Occasionally we get a story here that can hopefully help the rest of us be safer. It is important to learn from our mistakes, and when we can, from other people's mistakes. So, yesterday, a gentleman with his kids took his inflatable boat out and across the bay to a beach. While parked there, his boat drifted off. No anchor? Poorly anchored? I don't know that part of the story, but I will say that I learned once, the hard way, that if you aren't sure about your anchoring than you better try again. Watching your boat drift away sucks. Anyhow, our gentlemen noted the same thing. He stripped down and swam after the boat. Now, yesterday morning I shot another temperature check on the water in front of the boathouse at low tide and had a temp of 53.5º. Try that in your skivvies. As the tide was higher when our hero went for a swim the water was very likely colder. The gentleman made it to his boat and was able to return, pick up the kids, then return to base. He was suffering from hypothermia and starting to slip into shock at that time. 911 was activated and he was checked out and passed muster without a trip to the hospital, but.... If not dying is your metric for pass/fail then he was cool. But if the wind was blowing the boat a little faster or he'd noticed it a minute later, there's a good chance our guy would be dead. Cold water kills fast. A lot of the living guys that the Coast Guard pulls out of cold water end up dying in the chopper. Don't go in the cold water without the proper attire or previous Polar Bear Club experience. I got thrown off the pier for my birthday in my teens and I can tell you that when you hit the water your heart stops. It feels pretty good when it starts again. Your breathing goes to short gasps because you can't take a full breath as your genitalia has crawled into your chest cavity to stay warm. My breathing's getting a little choppy just remembering it. Don't go in the water without a layer of neoprene.