This can happen on your boat

[rrrr]

I've made many posts about requiring guests on my boats to wear or diaper a PFD when they go in the water. Some members have said they follow the same guidelines, others have said everyone's an adult and can do what they wish.

If someone in my care (I'm the captain, just like you are) were to disappear and drown because they weren't using a PFD, I would never get over the guilt. It would change my life.

This young man didn't plan on dying Saturday, six days ago. But he did, and his body was found just 25 feet from shore. If he had been wearing a PFD, that wouldn't have happened.

Enjoy your summer.

Man drowns Saturday in Lake Lewisville, cause unclear

A man drowned Saturday in Lewisville Lake after jumping off a boat and not resurfacing, authorities said.

www.dallasnews.com

 

[Wedgy]

RIP young man.
The peace of mind wearing a vest is well worth it. I prefer a Ski vest to the little auto inflatables. A good California law for the under 16 kids to wear them. Cringe at the Haulover bowrider videos with the kids not wearing them. Grrrr.

 

[bilz]

RIP young man.
The peace of mind wearing a vest is well worth it. I prefer a Ski vest to the little auto inflatables. A good California law for the under 16 kids to wear them. Cringe at the Haulover bowrider videos with the kids not wearing them. Grrrr.

Probably the best law ever from CA. I know it saved friends from fighting their know it all teens.
RIP

 

[GreenEnergy28]

Wife and I usually take turns staying inside the boat keeping an eye on everyone in the water while we float. Something that I was never really worried about with adults, just my kids. My wife just can't relax unless she knows that everyone is safe, including adults.
My sister can't swim so she always has a PFD if she is in the water.

 

[C-Ya]

FWIW………. I do not require those swimming from my boat to wear a life jacket. That’s ridiculous.

 

[81Sprint]

FWIW………. I do not require those swimming from my boat to wear a life jacket. That’s ridiculous.

Kids yes, adults no. Unless they can't swim but that's a no brainer.

 

[zhandfull]

Never worried about jumping in the water from the boat when younger.

Now days we typically stop at a cove to get wet.

Life jackets on is the new rule while in water away from shore.

 

[Mack]

I always wonder how a swimmer could drown in a lake however a couple years ago I got a leg cramp so bad it was impossible to move my leg had I not been near the swim platform I would have gone under. From that point on anybody who could not touch bottom was instructed to wear or sit on a life jacket. Going to the lake should be fun and everybody should return home each time

 

[Singleton]

I started having everyone who wants to jump in, take a noodle or vest.
Get worried they go in and shock to system (hot outside / water cold), ruins them

 

[RiverDave]

I have a story that I never shared, namely because it’s the saddest story I ever heard and it was about my neighbor.. Dave passed away a few years back so I guess it doesn’t matter now..

Dave had a 24 Campbell with a big naturally aspirated motor called Bounty Hunter.. He had the best stories about the Campbell regattas of ole.. shit that we could never do today.. they had bout courses setup and would actually race the boats then have the wives and girlfriends race them in powder puff races.

He chose the naturally aspirated motor because the boat would come out of the corners and instantly be on the pipe with no turbo lag etc..

I say all this to give you an idea of what kind of guy he was.. epic story teller.. I used to sit in his garage for hours bs’ing with him and literally sitting there like a kid with all the wild stories he told.. From crashing airplanes, to boats, he truly had nine lives..

One day he mentioned his daughter in one of the stories, and I asked where she was because I had never met her and honestly he had never talked about her before..

He said well my daughter was an amazing water skier.. she was on skis at a very early age and skied all daylong.. One day they were down by steamboat cove and she saw a v drive Schiada down there and she wanted to ski behind it and the guy obliged. When he was coming back he cut the corner and hit those rocks at the entrance to steamboat and screwed up all the running gear.

So they piled both families into his Campbell and started towing it back to Thompson bay.. The kids were all up on the bow and the adults were all in the back partying away.. his daughter said “Dad I don’t feel so well”. he said “take a towel and Dip it in the water and cool off”. When she went to dip the towel in the water she just kinda slipped under the bow rail and disappeared into the water..

He then went on to say that his daughter was a practical joker and was constantly doing things like this.. so he figured she went into the water and went behind the Schiada and grabbed onto the cav plate hardware to play a joke on him.

He immediately stopped the boat and yelled back for her to stop playing around…. But she was gone.

That was one of two times I saw a tear in that man’s eyes..

About a year later he asked me if I wanted to buy Bounty Hunter as he wasn’t long for this world and he wanted to make sure it went to a good home.. at the time I had my 21 & a 270 and literally had nowhere to put it.. that was the second time I saw a tear in his eye was giving up his prize possession..

That was the last time I saw Dave. In retrospect I should have just bought the boat.

Point of the story.. if it can happen to a very in shape consummate water skier…. It can happen to anyone. Second point if you have a bond with a boat, it can literally be a part of your family.

Not too many people build a boat with “soul” nowadays.. the Campbell, spectra’s, Schiadas sometimes have that magic.

RD

 

[Flying_Lavey]

RIP young man.
The peace of mind wearing a vest is well worth it. I prefer a Ski vest to the little auto inflatables. A good California law for the under 16 kids to wear them. Cringe at the Haulover bowrider videos with the kids not wearing them. Grrrr.

Did that change? I thought it was 12 and under had to wear them?

 

[Wedgy]

RIP. Sobering. Sad story that needed shared RD. Thanks.. The ocean can be scary, we tend to not treat inland water the same.

