I must apologize for being a little lax on the safety articles, but we are fully into the boating season and have been very busy at Sea Tow Charleston. After seeing and towing about 30 boats a week, I think I’ve seen just about everything there is to see and am really surprised at the number of boaters and the lack of safety equipment that is carried onboard their vessels. I am well aware that the “Charlestonfishing.com” website is geared to all the fisherman (and I’ve towed a couple of you in), by all means print this article and pass it on to a friend who doesn’t fish or is a weekend fisher. I’ve found in the past month or so that by and large the fisherman is much better equipped than the “weekend” boater and takes better care of their equipment, I am still surprised by a lack of not only safety gear, but also the little things that everyone should carry on board their vessel.
I’ve been told that I carry too much “stuff”, but it always come in handy and it doesn’t take up any room at all, given the amount of fishing stuff I usually carry, so here goes.
Although type II or III PFD’s serve their purpose, type I’s are the only ones designed to turn an unconscious person face up and it’s the only type that allows the wearer to use very little effort to stay on their back. Yeah I know they are on the pricey side, but they do the job and do it right. I usually work alone and I wear an offshore inflatable with a safety harness. I’ve had some people laugh and point, but I went 56 miles offshore yesterday for a tow and I came home last night. It’s the little things! Each one of my jackets has a signal mirror, a whistle, a strobe light and two flares. They don’t take up any room and just think of being out there floating alone and wishing you had some way to make a noise or something to attract attention!
Every vessel that travels offshore should have a 406MhZ EPIRB…period! Mounted near the helm so it’s the first thing you grab should you have to go for the big ride. A “good” throwable device that has