That list was quite impressive, Jay. Thanks for your exposé.

I always thought that I was a safety-guy, but you beat me with ease.
Still I have a question about your idea of getting back to shore alone.

I first have to say that Holland is a very crowded little country, so the infrastructure is very "fine-meshed", also in the coastal area on the northsea.
For instance I live in a small village who has a fully manned rescueboat 24h on standby (and ofcourse I know all these guys personally). So that makes calling for help (everywhere cellphone coverage till 10 miles offshore) rather easy. Going 15 miles up north or south there is already the next village with his own rescueboat.

I suppose that this might be different in the States, or in your place. That should explain your safety-stratecy.

Moreover I have to admit that maybe twenty years ago I was able to swim to the shore alone (at least when it was insight), but nowadays that's an illusion for me.
Besides that, wearing a hudge lifejacket with collar makes swimming anyway impossible. I know that there are PFD's for swimming (for instance used in kayaking) but I was once knockedout unconsciousness in a breaking wave during windsurfing. Hence the giant lifejacket.

You bring up an interesting point concerning a "killing-switch" (emergency release) which can be operated in an overboard situation. I've puzzled about that also already a long time; combined with the idea of a tether-line to keep you anyhow near the cat.

Last year there was in the Europenian Yachting magazines a big discussion about this tether issue and going again onboard after being washed-off.

I'v tried several ideas on my cat, but I'm not yet out of it. Problem is with cat's that any extra line is also again a riskfactor with regard to winding up, catching behind something, etc.


ronald