Fwd: Ephemerisle safety

[Matt Bell]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: James Hogan <jho...@jhogan.net>
Date: Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 1:06 PM
Subject: Ephemerisle safety
To: floating...@googlegroups.com

It seems like the event is growing, with more newbies again (great!)  And while I think everyone's responsible for their own safety, there are some unintuitively dangerous things for people who haven't been on the water much before.  Increasing awareness of these as much as possible is a good thing.

A comprehensive e-mail and/or posted sign(s) might be helpful, neither of which I have much time for, but I'll share some quick thoughts, and maybe some of y'all want to add to this.

1)  Don't put yourself between boats.  Floating things move, even huge ones.  If a current drifts one houseboat into another at 1 knot, that is like your limb (or digit) being crushed in a giant houseboat-shaped vise.  Avoid.  This danger also exists with ropes; for instance, when setting anchors, you may find that a slack rope suddenly gets very tight against the boat (i.e. tight enough to ruin your digit if its gets caught).

2)  Watch for propellors.  If you're swimming in the Delta, realize that you are in a body of water that has large spinning blades of metal that can slice you up somethin' fierce.  If you're piloting a boat, you are responsible for not slicing up any swimmers with your motor.

3)  Be aware of currents when swimming.  Weak swimmers should use caution.  For example, if swimming in the central area, a current may knock you up against a houseboat and try to pull you under.  The currents in the Delta area actually quite weak; it's easy for a strong swimmer to deal with, but a weak swimmer who wasn't anticipating it might get caught off guard.

Any others?

[Ratha Grimes]

Here is another one worth reposting. Drowning doesn't look like you expect:

http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/