The starting point for this section should be our previous articles on Offshore Skiff Safety (see Part I and Part II). All of that information applies whether or not you are fishing solo. Here are key points that we think merit special attention from people fishing alone offshore:

• Wear your Personal Flotation Device (PFD) - The vast majority of fatalities in boating come from people drowning because they weren't wearing some sort of PFD. It doesn't matter if you're a strong swimmer or not - you can hit your head going over the side, you can get pulled over/under by a fish if you're tangled in the leader, or you can succumb to hypothermia if you are in the water long enough.
  
  Whether you choose a standard lifejacket or one of the newer inflatables, the key is to wear it . If you're fishing solo, there's won't be anyone to pull you out.
  
  
• Use the engine's kill switch - If you go overboard, you need to make sure the engine stops. If you don't, you may never see the boat again, or you may be hit by the prop. Remember, there won't be anyone in the boat to turn it around.
  
  
• Use a tether when it's really rough  - If the wind's blowing 20 MPH and you go over the side, will you be able to swim fast enough to catch the boat as it drifts away? Skiffs with high freeboard catch a lot of wind, and because of their shallow draft, can sail away pretty quickly.
  
  If you get knocked out going over, you may wake up to find the boat a quarter mile away. And just to re-emphasize - make sure you use the motor's dead-man switch. If you go overboard while wearing a tether, you don't want the the motor to keep running...
  
  
• Have a plan for getting back in the boat - Remember, if you fall or get pulled out of the boat, there's no one around to help pull you out. It can be very hard to get back in when you're weighed down by wet clothes, or are suffering from the effects of hypothermia.
  
  In our previous article we described a neat trick for getting back in to the boat, which we think bears repeating. We first heard about it in a seminar given by Don Iovino, a well-known
  
  Courtesy McMurdo
  Pains-Wessex
  Southern California bass pro: If your engine has an external trim-and-tilt switch, swim to the back of the motor, and stand on the anti-ventilation plate, one foot on each side of the lower unit. Reach around to the T-and-T switch, and tilt the engine up. The hydraulics are strong enough to lift you and the motor out of the water, making for a relatively easy re-entry into the boat, even if you're soaked and tired.
  
  
• Calling for help - If you're alone and injured, with limited mobility, how would you call for help? A Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) or Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon (EPIRB). would be a strong recommendation. Either can be activated with minimal effort, and don't require further action to keep signaling for help. A VHF radio with DSC capability would also be a good thing to have, again, because of the reduced effort required to call for help.
  
  
• Handling large fish - We've already mentioned the use of a harness to keep you in the boat. If you're using heavy standup gear, it is extremely dangerous to be clipped in to a harness and moving around. If you slip, you can easily be pulled over and under. 
  
  If you successfully bring a fish to the boat, exercise extreme caution when trying to land or release a large fish, especially billfish or sharks. If you are at all uncomfortable with the process, you should use a release stick or simply sacrifice a hook and leader rather than try to remove the hook by hand.
  
  
• Sharp, pointy things - This may sound silly, but consider this: if you had a laceration that required a tourniquet or compression in order to stop the bleeding, how would you drive the boat? Make sure you have a plan on how you will deal with it. It may come back to sitting tight and calling for help, rather than risk trying to go home and bleeding out along the way.
  
  Some fishermen carry small bolt cutters to deal with embedded hooks. Keep in mind that a pair of dikes or side-cutters may not be able to deal with a 10/0 stainless hook.

Remember - don't get careless, and stay alert! It only takes a split second for something bad to happen, and at the end of the day you could be extremely tired.