Life Vests - They're Not Just for Kids

About twelve years ago, my wife and I were on our honeymoon in Maui. Maui was beautiful and we had a blast visiting the island. During our trip, we rented a sailboat cruise and diving was first approached. The cruise operator has given us the possibility to use a lifejacket to dive, but most of us (myself included) chose to snorkel without a lifejacket. At first I was a bit "from head to jump in the water - I thought the water would have to travel all the time. But then I relaxed, I realized I could easily float in salt water. Moreover, we snorkeling in a coral protection and the water was very calm. We loved it. After hours of diving were hooked. We were ready for our next diving adventure. The next day my wife and I were eager to try again snorkeling . When walking on the beach, find a provider who has been renting diving equipment. Once again, we had the opportunity to rent a life jacket, but it happened. We were planning to snorkel on the beach in front of our hotel. we were not planning to swim very far, so I felt pretty safe. We started to dive and it was good. But we were not seeing many fish, so we decided to go a little "more. Suddenly we realized that something was wrong. My wife stuck her head out of the water and saw that they were being pulled from the chain of Riptide. We were 50 feet from the beach and we were farther and farther from the earth. My wife started swimming toward the beach, but I was not a good swimmer and started to freak. Despite all my swimming, I was not getting anywhere. The Riptide was too strong. Fortunately I saw a stone pier about 25 yards to my left, so I decided to make a career for him. After ten minutes of hard swimming I've done to the pier and was able to get out of the sea. I think back to that time and I realize that I was lucky. If that hadnt been there spring, my wife was a widow. Or, if I had worn a life jacket, I would have a better chance of being saved. I think the problem is that sometimes we think that with a life jacket is not cool. But we must realize that water safety is more important than being cool. We believe that life jackets are only for children but adults too. Furthermore, it makes sense to set an example for our children. Now we have two children and we believe it is important to show that wearing a life jacket is what to do. Like wearing a seatbelt in a car or a helmet, life jackets should not be just for kids. They are for everyone. For more information on the life jackets are a couple of great websites out there. The first is the U.S. Coast Guard safety USCGBoating.org or web browsing. This site will help you choose the right life jacket for your boat, fishing, sailing, kayaking trip. Besides, another site is the National Council of safe navigation and its website, SafeBoatingCouncil.org. This site can also give advice on education and safety of recreational craft.