Stay safe out there

This is sad to see and part of the pattern toward more unwanted regulations on the water. I do feel for the people and their families that have been involved, but there is a recurring theme of no life jackets here that has me scratching my head.
If you play in Moreton Bay, you know the shallow depth can create a short sharp sea state that can get uncomfortable. Not having life jackets on board is THE common denominator of the incidents with tragic outcomes over the last few months.

Redland Bay Water Police have warned locals to be more prepared when boating in dangerous Moreton Bay waters after multiple search and rescue missions
A spike in search and rescue missions has seen police resources stretched, prompting a warning for boaties to be extra cautious in Moreton Bay waters.
Three men have gone missing and a woman has died in the past three months, with a scaled back search and rescue operation still underway for a Norwegian diver who failed to resurface off North Stradbroke Island last week.
Officer in charge of Redland Bay water police Sergeant Paul Ryan said the increase in incidents had seen services stretched. "These situations are becoming far too familiar," Sergeant Ryan said."Boating for many is a great pastime, and a lot of people get complacent, the weather isn't always the same. "These incidents are very draining on our assets. Boats aren't cheap and for major searches we use two or three police boats with three or four officers on each, and other services to assist. "Sergeant Ryan said they also deployed rescue helicopters from across the state, police boats, coast guard and marine rescue boats, as well as volunteers. "With police covering fuel costs for all of these vessels, it is costly and risky for those involved," he said.
-- Earlier this month rescue crews found the body of a woman who drowned after the boat she and her husband were fishing on capsized near Mud Island in strong swells. The pair were not wearing life jackets.
-- In May a search was called for Jordan Kelly, 26, after he failed to return from a mid morning surf ski expedition from Dunwich to Cylinder Beach. Jack McDonald was with his friend when he went missing and said Mr Kelly came over to help him when his ski started taking water but slipped away when exhaustion set in. Mr McDonald paddled back to shore alone, the men were also not wearing life jackets.
At the same time, two jet ski riders became stranded, suffering hypothermia on mud flats on Russell Island after their ski broke down.In April, a major search operation was established for boatie Trent Riley, 26, but it was called off after two weeks. His boat was found driving uncontrolled off Mud Island near the Port of Brisbane.
Sergeant Ryan said having the right safety equipment was crucial to saving lives. "A suggestion is to put legislation in place to make life jackets and man overboard lanyards compulsory on all vessels," he said. "People going out need to make sure they have life jackets, flares, navigation lights on, make sure all the safety gear is current and that everyone on the vessel can access it. "And you cannot rely on your phone to communicate or as a torch, it drains the battery and we can't contact you if your phone is flat."Sergeant Ryan said locals needed to be more prepared for emergency situations before water expeditions."Underestimating the weather, it might be calm where they're coming from, but weather in the water can be very different."The tide might look calm but it can change very quickly with high winds, pressure waves and big swells."When you're in a small boat it doesn't take long for it to take water and you can get into trouble," he said.

There has been more two more rescues in the last 48 hours (no info on lifejackets) but these were successfully recovered suffering mild hypothermia. Its worth noting that with these and the incidents mentioned above, none of them were yachties. Maybe its a Covid thing, where less experienced people are playing on the water, but its a worrying trend.
This has all led me to wonder, does anyone here ever go sailing without lifejackets on board?
Do you wear them when in sub-optimal conditions (either from weather or lack of crew)?
Be safe out there all, I love mucking around on the water, but it's not worth dying for.

Yeah, it's really tragic Shaggy. As Lydia mentioned, compulsory for under 6m here in Tas, including tenders. Jet ski's are required to have a motorboat license + a specific PWC endorsement, and they have to wear PFD's at all times, I believe they also have to have the same minimum level of safety equipment on board as boats, for the waters they're operating in. While nothing is going to be perfect, because there's always the human factor, I think they've struck a pretty good balance here. Our licensing and registration system keeps all the monies within the authority (Marine and Safety Tasmania), instead of getting hoovered into general revenue. How does Queensland do this? That means they have ready funds to; heavily advertise and educate during the year, publish a regular newsletter that is posted to all licence holders (incidents are included in this to maintain awareness), and administer their annual funding grants scheme for boating infrastructure developments and improvements around the state.

Regarding PFD's, we always have them on board, under the law we have to use them for the tender trip to the boat anyway. I always wear one racing, but generally not when cruising until; conditions get rough or look like getting rough or solo sailing in anything other than relatively benign conditions. Always for children.

Whats the rule in Tas. regarding wearing a pfd where there is only 1pob.
For Vic,SA,and NSW mandatory. For Qld. don't fall over which crazy.

I wear PFD with PLB always when solo which is 90% of time unless I forget which is rare.

There was a good article i read a while ago. I will try and find it.
Its not just wearing it, its wearing it properly and making sure its in good condition.
The RNLI did a weekend and people could bring their lifejackets in for inspection. I think nearly half failed and most people didn't know how to wear it properly.
This is in a country where everyone wears a lifejacket.

This was my tethers I first had for the boat, mostly 2 point with a couple of 3 points. I didn't like them at all. I managed to bend two enough so they wouldn't close properly and on a couple of others the plastic trigger deformed enough to make it difficult to release. Did ave a short and long strop but that's about all I did like.
Really not good for a life saving device.








This was my go to 3 point tether which I really liked because of the quick release on the harness end and the short/long strop. If I was going to get skull dragged, trying to naff around with a double action hook on your harness seemed like a very bad idea.
Sadly, they were illegal when racing....because they have a quick release . Go figure.

I've been reading about VHF radios with GPS/DSC/flashing strobe/floating. Would one of those be a safe alternative to a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) when solo? I stick to enclosed waters.

Thanks, Graeme :) I think I'll get a PLB first and maybe a radio later. I have a gift voucher on a marine store to put to good use!
cheers,
sf