I get to survey a lot of boats but rarely get to look at a hover craft which can be registered as a recreational vehicle or a boat. They are pretty rare and are hardly a quiet mode of transport requiring the use of ear defenders or plugs at all times. The other things that they require at all times are the use of lifejackets for the pilot/helmsman if you will be traveling over water.
Close to were I live is lake Winnpesauke which at this time of year is mostly iced over although by now the ice has at long last started to thaw and therein lies the problem. The ice at this time of year is getting thin and is no longer able to support the weight of a snowmobile or even a person. This is a problem for some of the year round residents of the islands in the middle of the lake, too much ice for a boat and too little for a snowmobile so they use a small hovercraft like the one shown above. This past weekend there was a tragic accident when a 62 old man died after what appears to be an incident where the skirt of the craft caught on the edge of the ice tipping him into the water. He was not wearing a life jacket. Now this is all supposition and the life jacket may or may not have saved his life but what we do know is that he was conscious when he went into the water as his shouts were heard from the shore, rescuers rushed to his aid and got him to shore. By this time he had stopped breathing and despite the rescuers attempts at CPR he was was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Whether or not a life jacket would have saved his life is open to debate but what is understood is that he had one in the hovercraft but was not wearing it at the time which in a roundabout way brings me back to boat surveying. Of all the boats that I survey nearly all the boats without exception have the life jackets still in their wrappers tucked away in some bilge locker or other such difficult to reach location which leaves me to the conclusion that not only have the people that own the boat never used the life jacket they could not get to it in a panic and would not know how to wear it should the need arise. You can have the best life jacket in the world but it won't save your life if you don't know how to use it and you never wear it.
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