Another drowning....

[scokill]

Just a reminder to wear a life jacket when doing any water sport. I know most here would wear a jacket when tubing, but have seen some that let older kids surf without a life jacket.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/grapevine/2018/06/24/man-missing-grapevine-lake-after-tubing-incident

 

[James McDougall]

This is always very sad. I wonder if it's ignorance to fresh water lakes? I for one grew up on the sea.....I'm a Shetlander. I now live on a large lake in Canada and it still amazes me how much less buoyancy you have compared to the sea....you just SINK. My rule of thumb is: if you're under 18, you wear a life jacket on my boat....always. If you're tubing or skiing, you put your life jacket on before you put a foot on the swim platform. Don't like my rules? feel free to get your own boat.

 

[BigN8]

Tubing without a life jacket.........Darwin Award candidate.

 

[James McDougall]

Tubing without a life jacket.........Darwin Award candidate.

Twenty Seven years old. Absolutely no excuse. I always feel bad when It's a minor who doesn't know better because Mummy & Daddy are dumb....but in this case? Sad he's dead, but he's the only one to blame. :/

 

[AlphaKap]

Twenty Seven years old. Absolutely no excuse. I always feel bad when It's a minor who doesn't know better because Mummy & Daddy are dumb....but in this case? Sad he's dead, but he's the only one to blame. :/

I disagree. The captain is responsible. He likely brought someone out that had no experience on the water.

 

[adrianp89]

I disagree. The captain is responsible. He likely brought someone out that had no experience on the water.

Agreed. I could be wrong, but I thought the law stated you are responsible for those in your boat? IMO this is clearly on the captain. I am not as strict as the guy above about life jackets, but if you are going to do water sports... that is must.

 

[Ancient canoe]

I don't know who has legal responsibility, but I do know that at 27 you should be a lot smarter than that.

 

[adrianp89]

I don't know who has legal responsibility, but I do know that at 27 you should be a lot smarter than that.

You would think so.... but there are a lot of people that have never been on a boat, let alone done water sports. Hell I was 23/24 the first time I got on water craft that wasn't a cruise ship. What may be common sense to us, may not even be a thought to someone else.

 

[MidnightRider]

Yep captain needs to be vigilant. I've had people that have grown up knowing you always use a life jacket while being towed and still jump onto the tube simply forgetting to put a jacket on first. There should be some mental checklists going on in your head as part of your total awareness what is going on in and out of the boat when preparing to pull someone. Its a big responsibility and that was drilled into me as a young boy by a dad who had accidentally hit a diver that popped up right in front of the boat while pulling a skier (diver wasn't using markers and thankfully sustained severe but non-life threating injuries). Needless to say he was very strict about boat/water safety. I feel so sorry for the people involved in this incident and can't imagine the anguish of not being able to find him - a position I will do everything possible to not find myself in.