Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea

Airline pilots use checklists to ensure they get everyone to their destination safely. Boaters can learn a thing or two from this practice.

I love EPIRBs.
When asked what one thing I would take with me offshore, I always answer: an EPIRB.

For the past year, Mario Vittone has been writing the Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog for Soundingsonline.com. Now he is undertaking a new venture with Soundings, called Ask Mario, where readers can get answers to their boating safety questions. In this video, Mario answers the question: How often should thru hull fittings be replaced? WATCH

When I was in the U.S. Coast Guard, I couldn’t say this; but I believe the phrase “Always wear your life jacket” is terrible advice.

For the past year, former US Coast Guard rescue swimmer Mario Vittone has been teaching Soundings readers how to be safer on the water through his “Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea” blog. He will continue to educate us, but first, he wants to hear from you. READ MORE.

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

Last week in Lifelines, Mario Vittone dispelled a massive myth in his post Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning, which went viral and will save lives. This week, Vittone tackles the fallacy that untrained, but otherwise competent swimmers, can’t make an attempt to save someone who’s drowning and tells us how to (safely) do it.

Mention drowning and we all tend to envision a person in the water waving his hands, splashing and screaming for help. That’s not even remotely close to what a drowning person looks like, writes Mario Vittone in this week’s Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog.