March 25, 2024 — With blue sky and a stiff northwest wind gusting 20 knots across Barnegat Bay, struggling into survival suits and jumping into 47-degree water at the town boat ramp was just the beginners’ class for how to abandon ship.
Imagine it in 40 knots and 20-foot seas, said instructor Dana Collyer.
“This is the most important piece of survival equipment you can have on the boat, bar none,” Collyer told fishermen at a March 21 safety course at Barnegat Light, N.J., with the non-profit group Fishing Partnership Support Services.
Collyer and other instructors coached fishermen on maintaining and tuning up survival suits. Small details matter. Collyer insisted that paraffin wax only be used to lubricate the zippers.
Even with light use in practice, the suits can be subject to wear and tear. But Coolyr added, “they’re $300. If you buy a new suit every five years, it’s not that much.”
New Jersey fishermen from surf clam and scallop boats, party and charter boats, and individual recreational boat owners came to the classes hosted by the Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light.