 

[Wedgy]

Did that change? I thought it was 12 and under had to wear them?

IDK, I thot 16, if I am mistaken I got clean away with it, and everyone tended to vest up anyway with Captain Bligh at the helm. I was given the name when all we had at the time was a Coleman canoe.

I just practically gave away the SeaRay to a new good home up by Lake Meredith, where it will be well used, often. Every vest, kid, to adult, I left inside. All the lines, fire extinguishers, 2 anchors, a ton of gear.
Because they will need every bit of it to be safe out on the water. A vest does no good unless it is worn.

 

[rrrr]

So they piled both families into his Campbell and started towing it back to Thompson bay.. The kids were all up on the bow and the adults were all in the back partying away.. his daughter said “Dad I don’t feel so well”. he said “take a towel and Dip it in the water and cool off”. When she went to dip the towel in the water she just kinda slipped under the bow rail and disappeared into the water..

He then went on to say that his daughter was a practical joker and was constantly doing things like this.. so he figured she went into the water and went behind the Schiada and grabbed onto the cav plate hardware to play a joke on him.

He immediately stopped the boat and yelled back for her to stop playing around…. But she was gone.

That was one of two times I saw a tear in that man’s eyes..

About a year later he asked me if I wanted to buy Bounty Hunter as he wasn’t long for this world and he wanted to make sure it went to a good home.. at the time I had my 21 & a 270 and literally had nowhere to put it.. that was the second time I saw a tear in his eye was giving up his prize possession..

That was the last time I saw Dave. In retrospect I should have just bought the boat.

Point of the story.. if it can happen to a very in shape consummate water skier…. It can happen to anyone. Second point if you have a bond with a boat, it can literally be a part of your family.

Not too many people build a boat with “soul” nowadays.. the Campbell, spectra’s, Schiadas sometimes have that magic.

RD

I appreciate you sharing that story. I have a similar story about an 18 year old kid that disappeared off of a marina leg, except I was there. I can still recall his girlfriend's screams.

 

[traquer]

Yup. I say even with life jackets, capt and others need to be at least halfway aware of what's going on around them.

We were at bass lake about 8 years ago, took out the pontoon that came with the rental and we were tied up with some other folks on pontoons. 80 year vet next to us goes for a jump, lifejacket on. He dove head first in the water like a badass and everyone cheered, but when he came up he didn't come up like normal.

He did a sideways flip of sorts while swimming, and then another one. Most thought he was playing around being silly. I sensed something was off, but while I was thinking that thought my dad dove right over that rail of our boat into the water and wrestled him upright, saved the dude's life... Later he said he was almost out of air by that time.

Turned out he had one eye missing, and his other eye had something wrong with it so he couldn't see which way was up. Plus I imagine at his age his equilibrium got all jumbled up being upside down, so he was fighting for his life 6-12" from the water's surface even though it didn't look like much as an observer.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

I have a story that I never shared, namely because it’s the saddest story I ever heard and it was about my neighbor.. Dave passed away a few years back so I guess it doesn’t matter now..

Dave had a 24 Campbell with a big naturally aspirated motor called Bounty Hunter.. He had the best stories about the Campbell regattas of ole.. shit that we could never do today.. they had bout courses setup and would actually race the boats then have the wives and girlfriends race them in powder puff races.

He chose the naturally aspirated motor because the boat would come out of the corners and instantly be on the pipe with no turbo lag etc..

I say all this to give you an idea of what kind of guy he was.. epic story teller.. I used to sit in his garage for hours bs’ing with him and literally sitting there like a kid with all the wild stories he told.. From crashing airplanes, to boats, he truly had nine lives..

One day he mentioned his daughter in one of the stories, and I asked where she was because I had never met her and honestly he had never talked about her before..

He said well my daughter was an amazing water skier.. she was on skis at a very early age and skied all daylong.. One day they were down by steamboat cove and she saw a v drive Schiada down there and she wanted to ski behind it and the guy obliged. When he was coming back he cut the corner and hit those rocks at the entrance to steamboat and screwed up all the running gear.

So they piled both families into his Campbell and started towing it back to Thompson bay.. The kids were all up on the bow and the adults were all in the back partying away.. his daughter said “Dad I don’t feel so well”. he said “take a towel and Dip it in the water and cool off”. When she went to dip the towel in the water she just kinda slipped under the bow rail and disappeared into the water..

He then went on to say that his daughter was a practical joker and was constantly doing things like this.. so he figured she went into the water and went behind the Schiada and grabbed onto the cav plate hardware to play a joke on him.

He immediately stopped the boat and yelled back for her to stop playing around…. But she was gone.

That was one of two times I saw a tear in that man’s eyes..

About a year later he asked me if I wanted to buy Bounty Hunter as he wasn’t long for this world and he wanted to make sure it went to a good home.. at the time I had my 21 & a 270 and literally had nowhere to put it.. that was the second time I saw a tear in his eye was giving up his prize possession..

That was the last time I saw Dave. In retrospect I should have just bought the boat.

Point of the story.. if it can happen to a very in shape consummate water skier…. It can happen to anyone. Second point if you have a bond with a boat, it can literally be a part of your family.

Not too many people build a boat with “soul” nowadays.. the Campbell, spectra’s, Schiadas sometimes have that magic.

RD

If you still want this Campbell called Bounty Hunter, it’s sitting in the trailer parking of Havasu Springs, it’s been there for months.

IIRC it’s yellow with that wood grain.