As we enter the new year, I believe it is the perfect time to take a pledge to be safe in our outdoor pursuits. The past year saw several lives lost here in Delaware, over in Maryland and down in Florida.

The lives lost in Delaware were because a young man went swimming late in the evening at an unguarded beach. Another young man was lost when the current swept him away in the Broadkill River.

Over in Maryland, we lost a recreational fisherman when he went fishing alone, fell from his boat and was recovered several days later. The second life lost in Maryland was a commercial fisherman who likewise fell from his boat and was recovered from a beach after quite a long search. 

In Florida, two friends ran offshore. Their boat was discovered with the engine running, the outriggers down, but no one aboard. We will never know what happened there.

The one thing that may have saved the men who fell from their boats would be if they had been wearing their personal flotation devices. Several years ago, a gentleman went out to check his crab pots. He suffered a heart attack, died and fell out of his boat. While the PFD he was wearing did not save his life, the first responders were able to recover his body right away. His family did not have to wait days or weeks not knowing what happened to their loved one.

We will never know how the two men fell out of their boats in Maryland. What we do know is if they had been wearing their PFDs, they may have saved themselves. Without a PFD, their fate was sealed.  

The same is true for the two offshore fishermen down in Florida. When I read that, I could not help but think of all the trips I made with my brother-in-law, the late Paul Coffin, in his 22 Mako. We ran offshore every weekend the weather allowed for several years. Prior to that, we fished Delaware Bay and the inshore ocean for drum, trout and bluefish. Most of those trips it was just the two of us. It seems that most sane people didn’t think it was a good idea to run 50 or 60 miles east to the canyons in a 22-foot boat. In those days, I never wore a PFD. The only type available were the big, bulky orange ones. Today we have the vests that are not only easy to wear, but self-inflate should you be unconscious when you enter the water. I wear mine before I get into the boat and sometimes after I get out.

I was at the local Wawa filling up the gas tank on my 24 Albemarle and went inside the store for a giant Diet Coke. As I was standing in line to pay for my drink, the guy behind me asked if we were expecting a flood. It was then I realized I still had on my PFD.

If you need further encouragement to wear a PFD when you are on a boat, think of your family. Should you disappear while fishing and it takes the authorities days or longer to find your body, your loved ones will go through hell during that time. Every phone call, every time someone knocks at the door, they will think it is word that you have been found. And when you are finally located, there will be no open casket. I have a good friend who is a retired marine patrol officer. He has recovered more bodies than he would like to remember. Even those who were in the water for a three-day period suffered the ravages of crabs, eels and various other predators.  

While PFDs are the most important item you can use while fishing from a boat, or from the rocks at Indian River Inlet for that matter, having a well-stocked first-aid kit and knowing how to use it is also important.

There are all sorts of injuries that may occur while fishing from a boat. From my many years of fishing from boats I would say cuts are perhaps the most common. We are constantly cutting bait and most baits are slippery and most boats move with the waves and that sets up the perfect situation for cutting one’s hand. Your first-aid kit will have bandages that can be used to apply pressure to the cut and stop the bleeding. There should also be a white powder that will help form a scab. Should the bleeding continue, you must call the Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16 and report the situation.

If you own a boat and you take family and friends fishing, you should take a first-aid course. They are given by the Red Cross and, I believe, by the Coast Guard Auxiliary.