I could write about this subject every year, and it makes me sad. Every year people die for want of a simple device, a Personal Flotation Device, a life jacket. It’s not boating season yet and two families are agonizing over lost loved ones who wouldn’t be if they had been wearing a life jacket.

I’ve heard every excuse for not wearing one, and most of them have come from my own family. They’re too hot, uncomfortable, dumb looking, I’m a good swimmer, whatever. My favorite is from professionals who say, “I’ve been on the water all my life and have never been overboard.” When I worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife years ago, I fished a ship’s pilot out of the Gulf who had been piloting in the Sabine Channel for 25 years. He had tried to board a ship from the pilot boat without a life jacket and he went in, and didn’t have a chance. His family agonized for two weeks before he was recovered.

Alabama boating laws require PFDs to be on board all vessels. The requirements vary by length of the boat, but ALL vessels are required to carry them. Unfortunately, ALL personnel are not required to wear them. As the law is currently written, only children 8 and younger are required to wear a life jacket. I guess the wise men in the Alabama Legislature think that when you turn 9 you are no longer susceptible to falling overboard or drowning. I know state laws usually follow Coast Guard guidelines, but I wouldn’t mind seeing ALL persons aboard a vessel be required to wear a PFD except when in an enclosed cabin.

I have boated most of my adult life. I have lived aboard and cruised with my family for three years. Our rule: No one, regardless of age or swimming ability, was allowed on deck without a life jacket, and in seas above 3 feet, or at the discretion of the captain, no one was allowed in the cockpit sans life jacket. At night, regardless of the seas, not only were you required to wear a life jacket, but you had to have a life line tethering you to the boat. Every life jacket on our boats is equipped with a water activated strobe and a whistle to aid in recovery. Guess what, in all those years, we’ve never needed them, not once, but we are ready, always ready.

My heart aches for the families of the two missing hunters, one now recovered. I cannot imagine the agony they must be experiencing not being able to rest for wondering where their loved one is. We may never know the circumstances surrounding their deaths, but at the least a life jacket could have aided in their recovery, and at best, saved their lives. How sad it is that so many are lost for want of such a simple device. I hate using this space to write about tragedy, so, please, do me a favor, just wear it, it won’t kill you.

David Wilson Atwood is a local freelance writer whose human interest columns offer a unique perspective.