When Island hopping in the San Juan area, how much time is spent over water? What inflatable jackets seem to work best? Any thoughts on keeping a two year old as safe as possible in case of ditching into water?

Thanks

Had a similar discussion on Supercub.org when I put the citabria on floats a few years ago. http://www.supercub.org/phpbb2/viewtopi ... ight=float As you can see from the pics, I elected to go with the standard life jacket without the head pad. Tried the swim floating suit thingey and my daughter did better with the jacket in the pool - see what works best for your 2 y/o. If one was ever to go into the water, the plane will likely be upside down in the water with the tail in the air. I didn't like the thought of having the life jacket floating the kid away from me and made sure a good cargo net was in place behind the seat. Would this simply be something to get the jacket hung up in? Who can say. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Stormy Seas makes an inflatable coat/jacket for kids, but 2 problems: auto inflation and a bit too big for a 2 y/o.

Living in Port Townsend and often flying to the San Juans, I find that you can limit your over-water exposure pretty easily with a little thought. For example- flying direct to Lopez Island is about 30 miles with 22 of them over the open water. If I fly the Whidbey Island shoreline, it's about 39 miles to Lopez with one 5 mile and one 8 mile "feet-wet" leg. If the ceilings are low, I'm flying the shoreline. If I can get up to 3000' or better, I might fly direct. I have seen people who strike off for that 22 mile feet-wet direct route, down at 1300' or lower to either stay out of the clouds or out of the Navy Whidbey Class C airspace. Foolish IMHO-- if they have a problem, they're screwed. They might still be screwed at 3500', but at least they'd have a couple minutes to hopefully sort out their problem or at least to radio a mayday. According to my airplane's POH, with an 8:1 glide ratio and starting at 3500' I have a theoretical ability to go about 5 miles before splashdown. That's close to 5 minutes, plenty of time for several Hail Mary's & an Our Father or two.

Eric

Thanks for the input! I have been shopping the inflatable vests, not sure what I will do yet.

I fly to the San Juans a lot, coming up from Everett area from the south. If you stay high you will have some options in case of engine failure. I travel up through the Sagit Valley with plenty of farming fields so altitude isn't as much of a factor but then I climb up a few thousand as I head over the water by Anacortes to access the islands. Virtually all the islands that are of any size have airports. If you stay up 3-4 thousand or (or higher?) untill you are near your destination chances are you may be near enough a strip. The bigger islands also have a lot of fields for farming. You should always be able to make landfall in an emergency but if you are too low you may be stuck going for a shoreline, and in the San Juans much of the shoreline is lacking in beach's. Having said all that, I think it would be a great idea to be wearing a inflatable life vest when cruising the San Juans. That water is cold and if you go in it you want the best odds. Stay away from the auto inflate type. You dont want that thing popping off when your scrambling to squeeze through the door. And lastly, use Whidbey Approach for flight following. They train a lot there and want the buisness, plus if you are forced into the water they will have a chopper in the air by the time you hit the water. Well, the rotors will be spinning maybe.