Lifejackets

[Smoggy]

Just to make myself look stupid I'll correct my previous post (after further reading and a crappy memory), 150N and upwards is the standard with 275N being the full foul weather gear jobbie, larger people don't need higher buoyancy as they will have the same "in water" weight.

[kpnut]

I’m so pleased this topic has generated good advice etc from lots of folk. 
 

Perhaps starting with my original post about it, the Mods could move it into a topic of its own so it’s easier to find for future reference. 
 

Thanks guys for the tips about how to lift someone out. 
 

Grendel - I’ve seen at first hand how little clothing you wear when boating (😂😂). I really don’t know how you don’t freeze your wotsits!

Biker - my lifejacket is a Seago Seaguard 165N auto. Very comfy, slim enough not to feel trussed up.
Mouldy’s right about maintenance. the canister and the firing auto thingie both have dates on, and every now and again it’s worth manually inflating to check for leaks. 
 

Mark at Boulter’s in Hoveton showed me how to repack it. Very much easier than I anticipated. He said Seago are easy to repack, another make that I can’t remember makes them so slimline that repacking is really tight and difficult. 
 

Before my next trip with a full house of guests, I’ll be getting a spare canister. I decided not to yet, as with 4 jackets on board and only one of me, I have plenty of spares anyway, especially as they have expiry dates. Not that I’m planning on needing to use them!!!

And Marge and Parge - I really don’t feel like I ‘got it right’ yesterday. But it’s very kind of you to help me feel better about it. 

[kpnut]

Springer’s Retreat thread and Lifejackets thread now separated for easier reference to useful information in future. 

Thanks Grendel. 

[Gracie]

 I've lost count over the years of the amount of people I've seen messing about on boats with no life jackets, children included.

Hopefully, future newbies will read this, realise the importance of wearing life jackets and how it could save their lives if ever they were to find themselves overboard

Well done Kate 

 x

[vanessan]

I’ve only just caught up with your drama Kate, thank goodness it all turned out ok and you're relatively unharmed. Just shows how important LJs really are. It’s only in the last five years or so I’ve taken to wearing mine when on deck and mooring up etc. Realising I’m nowhere near as mobile as I once was, I don’t feel properly dressed without it now!
Glad you’re ok after your experience. 

[kpnut]

32 minutes ago, vanessan said:

I don’t feel properly dressed without it now!

I know what you mean. It gets to be a habit. 
I hang mine on the wheel so it’s in my face when I turn the engine on. 

[grendel]

The Issue I always ponder when mooring up at Great Yarmouth, is the one of when you are moored up and want to go ashore and visit the town, if you wear your lifejacket while alighting (or clambering up at low tide) when going ashore, where do you put it once you are safely ashore, what is needed are a set of gym lockers by the yacht station building, where you can deposit your life jackets and take the key, then when you return to the boat, recover your lifejackets and put them back on before boarding your boat once more.

now this wouldnt cost a lot on the grand scale of things, and would be a more positive safety measure, currently when going ashore, I leave the lifejacket aboard, as I dont really want to be wearing it round town. (OK Great Yarmouth is one of the few places I do wear a lifejacket, but not when just going ashore)

Surely this would be a better safety measure than just employing more rangers to patrol.

@BroadsAuthority, Tom, I couldnt find a suggestions page on your website, so I have tagged you here so that you can pass the above suggestion on to those it may concern.

[Smoggy]

Suggest it to the BA Mr. G, it is likely more will use them for the reasons you mention. 

We use lj's when on swinging moorings having to use the dinghy to get to the pub and it's a right pita having to lug a rucksack around, we usually have mini flares with us as well which I don't like leaving lying around. 

[grendel]

Plus since the BA like signs so much, signs could be placed along the mooring saying please wear your lifejacket whilst disembarking and boarding, storage lockers are available at the yacht station.

[grendel]

a quick search reveals you could get 36 basic lockers for well under £1000, which could easily be installed under the roofed area by the toilets / showers

[kpnut]

Super idea Grendel. There is surely a point of contact at the BA for positive, proactive suggestions to be put to. 

