boat went over. I swam out from the cockpit and to the surface and started swimming around the back of the boat to look for Rick. By the time I had swam all the way around the back of the boat to his side, he still wasn't on the surface. I remember the panic I felt at that moment thinking how am I even going to be able to swim back under to get him out if he's still trapped in the cockpit. Luckily, right about when those thoughts finished racing through my head, he surfaced with his vest fully inflated - the same as mine that had been keeping me afloat that whole time. Once we made our way up onto the sponsons of the boat (not an easy task), Rik told me that he had lost his bearings getting out of the cockpit and started swimming down instead of up. He said he finally quit struggling and the flotation of the vest spun him 180 degrees and quickly took him to the surface. As much as he hated to admit it (Rik hated wearing PFDs, but they were mandatory on the run), he said it saved him from drowning. Needless to say, we're both still here today and had no injuries that day. Fast forward to 2021, the new owner of my 30 Skater (version 2.0), Stefan and his girlfriend Nancy, went over at the end of the Unleashed Poker Run with a completely different outcome. They were not wearing PFDs and when we arrived on the scene just a few minutes after it happened, we saw Stefan on the back swim platform of a large cruiser, and Nancy was nowhere to be seen. I got my girlfriend, who is an RN, to Stefan on the swim platform and she stayed with him while we waited for the medi-vac helo. She had to administer rescue-breathing to keep Stefan conscious and alive due to his water ingestion and collapsed lung due to 17 rib fractures. He also had a broken femur in addition to the rib and lung injuries. Stefan told us the following day in ICU that he was only seconds away from drowning, as he could no longer tread water with his severe injuries, and only survived because the people in the cruiser saw the accident happen and came back and pulled him up on their swim platform. The Sheriffs on scene continued to search for Nancy until dark that day, and returned the following day with a new robotic sonar sub. After a few hours of scanning the bottom, they found and recovered her body, which didn't show any signs of trauma other than a bump on her forehead. She was only 30 years old and left behind two young children and a full life ahead of her with a career as an RN. They were staying at our house that weekend, and I cannot even begin to tell you how incredibly horrible that day was when we left with 2 boats and 4 people that morning and came home with just 1 boat and 2 people at the end of the day. Would Nancy still be alive today had she been wearing a PFD, we will never know. All I know for sure is that she would have had a lot better chance than she had without one.

Dale,

Thank you for sharing your experience, hopefully, the OSO members will listen and apply your knowledge when boating.

I don’t disagree.

I still see Stefan around the area from
tine to time. Horrible incident for everyone involved.

If you're stupid, or going to do something stupid on, near or around the water, put a PFD on. The #1 cause of drowning is not wearing a PFD this is true even in a small slow boat. What's your and your families life worth?

I hear a story like this and it makes me want to wear one.
If I`m forced to wear one, like Speedon the water is trying to do by not taking pictures of anyone not wearing a jacket.. I want to do the complete opposite.Definitely not wear one.

Again...a HUGE difference between racing/offshore/ environments where it is a no-brainer to wear a PFD...and more placid boating where they simply aren't REMOTELY as "needed". Many people, myself included, will defy logic and reason when "being TOLD to do something"...
Much like wearing a helmet on a motorcycle, wearing seatbelts, etc...it's a personal choice, and you weigh the risks/benefits/hassle factors into account when you make your choices. But once some high-and-mighty, overstuffed, opinionated ilk starts trying to dictate something to me, that's when the problem begins.

Skater30 . can you explain more about these "vecro belt laps" and do you think it would have been better to be ejected vs. stuck in a seat upside down.

This really shows how vital PFDs are, even for experienced boaters. I always ensure everyone has a properly fitted life jacket that inflates easily. A few seconds can make all the difference and safety on the water should always come first.

They were velcro lap belts to hold you in the seat. They worked GREAT

Liflines and helmets have saved my fathers life and mine. He rolled a 24 Skater over racing in the 1990s. On ejection, outboard cowl whacked him in the head on the way by. Staying in the boat would have been worse though. Ripped the steering wheel off, ripped the seats off the floor and flattened the windshield.
I rolled the Sutphen over (leading the MF world championships too....) and supermaned through the port side of the boat. No way I would have been able to swim without the lifeline.

Anytime we're testing something fast, we wear jackets. Should wear helmets more often too if im honest.