Bill Monroe: It’s high time Oregon told more of us to wear life jackets

Michael Shufeldt of Woodland, Washington, didn’t have to drown a week ago Wednesday.

A professional fishing guide lost his life while fishing with clients on the Hood River when his boat sank due to a sudden and violent gust of wind that quickly created large waves in deadly rapid succession.

While the good news is that all six clients survived, Shufeldt’s drowning should have been a clear call to the Oregon Legislature.

Do something!

Life jackets only save lives when worn.

Make more of us wear them.

Shufeldt’s drowning, like virtually all 16 watercraft drownings that have occurred in Oregon so far this year, could have been avoided by the proper use of a personal flotation device. According to the Oregon Marine Corps Board, most of those who died were not even wearing such a jacket, and one person was not wearing it properly.

(A GoFundMe account in Shufeldt’s name has already raised more than $230,000 for his wife and two young children.)

Neither Shufeldt nor six of his clients were wearing their clothes at the time of the accident, said Brian Paulsen, boating safety manager and boating law administrator at the Marine Board. Although, in all fairness, they did try to put them on while they were getting swamped.

There’s a reason why the Hood River is considered a world-class windsurfing destination.

It’s also quite good for salmon fishing, but when a sudden, violent wind picked up last week, it appeared that Shufeldt was heading toward shore, according to Sgt. Eric Wahler of the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office, who helped rescue some of the survivors.

Wahler said the 24-foot open guide boat, or jet sled, was pointed east (upstream, toward the marina and safety) when the bow caught a wave that pushed it down, lifting the stern and pulling out the jet pump from the water. which caused cavitation.

As the stern dropped and the jet pump regained additional drive, the higher rpm pushed the boat forward into the next wave, and the already heavier boat filled with water from the stern, pushing all seven passengers into the river as it sank.

Wahler said two made it to a nearby buoy and stayed; two attached themselves to a floating cooler, and two were helped by a kite para-folder who dropped his foil into the water where he could hold on to the floating chambers built into it.

Shufeldt was last seen struggling in the surf and may have briefly tried to cling to the cooler, Wahler added.

His body was found a few days later on the bank about a mile downstream near the Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery.

Wahler said several personal flotation devices entered the water unused. As in the title, they have not been worn.

“They were in the process… but they didn’t fully commit to it,” Wahler said.

Please fix this Mr. or Mrs. Legislator.

How?

The Marine Board is also looking for answers after years of failed attempts to expand “various consumption regulations,” said Ashley Massey, spokeswoman for the Marine Board. “The last rule, which passed nearly two decades ago, requires all boaters to wear life jackets in Class III and higher whitewater rapids.

“We have introduced a requirement for all persons crossing coastal barriers with the Oregon Legislature and the Coast Guard, but it has not gained traction.”

Why?

Most responsible guides – those on smaller open boats rather than larger charter boats – already do this in many bars, but it doesn’t become a habit in quiet situations, which Wahler said is how that fateful day began last week.

(Full disclosure: I’m guilty of not wearing my shoes on every trip aboard the boat. That changes instantly.)

It took decades before state and federal laws required seat belts in vehicles, but it has been proven to save thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of lives.

Why can’t we do this with boats?

Today’s personal/inflatable flotation devices are a far cry from the bulky life jackets of old.

At least I think all guides on smaller open boats should be required to wear them at all times. They owe this to their customers and, as Paulsen notes, “they are the most vulnerable. …They are there every day.”

The stigma of mandatory life jacket wearing persists despite the discreet flotation devices being easy to put on and take off.

“Fishing guides collectively impact thousands of people on the water… by modeling life jacket wearing,” Paulsen said. “(They) could change and reinforce the narrative around life jackets that wearing them is socially acceptable. Other industries have seen a similar shift in narrative, such as the rate of helmet wearing among skiers and snowboarders.”

Going a step further, Mr./Madam Legislature, why not require the use of personal flotation devices by everyone operating a powered vessel? For open boats, say less than X feet.

Apparently no one wants to risk re-election by requiring everyone on board to use every vessel at all times.

But the beginning may be the operator’s use.

An old childhood taunt comes to mind.

Except in this case, it’s a request from the future; from those who have not yet become victims of the same sudden, catastrophic conditions that killed Michael Shufeldt.

“I dare you.”

—Bill Monroe for The Oregonian/OregonLive