And talking about employing more rangers for safety (as in the supposed reason for our tolls increasing above nav com recommendations), it wouldn’t have mattered one jiot the other day how many rangers are employed if they’re not right on scene at the right moment. 
Fancy if I’d become a ‘statistic’  to reinforce their tolls/safety argument!! 🫤

 

[grendel]

I could not find a suggestions page on their website, so I have tagged Tom in my post for him to pass it on.

[marshman]

Suggest it to GYBC - I think they basically run it???

Sadly I think the lockers would last about a week in GY before they were all broken into by the locals.

[dom]

52 minutes ago, marshman said:

Sadly I think the lockers would last about a week in GY before they were all broken into by the locals.

The same thought crossed my mind, but you could probably reduce the risk with a big bright red sign saying "Life jacket storage only" or similar. I suspect the relatively low value of a stolen lifejacket vs the aggravation of breaking in would probably be deterrent enough.

The bigger issue may be how you'd manage access without keys going missing, or having to resort to overly complicated electronic locks and apps.

 

[vanessan]

2 hours ago, dom said:

I suspect the relatively low value of a stolen lifejacket vs the aggravation of breaking in would probably be deterrent enough.

Unfortunately for some it’s not aggravation it’s the kick they get out of it - literally!

[grendel]

I managed to find a contact page and emailed them my suggestion, did anyone else know that there are already lifejacket storage lockers at the yacht station (along the front) not highly advertised then.

[kpnut]

Well done for following the idea through and now look, we’ve all learnt something useful. 

[dom]

Can't help but find it highly ironic Dr.Packman continually goes on about safety and the yacht station incident, yet even a forum full of regular boaters don't know about a really useful safety feature there.

The lads at the yacht station post pretty much daily to Facebook in summer. Wouldn't take them much to add a note, or drop another template post in now and then mentioning the lockers.

[ExSurveyor]

Probably a fiver daytime, an additional tenner overnight to use them

[marshman]

Still on the safety issue, whilst it is always important to check the date on your little gas bottle, it is always important to ensure you still have one!

The bottles have to tendency to work loose, and it merely takes a few seconds or so, as you are putting your lifejacket on to check firstly, you actually have a little bottle attached, and secondly it is done up!!!!!

[Mouldy]

17 minutes ago, marshman said:

The bottles have to tendency to work loose, and it merely takes a few seconds or so, as you are putting your lifejacket on to check firstly, you actually have a little bottle attached, and secondly it is done up!!!!!

But not too tightly, or you’ll puncture the canister and inadvertently inflate your life jacket! 😉

[marshman]

I don't think that actually happens - you should be able to do it quite tight as it is the firing mechanism that fires the pin to pierce the cylinder - there would be no point at all in it going off just by screwing the bottom bit up tightly. If that were the case, a mere trip on the deck could inadvertently fire it and it is the firing mechanism that has to get wet, before the pin fires.

The two parts are entirely separate and screw into the either end but don't touch until the firing mechanism actually fires the pin to pierce the cylinder. Please correct me if I am wrong but thats what the You Tube videos seem to state and thats what I have always done without mishap.

[Smoggy]

No you ain't wrong,  overtightening might damage the threads in the actuator as it's usually plastic but won't pierce the cylinder. 

[Mouldy]

7 hours ago, Smoggy said:

No you ain't wrong,  overtightening might damage the threads in the actuator as it's usually plastic but won't pierce the cylinder. 

I took mine into Brian Wards for replacement cylinders and was warned against over tightening them, as they would puncture and inflate the life jacket.

[kpnut]

One other lucky thing about the other day was I didn’t have my phone in my pocket. 
I tend to keep it on a holder next to the helm when cruising.
 

It’s normally only in my pocket if I’ve been on a mooring a while and going out or coming back from a walk. 
 

But serves as a reminder to have it in a waterproof pouch maybe? What a hassle that’d be.