Mario Vittone

It’s overcast, pitch black and drizzling — only a storm and waves could make the search conditions worse and we were all thinking the same thing; on an open skiff, with nowhere to hide, the kid must be freezing. Coast Guard rescue crews take every search seriously, but we look harder out the window for kids in peril. We should. Get over it.

I love EPRIBs. When asked what one thing I would take with me offshore, I always answer; an EPIRB. There is simply no valid argument against the devices. I recommend them to friends, insist on them for family and think anyone who goes to sea without one is just plain stupid.

Retired rescue swimmer Mario Vittone and helicopter pilot Dan Molthen spent countless hours looking for lost boaters, yet neither had ever seen the one document boaters are encouraged to create prior to getting underway: a float plan.

When people fall overboard, more often than not it’s at the marina when stepping on or off the boat.

At a meeting with 250 boaters last year, I asked for a show of hands: “How many of you have registered your DSC radio and have an MMSI number?

In 2013, I retired from my job as a maritime accident investigator for the U.S. Coast Guard. Before I did that job, I was a helicopter rescue swimmer, and before that I worked on a patrol boat. Responding to boating mishaps, in one way or another, has consumed the better part of my adult life, so you would think what I’m about to say couldn’t be true.