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Sometimes the most important lessons are learned, or reinforced, by the most harrowing experiences. I hope the following experience, shared with me by a highly skilled boater, serves as an important safety reminder for everyone out on the water. The tale began at four in the morning when the anchor alarm went off; instead of being secure for the night they were drifting with the tide.

They had to take up and re-set the anchor before anyone on board would be sleeping again. She shrugged on a jacket and went to the bow to work the capstan. As the capstan finished she reached for the chain and started to pull up the last 50 feet, as they have to do with their design. Her glove got pinched in the chain and before she knew what was happening her glove was torn off and her thumb was bleeding. A lot. But she was determined!

She did, however, have the presence of mind to send a daughter to get a life vest, which she put on before pulling up the anchor. Finally she was finished, the anchor lay on the deck before her, they could re-set it and go back to bed.

It was at this point the exertion and loss of blood hit her hard. She saw spots and was in the water before she even knew what was happening. Luckily her daughter had the presence of mind to alert the rest of the family, keep her eye on her mother in the water and then help pull her out just a few minutes later.

This story has a happy ending. Other than a badly injured knee, hurt somehow during the fall, everyone is all right at the end. However, for perspective, this whole incident took less than 15 minutes from the alarm sounding to being pulled back into the boat. Had she not been wearing a life jacket she might very well have sunk like a stone, as she went over without a sound. Had her daughter not been paying attention she might have drifted away from the boat, with the current running and the sun not yet up.

Emergencies happen when you are not ready for them. This is the kind of story that makes me remember to wear a life preserver. Be safe out there.

See you on the Channel!