I will for now on always wear my life jacket and kill switch.
This past winter I was in my 16 ft aluminum boat(w/tiller handle) running down the river approx. 40mph. It was a cold day and I was going to go scout a hunting spot, so I had on lots of clothes and knee boots on, no life jacket! But I did have my kill switch on. All of a sudden my motor hit something, turning it hard to the left and slung me overboard in a half of a second. Kill switch worked well and the boat drifted over to the bank. Now where I was in the river, it was around 150 to 200 yards wide, maybe more, and I was in the middle. So here I am with a couple layers of clothes and knee boots on with not life jacket. Everything soaked up the water immediately causeing it to weigh me down, im a farely big guy at 6'4" 240 but in overall good shape, so swimming across the river should be no problem for I've done it countless times, but this time was different. I fought and fought for my life, trying to get to the bank and trying to keep my head above the water. I just knew that I wasn't going to make it and that this was going to be my last swim, but I had to give it all I had. And I still think to this day that if I had to go another 5 feet that I wouldn't of made it. I laid on the bank coughing up water and trying to breathe for about an hour, there was not a soul on the river that day so help was out. I eventually made it back to my boat and then back home. I ended up being sick for a week afterwards. I also never saw what I hit that day.
The next day me and my wife went to academy and I bought one of them auto/manual inflatable life jackets. I wear it every single time im running in a boat.
It's sad that it took something to scare the life out of me to make me wear my life jacket.
Don't wait for something bad to happen to you to make you wear it because you may not be as lucky as I was!
Law or no law it doesn't matter because the law is not going to save your life, the life jacket and kill switch will!
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