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Course Outline

If someone on your pleasure craft falls overboard, you need to immediately:

  • Reduce speed and toss the victim a lifejacket or PFD, unless you know he or she is already wearing a lifejacket or PFD.
  • Turn your pleasure craft around and slowly pull alongside the victim, approaching the victim from downwind or into the current, whichever is stronger.
  • Stop the engine.
  • Use a reaching assist—or a buoyant heaving line or lifebuoy—to pull the victim to the side of the pleasure craft.
  • Use a reboarding device to help the victim get into the pleasure craft. If you do not have a reboarding device, pull the victim on board over the stern, keeping the weight in the pleasure craft balanced, especially in small boats.
  • Unit 6 of 6
  • Topic 2 of 12
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