Fishing ocean.....alone

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by Redloon

You might consider a safety line tied to the boat and yourself - say a light 25-50 foot nylon rope tied around one ankle and the other end to a close cleat. You have to be careful not to trip yourself but if you fall overboard and there is a 5 mph wind you would be surprised how fast the boat will drift away. Unless you are Michael Phelps whose top swimming speed was about 6 mph you'll never catch that boat.

I came up with that after fishing alone on a close by lake late October a couple of years ago. It was probably 10-15 mph winds. I was standing up in a 16' PowerCat casting to a submerged hump in the lake. Suddenly the boat rocked an odd way and I fortunately fell into the boat instead of going overboard. I never would have caught the boat and the lake was probably 55 degrees. Even with my life vest I probably would not have survived as i was about 1/2 mile from shore.

I jokingly tell my wife if I don't come back and they find the boat, just pull the rope and there you'll find my body.

Red...........tied around your ankle sir ? So if you fall overboard your boat will drag you backwards and complete the drowning much faster. What a way to go.....