Self Rescues
Jul 24, 2009 3:11:33 GMT -1
Post by izzetafox on Jul 24, 2009 3:11:33 GMT -1
As my fortnight in Aberdaron was blighted by storms, big surfs and strong offshore winds the fishing was very limited so whilst playing in the surf with my grandson on his bodyboard and me on the prowler I decided to do some self resues in adverse conditions.
Now one thing I had not realised was that all the practise I had had had been with the PFD and my drysuit on. I had generally found it reasonably easy but tiring with repitition.
However this time I was in the wet suit. Boy did I notice a difference. I know we squeeze a lot of the air out of the drysuit but there is still a lot of buoyancy left in there which keeps you hich in the water and aids the 'lift' part of the rescue. The same task in a wet suit and pfd required significantly more effort!
I decided to take this one stage further and tried without the pfd. WOW! That was damned hard work, I know I was tired by now but believe me I will never venture out without the pfd ( not that I have other than this experiment). You don't realise how much higher you sit in the water and how you are aided by the pfd and drysuit.
So from now on if it is a fishing trip in anything but scorching weather it will take a lot for me to leave the drysuit in the car.
Give it a go guys I think you may be a little surprise. But it does prepare you for what will be expected to perform the resue in different clothing.
By the way my buoys make from Tesco water bottles worked perfectly. The one thing I will say is make sure they are cold when you seal them up. It was a sunny day when I did mine and when they went into the cold water they did the shrinking trick like a scrotum in the sea in Wales in July...brrrr. No harm done though. lol
Now one thing I had not realised was that all the practise I had had had been with the PFD and my drysuit on. I had generally found it reasonably easy but tiring with repitition.
However this time I was in the wet suit. Boy did I notice a difference. I know we squeeze a lot of the air out of the drysuit but there is still a lot of buoyancy left in there which keeps you hich in the water and aids the 'lift' part of the rescue. The same task in a wet suit and pfd required significantly more effort!
I decided to take this one stage further and tried without the pfd. WOW! That was damned hard work, I know I was tired by now but believe me I will never venture out without the pfd ( not that I have other than this experiment). You don't realise how much higher you sit in the water and how you are aided by the pfd and drysuit.
So from now on if it is a fishing trip in anything but scorching weather it will take a lot for me to leave the drysuit in the car.
Give it a go guys I think you may be a little surprise. But it does prepare you for what will be expected to perform the resue in different clothing.
By the way my buoys make from Tesco water bottles worked perfectly. The one thing I will say is make sure they are cold when you seal them up. It was a sunny day when I did mine and when they went into the cold water they did the shrinking trick like a scrotum in the sea in Wales in July...brrrr. No harm done though. lol