Required reading
As part of our passage prep yesterday, Rebecca and I both spent an hour in the water giving ZTC’s bottom a good cleaning. That effort should pay off with some additional speed when we set sail later this morning.
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I have done water rescue at Spartian Races. Drowning people just slip away.
Important for people to know.
I am still haunted by my own drowning experience when I was a teenager. I recall being at summer camp in the camp lake and struggling to stay afloat. I remember someone pulling me up to safety and then they just went on about there business, nobody gave it a second thought. But even though I knew how to swim, I was just like that kid in the video. That was about 50 years ago.
Scary. I have had several situations like that which is why I took swimming lessons before we went cruising. I still need a lot of work but I am much more comfortable in the water than before.
Thanks Mike for a timely article and video.
You’re welcome, Wayne.
I’ve had two “saves” in my life. The first was my younger cousin who fell off a dock about 50 yards from the float/raft I was swimming on. I heard screams from others and saw him making a failing effort to stay afloat similar to that video. On my way over (I had training to keep my eyes on him) I saw him go down and not come up. When I reached the area I dove down and pulled him from the bottom and thrusted him up to waiting arms on the dock. Lots of sputtering etc but he was OK. The second was maybe a one or two year old, who, as I was leaving the swimming area, I walked by and saw bright blue eyes looking up at me from the bottom of two feet of water. The child was on it’s back with no movement, just on the bottom. I picked him/her up, and set him on his feet while looking for ANYONE/PARENT even noticing the child was missing. Nothing! I made sure the child was OK and on the sand and went home. That child would have been breathing water if I hadn’t walked by. I am thankful for my simple lifesaving course I took as a young teen.
Wow.
I am a good swimmer….I want Gloria to know CPR matter of fact… all my friends to know CPR LOL
My thinking too.
A few years ago I took my wife, daughter, and a boat load of teenagers out for the day, all of whom we know and all of whom stated they could swim. I was in the water trying to reboard a turtled sea kayak while swimming, something I wanted to practice solo in waves. Most were swimming. One boy began to splash a bit, but not call out, about 100 feet from my boat. My wife waved at him and others joked but basically ignored him. Only my daughter saw what was happening and was off like an arrow, dragging him back. I only realized something was up when I saw how she was tearing through the water, by which time she had the problem in hand.
No, drowning does NOT look like what you think. They just sink.
I agree; being very comfortable in the water and a strong–not necessarily fast but very relaxed–swimmer is a basic seamanship skill.
Kudos to Jessica.
Yup, I’m proud of her. You can tell.
You should be. As we are of our daughter!
Thanks for posting this. I would never have thought of this.
BTW nice blog, I like following it and dream of sometime following in your footsteps. Fair winds…
Thanks, Jill!
You mean that I saved my kids from aquatic distress and not drowning? And I find out about 15 years later! LOL Thanks ZTC for clarifying that and knowing that if I would have missed that they could have easily slip off my radar. So sobering… For some reason my hero status feels a bit downgraded. LOL!
As someone who has been on the edge of aquatic distress, I think you still earned your hero status.