If you want to take someone sailing on a boat and you ask them if they can swim, what exactly are you asking? Everyone can float if they have a life jacket right?

My understanding is that someone is being asked if they can take care of themselves and/or tread water until they are rescued and/or if they are a strong swimmer, but I could be wrong.

  • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    I would not invite someone on a boat I was responsible for if they admitted they could not swim at at least a basic level.

    That ability has nothing to do with life jackets

  • Shadow@lemmy.caEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    I think the implication is that they want to know if you can swim.

    Floating doesn’t mean not panicking

  • MrJameGumb@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Even with a life jacket you might still have to swim back to the boat. Or maybe they want to drop anchor at some point and let everyone have a little swim? Seems like a basic safety/planning kind of question since you’d be in the middle of a body of water

    • Pat12@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      Seems like a basic safety/planning kind of question since you’d be in the middle of a body of water

      I think so, too. Swimming with a life jacket in my opinion is more difficult than swimming without one. However, I would think that treading water is more difficult than swimming with a life jacket so maybe if swimming with a life jacket is the expectation, then that’s ok.